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Today I got my kneecap done by Franz Stefanik at The Okey Doke. 1 down.

Did the first session on my back yesterday with Dave Cummings. Really stoked on it.

Ello everyone! I am back (well sort of). Been enjoying browsing through the LTL thread. *high fives to all* A friend and I may be going to the Montreal Convention, but nothing for sure yet, so hopefully I can meet some LSTers and *fingers crossed* get tattooed?! Yeah, so... moved back to VT and slowly settling in. Starting a new job next week and very excited as it will give me more clinical mental health experience and all the people who work there are super cool. Also pretty proud of myself for landing a FT w/ benefits job in less than a month since moving here, and a better one at that. Feels really good. Trying to move on relationship-wise, don't see the point in "appropriately?" mourning the break-up... so I have a potential date! Also reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, which has been a blast. And seeing my family everyday is a joy like none other. And its very clear how much happier my puppy is here instead of in the city. She's a runner and definitely prefers to be off-leash :) Not sure how often I'll be contributing on here, but just wanted to let y'all know I'm not dead... yet! And keep on getting rad tattoos, you all rule and thanks for the support.

I love the placement. I wanted a BIG tiger and I got one. The way the snake is placed and moves with my back is super awesome too, and it's going to be rad when the scales/patterns in the snake are in. It was about 4h30-4h45 of tattooing.

Traveled from NY to SF this past weekend to skull and sword. Hungout with some of my favorite artists and what happened next is pure magic that only a stellar human by the name of Yutaro can provide. This is my Baku!

Agree with your perspective on instagram. For me it's the methadone substitute to my addiction. Not as good as getting a tattoo, but viewing the work still stimulates me. The challenge for me has been following too many tattoo artist and get away from the "disposable" aspect that you stated. I follow and unfollow based on content. I've cut the list down considerably and challenge myself on seeing a tattoo and being able to pick the artist. By my memory I'm really good, but that's MY memory.

I've been thinking about this. Personally, while I like instagram and the access to so many pictures of great tattoos, word of mouth recommendations are key for me, and I think a tattooer would have to be doing something really special for me to want to get tattooed by them solely on the basis of their instagram account. I also realise that I've been getting tattooed for long enough, regularly enough, and geographically broadly enough that the pool of tattooers who I've either seen tattoos from, or heard good things about, or had the chance to meet at a shop or a convention is pretty large, and that this isn't everybody's situation. I think what I like least about instagram is that the volume and nature of it makes tattoos kind of disposable. I think it's pretty much useless for large tattoos because you can't get any meaningful sense of a back or a sleeve on a tiny picture. You can't capture the detail of a large tattoo on a picture that fits on a phone screen, and you can't really get an idea of how the tattoo fits and flows with the body. Small tattoos seem more suited to instagram in this way. The volume though...like what does it mean when you can see dozens (if not more!) really great tattoos every day? Do we get a better appreciation for the tattoos, or is it just that we glance at them for a couple of seconds, hit "like" or not, and then scroll down to the next one? There have been so many times that I've seen something really cool on instagram and I'll think of it days or weeks later and I can't remember who did it and I can't find it again. Whereas there are tattoos in tattoo magazines I have that I remember even though I maybe haven't looked through the magazine in a couple of years. So basically, instagram is a really great tool in a lot of ways, but like everything with the internet, it tells us a lot less than it maybe appears at first.

Ha! I had no idea who this was. I just thought it was a good way to describe the experience of looking at @Graeme's backpiece. I can has Google. And derpage.

Great job dude!!! That's a powerful back piece right there. Love it!

@BrianH @Mark Bee Gotta pay for these tattoos somehow!

It is great to hear that I am not the only one who questions WTF did I start a backpiece. Only today I have finished a 3 hour background shading session on my left ass cheek and upper thigh. I now can look forward to 4-5 days of hovering over toilets when needing to take a sh*t and general discomfort of sitting anywhere. :) Doing a backpiece at the start seems such a great idea at the time but it can be a long hard slog. I am now into mine for about 40 hours and we haven't even started colour. For me it has been a great eye opener for people that are heavily tattooed. I used to always see large scale work in pictures and loved the look of it etc, but it is only now that I can appreciate the long hours of not only tattooing but the healing and day to day discomfort that the healing brings. I always thought the actual tattooing sessions were the worst but I am now appreciating that the week after each session can suck just as much. Not trying to put anyone off a backpiece as once done the results can be spectacular, I am just saying it can be a long road. :)

@Mark Bee Looks fantastic! Any plans for the other knee?

I want to be a dog that can roam free in vermont.

yup - I can report its still quite swollen - but looks amazing. Franz Nailed it.

My mom came with in the shop with me for my first (25 odd years ago) - as my Aunt and Uncle got their tattoos as teenagers, on the streets of Mumbai, with a guy holding the batteries together with his feet, in 1969/70 - nothing I could do tattoo-wise would faze anyone in my family.

3 years later all color haha

Damn! That's so good. How'd you like the knee? And @Graeme, I've said it elsewhere, but you are off to such a killer start.

@deadsp0t @Mark Bee @Rob I @BrianH Thanks dudes! It went really well, I totally psyched myself out going into the session thinking that it would be so bad I would die but while it didn't feel nice, and some parts really didn't feel nice (hello where the ass meets the thigh! Hello love handles! Hello tailbone!), when it comes down to it you grit you teeth and get through it because it's all getting done sooner or later. Subsequent sessions will be the ones that kill me. Feeling pretty tender this morning, glad I wear overalls at work instead of pants.

I'll tattoo it one of these days, when I find a design that really works. I had a terrible time deciding what to do in the first place. Now that I've done one, I'm not intimidated about doing the other one. It wasn't so bad. And 24 hours later, I'm basically fine and fully functional.

Staple a swatch of low-pile carpet to a corner of a wall. Heaven.

@HaydenRose I'm really glad to hear that things are looking up and you should totally come up for the Montreal convention for some quality LST hangouts!

Good for you, I knew it would turn around for the better.

Agreed, seen some great snakes on backs. They get very creative with the large space. That's a good time for that much line work. Hope you enjoyed some cold ones after your session.... YOU EARNED IT!!!!!

@Graeme - holy shit man, that is amazing! You got a ton of work done in one session - I am just blown away with this! It must feel great to finally start, and then immediately see how awesome this is going to be! Congrats!

@Shaggy - pretty much agree with everything you've said. I've had many WTF's. This has certainly been eye-opening for me. I had no idea what a back piece entailed, and I think I'm happy I didn't know when I started. But, it is truly an awesome thing and will be so worth it!

In the end, you have to go by what feels right to you - and you know it when you see it :-) xccx P.S.Thank you for the kind words :-)

That looks better then the sketch... Placement is perfect and you are a tough dude getting all those lines done in one shot. How long was that session?

The conversation went something like this: Monday- Me: Hey mum, I really want a tattoo. I know I'm underage but I REALLY want one. My mum: Hmm, I'm not sure. Let me look into it. I'll make enquiries at the shop where you-know-who went. It's a big decision, blah blah. You're only sixteen, blah blah blah. Me: Okay, I wasn't expecting that. She's just pacifying me. She'll never go for it. Tuesday- My grandmother: Hey grandaughter, look at this cool tattoo I just got. Me: That must be fake. Me: Rubs tattoo - not a transfer. WTF? Grandmother: Your mum got one too. Me: Okay, now I REALLY REALLY need one. My grandmother: We had to beat you to it. Me: Gutted. Friday- My mum takes me for my first tattoo. (My grandmother was in a biker gang in the fifties so I should have figured she'd continue to be a rebel with her first tattoo at 60)

My prediction is, the tiger wins ;) That is just stunning dude. Congrats !

It is a tattoo.

I found it. 90 minutes into a long trail run this morning. Hope to use it on Friday for session 9.

My concern with the hotel towels is not the cleanliness, but the fuzz factor. (Although who knows the cleanliness factor of the hands folding, storing and hanging the towels.) I'll use them to dry/clean everything EXCEPT the area that was tattooed. Then I use paper towels. Yeah, they have a fuzz factor, but a smaller one than towels I think. Could just be my own assumptions, and that I'm working on my back, which I can't see to inspect more closely. I don't remember if I said it here, but I recently discovered the awesomeness of doggy pee-pads. They are absorbent with a fluid barrier on the bottom. I tape them to the bed and toss them in the morning. They also take up less room when I travel, 'cause I still feel bad about black stains on the hotel sheets, even though I know they come out. :-( - - - Updated - - - Ah yes, and that particular biohazard as well.

The knee isn't as hard to handle as you imagine. The knee ditch on the other hand stands up to its reputation.

I thought this post was a joke - I won't even take a bath until I'm 4 weeks out and I LOVE baths... That's not to say I don't bathe, I just don't soak in the tub ;) Saniderm?

I wouldn't do it. Why risk it?

posted this in the backpiece thread but i'm gonna give it a shot in here as well. finished yesterday thanks to Max Kuhn.

wrapped my back up yesterday with max kuhn and it is a great feeling. 4 sessions total, around 13 hours.

I believe it is a Japanese tradition to soak for a short time in a hot bath after a tattoo session. And many LSTers have shared that their post tattoo routine includes a hot bath. "excessive" is the key bad word. Light application of lotion works for most and is usually part of the recommended aftercare instructions from most shops.

I have no respect for anyone that likes apples. Those are snacks that second graders eat. I mean, you don't even have to peel an apple. Where's the skill in that? Seriously, explain to me why I should like apples!

I'm 61. I wish like hell I still had them around to show them my new tattoo! Do it, accept any disapproval and understand their background. My mom would have loved them, and dad would have approved that they represent my service. My grandfather - who had his own - would have loved it!

@bongsau. Excellent post. Sums it up exactly. Took me 20...something years to hit solid neck and hands/ fingers. Even then at first I felt exposed, but they're my favourite additions because as mentioned above, it compliments who I am and the rest of the suit. Even the compliments from work surprised me. As I've mentioned before, I work health care at a majour metro hospital within Corporate Services. Even attending Executive meetings, I lay my cards and hands on the table, and when you can prove your able to talk the talk, people become more interested in what you have to say rather than the way you look. Breaking down prejudice is great.

I know I already posted this picture when I first got these done, but I figured I'd include a photo in the actual "Hand Tattoo" thread as well. Here are my hands. Applied by Thomas Hooper.

Boy needs to plan ahead. But hey, he should fit in around here because he's got Ok, so that was a waste of 10 minutes of my life.

Funny looking microscope in that second photo.

Woah!!! That ROA! How did he fit that and make it look so good? True talent.

this is my favorite hand tattoo ever. Love how the sleeve transitions flawlessly onto the top of the hand. This is just a random picture I saw from reddit that I saved on my computer. I don't know who did this or where it was done.

I have the fronts of both thighs done, saving the back of my thighs for a back piece. I'd say go with the front of thighs and do little fillers on the sides.