Step One: Preparing the Work Area

  Find a good spot with a decent amount of room (at least 2’x4’) and spread out your newspapers, blender base (you do not want to use the blender’s top, but you will need the blades, the seal, and the screw-on part.) two mason jars, two funnels, tablespoon, vodka, glycerine, propylene glycol, pigment, lemon juice and shot glass.

Step Two:

Pour one shot glass full of vodka, top off with lemon juice, and drink it down quick.

Step Three:

Put your gloves on. Fill mason jar 7/8 full of vodka. Add one tablespoon glycerine and one tablespoon propylene glycol.  Stir until liquid becomes clear.  Dry tablespoon.

Step Four:

Pour one shot glass full of vodka, top off with lemon juice, and drink it down quick.

Step Five:

In another Mason jar, spoon dry pigment to about 1-1/2 to 2 inches from bottom. You may want to use a measuring cup, be sure to record exactly how much pigment you use.

Step Six:

While measuring carefully, pour enough of the contents of the first jar into the second, while stirring, until your pigment is a thick liquid.  Most people describe their best results to be that of a melted milkshake. At this point, you may add more pigment and liquid to get the desired amount of your batch and the perfect consistency.

Step Seven:

Pour one shot glass full of vodka, top off with lemon juice, and drink it down quick.

Step Eight:

When you have stirred the pigment to the point where there are no clumps of dry pigment in the mix (you may also shake it with the mason jar’s lid on)  Wipe the edge of the mason jar well, grab the base of the blenders carafe, the blades and the rubber seal.  Very carefully place the rubber seal on the blade assembly, and lower face down on the Mason jar. Screw on the base, and place on top of the blender. WARNING: The blender’s blades are very sharp, and you have been drinking vodka, so be very careful.

Step Nine:

Pour one shot glass full of vodka, top off with lemon juice, and drink it down quick.

Step Ten:

I usually start the blender on a light setting such as chop, for about 15 minutes.  Make sure you are keeping an eye on this from time to time, because if you have not seated the seal properly, you will make a huge mess. After about 15 minutes, unscrew the lid for a short time to let off heat and pressure.  Put the jar back on the blender on medium speed and let it go for an hour, letting off pressure every 15 minutes or so.  The reason I tell you to let off the pressure is that the jars do heat up and get pressurized.  I have never heard of one shattering, but it is possible, so be careful.

Step Eleven:

Either siphon the ink off with a turkey baster, or pour it with a funnel into your ink bottles, throw in a marble for better mixing and you are good to go.

Step Twelve:

Assuming you can still walk, have another shot, and clean up. Be sure not to use anything harsh ( that means NO cold or hot sterilizing) on the blender blade and seal.  Also do not soak blender blades, wash immediately, and towel dry.

    These procedures should all be performed with gloves on, except for the vodka drinking, as this could cause cross-contamination.  Any procedure involving the transfer of dry pigment to another vessel should be performed in a well-ventilated area, and with a paper mask on. Although not harmful in itself, dry pigment can cause breathing problems, and rainbow boogers.  Mason jars can be sterilized in a pressure cooker, if you wish to do so, and other instruments, excluding blender blade and seal may be cold sterilized.

   Turkey basters and funnels should be assigned to their respective pigments to avoid color contamination, and if you can get your hands on extra seals for your blender, you will have a more pleasant cleanup.  If the blades start to leak, replace immediately, it means your bearings are shot. 

   Feel free to replace vodka with either Listerine or witch hazel. I do not recommend pure rubbing alcohol, but some people use distilled water. You may omit the propylene glycol, but it is an excellent and very safe dispersing agent. Do not experiment with larger amounts of glycerine or propylene glycol. Too much glycerine will make your pigment oily, and hard to get in the skin. Too much propylene glycol will cause a hard shell to form in the ink in the cap. Rather experiment with smaller amounts.

   You may also want to experiment with blender speeds and times, as well as the viscosity of your mixture. It is very important to record your measurements, as all pigments will mix differently, and if you make another batch while in the middle of a large tattoo, you want your colors consistent.

   I must impress on all of you to either buy your dry pigment from a tattoo supply house.  Pigments sold by National Supply and Spaulding are the most consistent and safe ones you will find.  It requires much more knowledge than discussed here to order from the chemical companies. They do not take orders by chemical name; rather they use a standardized numbering system.  If you call them without proper pigment numbers, you will feel like a fool.

Albert Jeffers, July 11th 2001, appended 12/28/06

** In Florida we have tons of bugs, and sometimes, in some shops (especially those close to restaurants ) I have seen an abnormal amount of what we call "Sugar Ants" near my workstations and other artist's areas who use drinking alcohol to mix pigments. You may want to use a denatured alcohol, or something like Everclear with a lower sugar content than vodka. I don't mix as many pigments as I used to, and have noticed that I don't have any of these ants roaming my work area since working with commercial pigments.

 There are a few great pigments on the market now using very simple mixes that are similar to mine, but do not seem to be using drinking alcohol, or if they are, they have very little sugar in them. My favorite is The Waverly Color Company and their website is:

http://www.waverlycolor.com/

I trust this pigment as the safest, simplest mix on the market right now.