Hey everybody. Im Ryan, 27 from Detroit. Im new to this community. Been getting tattooed for the past 10 years. started off just wanting 1….turned into being in the chair hundreds of times. I usually hit the shop once a week. My dream has always been to become a tattoo artist myself. Have never really had the opportunity to follow the dream, but a recent injury on the job, and back surgery has left me with plenty of time to follow my dream. Ive started buying supplies (and plenty of practice skins) so i can start to dabble and see where it takes me. I bought my first machine- and as Outlaw stated in the girls home studio thread- I bought the cheap chinese pro tuned can use as shader or liner bull shit lol. Its just a starter machine that i plan to use on practice skins alone. and that leads me to my question: Can you guys point me in the right direction as to wich brands to purchase and those that should be avoided? I have plenty of professional artist friends that have answered a few questions for me, but there experience is rather localized. Im looking for opinions from all across the globe. Any help would be much appreciated. Im also working on uploading some of my ink right now so u guys can check it out. Thanks again.