Hand poking: A rising trend with skin-deep roots

While modern tattoo culture has evolved into individualism and self-expression, traditional tattooing practices have been rooted in collective identity and shared histories. 

What is Hand Poking?

Hand poke tattoos, also known as ‘stick-and-poke’ tattoos, are exactly what the term sounds like.

The tattoo artist uses a needle dipped in ink to manually poke individual dots into the skin.

With the lack of a machine, the process is longer but also less intensive. 

"Because you're building the tattoo dot by dot, you can't achieve the same texture with a machine." says
Simranh Kakkar, 21, (@ratattoille) a final year animation student at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru.

They discovered hand poking through art school culture in March 2020. Despite being in a space where hand-poking was common, they felt the need to take extra caution to navigate through it safely. “I had to go through the process of starting out on my own."

“There is a lot of gatekeeping of information in the hand poke community.”

They add that there is a technique to hand poking and a certain way one needs to move their wrist, which only comes with practice.

According to Vishaka Karanth, 28, a modern hand poke artist (@f2ftattoos), the medium is just more accessible.

“Starting out with a machine would cost anywhere from Rs 15-20,000, but a hand poking kit including needles and ink would cost about Rs 3000.”

She takes inspiration from everyday patterns like tiles, clothes, saris and fluid lines.

How much does it hurt?

The pain with needles poking into your skin is highly subjective.

It would depend on the location of the tattoo and the individual's pain tolerance.

Karanth says that hand poking is less abrasive to the skin.

There is no vibration with the machine, and the poking is much more controlled.

"There are different kind of pains," she adds as getting tattooed on the face, palm, foot or anywhere with less muscle or fat would hurt more.

What’s in the hand poke kit? 

The essentials

1. Needles, usually 3RL (Round liner)
2. Tattoo ink + ink cups
3. Needle grip
4. Green and blue anti-bacterial soap
5. Gloves
6. Cling-wrap

Tattoo needles are not single-pointed, but usually come in points of threes – 1RL being the thinnest needle, 3RL, the most commonly used, and 7RL, 11RL and so on.

There are also shader and magnum needles used to fill in and shade.

DIY tattoo culture

During the pandemic, with most people having a lot of free time on their hands, some turned their hobbies into careers.

Some of these hobbies included art forms like hand poking. And with hand poke kits being readily available, safety becomes a concern.

Almost every trustworthy tattoo artist would agree that hygiene is of the utmost importance.

Kakkar calls it a "double-edged sword" as, although it's become more accessible, there are still a lot who practise it in unsafe ways.

"People don't understand the stakes that are involved." Tattoo infections can become lethal.

"During a tattoo procedure, the level of sanitation matches an operating theatre."

Tattooing as an industry is also male-dominated. Kakkar appreciates how the DIY culture has made it more accessible to more women.

Tribal Tattoos: Appropriation or Appreciation?

Tattooing is an ancient practice of body modification and beautification through the use of cultural motifs.

Most commonly done by women on women, these tattooing methods have been passed down through generations and are still present in tribal communities in India. 

Tribal motifs have been popping up on the bodies of urban youth as some tattoo artists adopt motifs like the Rabari tribe's Trajva or the South-Indian Pachakutharathu Kollam designs, largely practised by tribes in Tamil Nadu to ward off evil.

Most rural and tribal communities would use charcoal or soot mixed with leaves and other natural ingredients to make their inks. Although that method hasn't transferred to urban, modern hand poking, the designs have.

Kakkar feels that the "people who still practice indigenous art forms need to be talked about more because they are really forgotten and not making any profit off of this practice that has literally come from them. We owe this practice to them."

Historically, tribal tattoos among women have been rooted in cultural significance, strength and even to ward off sexual violence.

Triparna Mishra (bananatatz) is a 24-year-old hand poke tattoo artist and is currently based out of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

She takes inspiration from her Odiya roots with the Patta Chitra artwork. "Patta Chitra is very intricate, it's going to make things harder."

Breaking the myth that hand poke doesn't allow for intricate, thin designs, she says with hand poke, the spacing and depth at which the needle is poked at matters.

She remembers her grandmother's tattoos back in Jajpur, Odisha. In tribal communities there, she says, women get tattooed either for religious reasons, as caste markers or to protect them from rape.

“She was a very pretty woman, so her mother got her face and neck tattooed. She had a bunch of other beautiful motifs along her forearms."

There is also a fourth reason for getting tattooed.

"I remember her telling me that if you die without getting tattooed, you go to hell."

Her grandmother told her that the Hindu God of death, Yamaraj, who collects souls, would send those with tattoos to heaven.

Although she couldn't get pictures of her grandmother's tattoos before she died, she says they are etched in her memories.