ihave done a fair amount of work where I have laid out most of the tattoo with a 5 magnum (Fig. 79a) before tightening it with a 3 or 5 round (Fig. 79b) and then finishing the color and highlights with a 7 mag and the 5 round (Fig. 79c).  The 5 magnum seems like a great tool for laying out large pieces, especially those that have line-free edges throughout them.  With their low needle count and wide spacing, 5 mags offer very little resistance against the skin, so it is easy to fly quickly with them, covering a lot of ground and establishing small and medium gradients quickly and easily.  They are also small enough to maneuver around tighter detail and can be used for lining as well, although I find that lines done with magnums almost always seem to need some tightening and edge development with a round group later in the process.    

    Whatever methods you use, incorporating elements in your tattooing with both lines and line-free edges gives the work more depth, character and subtlety than work that uses lines uniformly around every detail.  Switching more freely between needle groups while tattooing can make it easier to line or edge shapes selectively, giving you more freedom and control.  Finding a balance between lines and edges in your tattooing opens up all kinds of new possibilities for dimension, lighting and other dynamic graphic effects.  Given all these potentials, don’t just settle for a single line weight in your work.

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