How Do I Make a Tattoo With Paper & a Pen?

How Do I Make a Tattoo With Paper & a Pen?
Written By
Eliah Sekirin
Eliah Sekirin
Published: Sep 3, 2010
Updated: Dec 13, 2021
2 minute read

A tattoo is a great way to show one's individualism and look stylish. However, most tattoos are difficult to erase after they have been put on your skin. Employers may not like it, and you may grow bored with the tattoo or come to dislike what it represents. A way out of this problem is a temporary tattoo made with paper and a ballpoint pen.

Choose the image that you'd like to appear on your skin and select the exact location where you'd like your tattoo to appear. You can create your own image or borrow an existing one.

Transfer the image onto a sheet of paper, using a ballpoint pen of the color you'd like your tattoo to be. Remember that the image you will then put on your skin as a tattoo will be the reverse of the image you now see.

To make a good reverse image, take a glass and a flashlight. Put the paper with an image under the glass and a white sheet of paper on top of the glass. Point the flashlight so the light comes through the glass. You will clearly see the reverse of the image through the glass. Then redraw these lines on the sheet of paper. Now you have a reverse of the image you'd like to tattoo.

Wash the skin you'd like your tattoo to appear on. Use hot water and soap.

Moisten a paper towel or napkin, but make sure it's just short of dripping. Put the image on your skin, face down.

Put the wet paper towel or napkin on top of the sheet of paper. Apply pressure for about 20 seconds. The water from the napkin will go through the image, and the ink from the ballpoint pen will bleed, transferring the image onto your skin.

Advertisement

Remove the paper and the napkin. Wait for the image to dry.

Eliah Sekirin

Eliah Sekirin started writing newspaper articles in 2003. His work has appeared in "Junij Poliyehnik" and on Web sites such as Prepodi.com. His writing interests are business, finance, economics, politics, arts, history, culture and…

Sponsored
LEAFtv Logo

LEAFtv is your destination for food, beauty, style and feel-good living, with how-tos and inspiration for everyday life.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.