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Franz Stefanik, The Okey Doke, Toronto, Ontario

Cross posting from the back piece thread, this is after session 2 with Marius Meyer yesterday. Yesterdays session was all the scales, all the shading in the skull and all the yellow. Looking to get the next session booked in for around the beginning of April, hopefully.

I love this contest. Have been to busy looking at amazing stuff, but now i figured it´s time to show something off. This is my backpiece by my favourite Norwegian tattooer, Marius Meyer.

finally updated my blog. writing is hard. let me know you see any grahamar or speeling misteaks. The Back Piece: An Uncomfortable Journey: Session One: Kings Ave NYC

I thought I'd post a pic of the knees (both done by Franz Stefanik at The Okey Doke in Toronto.) The demon is still finishing up its heal, so its not a perfect pic.

Only got a couple little guys since this thread started. Tackle my right thigh or save up for my move...? I CAN DO BOTH, RIGHT?! I'll add this little moon mamma I picked up from Antonio Roque at Black Label in Frederick, MD. Really liked that shop and had a great experience with Antonio.. can't wait to go back when I'm visiting my folks who live about 15 minutes away. Also, not only do I love Antonio's tattoos, his paintings are so CLEAN. Lots of nice work hanging up there..

[MENTION=50637]mark bee This is how legs should look

@pidjones i'm not sure how well being DEMANDING in the tattoo shop will go over. Actually I do know, it won't get a very positive response. Being caught up in your own tattoo-euphoria and not checking the stencil thoroughly enough, well, you get to shoulder that responsibility. My unsolicited advice is to relax and discuss it in a calm and reasonable manner and you will be more likely to find a solution with the tattooer. There is no such thing as a perfect tattoo, it is very common that we get fixated on the new tattoo and can see every imperfection. However we're hoping your tattooer can make things right for you. What is the tattoo that you are referring to? I've only had a sketch emailed to me once in the last 12 years. It hit my inbox 2 days beforehand. It looked great and got the just of what bud was going to tattoo, but it was just that. A sketch. And the end-product goes way beyond what the sketch could convey. Most tattooers I know don't sketch it up until the night before (keep the drawing fresh on the mind) and only make the stencil when you show up and are ready to rock n roll. I've got some cranes on my arm. The crane had 2 legs on the sketch. 2 legs on the stencil. But only 1 leg at the end of the line session. I freaked a bit. My tattooer just said relax, the missing leg is just behind some clouds. Things fit flow and look a different way when they finally go in the skin. And I love this tattoo even more for that mild imperfection. /offtopic...back to text tattoos. Here's some more unsolicited advice for everyone. A picture is worth a thousand words. But if you really need words to get your meaning across...keep it simple and choose your words wisely. You can say A LOT with only a few words...and it will reduce the probability of a spelling or grammatical error ;) - - - Updated - - - edit/ for spelling and grammar haha

I don't understand people who make sweeping generalizations?? Sometimes we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the shop and little things slip your attention. Misspelling a tattoo isn't a justifiable error, however we are human and we make mistakes and what with most tattooers having decade-long careers, the probability that something like this will happen is high. This thread feels very bitchy and ranty overall. Everyone needs to accept responsibility on both sides.

art, art, art, art and Tatters gonna Tat tat, tat, tat, tat - - - Updated - - - My book was from a tattooed person

japanese tattoos have a lot of elements that are pretty darn close to "blackout". Wind bars, rocks, black scaled koi, etc. you might have more options than you think.

sneaky peak of the 'black'ground progress. lower back rocks and butt waves next week. yikes!

My final vote - love handles - below the hip bone FTW. Beats out spine, kidney and lower back. Ribs near armpit are a verrrrry close second.

Where your back of thigh meets your arse, without a doubt. Worse than banging armpits, ribs or sternum.

tatt bros for life!

sorry to hear that your finger bang tattoo dreams wont be coming true.

Kidneys. No wait, Knees. No - sternum. No no no - waitaminute - it all hurts.

when i started, i had a theme going in that i wanted all of my tattoos to be vaguely family-related. but then when i ran out of ideas i just started slapping them on there : ) I agree with ChaosDani that:

Awesome. I think I'm going to go for it, if I end up in the right place and the right time. I'm a long haul truck driver, so much concern is just using my stiff clutch while it's still tender. I have a big vacation coming up here soon, so I won't have more than one day off to do it. I guess if I can arrange my day off in a good spot with a good shop, it'll be time to nut up or shut up!

Is it weird to be jealous of another man's legs? @Mark Bee that really is fantastic. I just started working a lot on my legs; out of curiosity, how long did it take you to get a decent amount of mobility back after getting your knees done?

This is cool and franz is great aswell

Did you post what reads like a bad Yelp review on a takeout chicken forum afterward? Because that's what I would have done.

This reminds me of the time I ordered some chicken from a takeout place down the street. I called ahead with specific directions about how it should be seasoned (no sauce) and cooked (fried). When I got there to pick it up I was so hungry that I ignored the fact that it was covered in BBQ sauce and grilled. It tasted really good and I ate it all as soon as I got home but it wasn't what I specified so I returned a few days later to demand a refund.

The back where the armpit meets the back.... Ughhhh hurts like shit when they are doing over passes.

Managed to snag an appointment with Chris O'Donnell when he guests at Sang Blue this year. Not sure what the dates are yet but the tattoo itself is gonna be a big ass Fudo Myo-o on my right thigh. 2015 is going to be a terrible year for my wallet, but fuck it.

The day after a 5 1/2 hour backpiece session of mostly shading. Fuck my life right now.

Participated in the Chinese New Year celebrations this past weekend in Edmonton. My buddy and I did a quick feature and demo on the local breakfast news TV broadcast. And then our school did a demo at the big ol West Edmonton Mall. Here are some action shots, En joy! Gung hay fat choy Our Shaolin kung fu demo team Here's an action shot of me doing a flying jump kick and shooting out a chain whip: The pride of our school, the kung fu DRAGON ! with a sneak peak of my backpiece progress thanks for looking, hope the lunar new year is good and full of colour for all the tattooed pals out there :cool:

Just came back to this thread so many nice legs. think we should have all have a update soon

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/2697-leg-sleeve-tattoos-aka-squid-pants.html This one could help aswell, I know it's legs but... Wrong one try this one http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/5601-squidpants-leg-mania%3B-where-were-our-leg-tattoos-page12.html

Booked in with Eddy Deutsche in a couple weeks at Marius Meyer's studio, and I'm getting a small one from Grez at Blue Arms Tattoo in May. So pumped that more and more great tattooers decide to visit Norway when they're out traveling.

I only have 6 tattoos, but I have 5 birds total. I feel some pressure to not choose birds, but I love bird tattoos in all their variety and might just go with it and get birds everywhere.

Dragons, snakes, skulls, tigers, vikings, runes. Only one parrot though :) Parrots are cool. Slam another one. I would if I had room left [emoji106]

ok ok - now I know this is the heavyweight division - the best of the best - major league back pieces - epic sleeves from legendary artists from around the globe - tattooing black belts - you get the picture - but I figure - you only live once - so here is my first ever entry into one of my favorite monthly threads.... Whatever...by Jamie Sawyer outta Immortal Ink in Clinton, NJ

arters gonna art

So far, the lower back and spine are reliably:

I'm really scared of tattooing my belly now. Did the hip a few weeks back and it was kind of coming on to the side of the stomach and it hurt like crazy. It was a different kind of pain though, not just the surface but from inside my body came this hurt that I was surprised to feel. It was like my body told me to not go forward with this idiotic "art" that I was exposing it to. Also about 10-15 minutes after he stopped in that area I still had this pain, pulsating from inside my entrails. Fuckkk… That day when I do start my belly piece is going to be one special (horrible) day

surprised this thread got bumped after 8 months of dormancy. instead of just talking in circles, why not just re-read this entire thread 7 times or so and get the same basic result. when oversimplified, it boils down to two fundamental sides... 1) tattooers who have gone thru an apprenticeship will advocate an apprenticeship because they understand how much it taught them. 2) aspiring tattooers who have not had or do not have an apprenticeship will believe they can do it on their own, because they don't know what they don't know. THEN, if they're lucky/persistent, they'll get an apprenticeship. (see #1) folks in category 1) will never change their minds. folks in category 2) may only change their minds when they get far enough along their path... but it also might not ever happen. of course, this is oversimplified and there are many aspects to each side, as well as exceptions.

There's a lot of truth in this. A certain amount of technical lessons in the beginning would help, but ultimately we will be left with teaching ourselves and learning on our own. I know I am going to come under attack because I am not a tattooist, but I am an artist and I know how I learn things and I observe very closely how others learn (or not as the case might be). When is the last time you had a lesson in how to talk? I know I speak a lot better than I did at two, the last time I received a speaking lesson. And those lessons were quite rudimentary, I assure you! Since then I learned from everyone I ever came in contact with and sort of 'taught myself.' What learning and achieving artistry all comes down to is: 1) Copying - Copy the stuff you like. Copy the stuff you don't like. Copy the stuff other people like. Copy the stuff other people don't like. Copy everything that's pertinent (a mentor/teacher might help you determine what is 'pertinent'). 2) Consider - Now analyze what you've copied. Cognize, understand the where/why/how the copy falls short. Understand why you like some things and not others. 3) Create - Now with a heightened understanding, make the things you don't like into things you do like. This is where your personality and style are going to come through and you'll start creating an identity for yourself. Said another way imitate, assimilate, innovate. Ok, I am getting to the point. It's not necessary that someone 'teach' us. What is necessary is that we learn it. Learn through exposure and awareness and through the cycle of copying, considering, and creating! Do you think it's any coincidence that the best artists (musicians, painters, tattooists, architects, doctors, etc.) are well-traveled, exposed, experienced and aware? Shige? He might be doing a lot of learning on his own, but trust me, that stuff he does wasn't created in a vacuum. He got ideas from everywhere.

I just thought I will share my humble experience. I've been offered an apprenticeship a long, long time ago. The artists were impressed with my drawings/art. But they didn't go through with it as another person came to the shop the next day. This guy tattooed all his army mates. He was doing it with a self-made machine. No artistic bone in his body, honest! But the shop owner felt that the guy will be better suited for an apprenticeship (although other artists who worked there felt otherwise). It crushed my spirit for a while. Now I plan to pay for a tuition before I seek apprenticeship again. I want to make tats on pig skin, synthetic skin and finally, after I feel I am ready to do it safely, I will tattoo myself. But I would never consider tattooing other people without serving full apprenticeship!

ok so it's not unknown i got my apprenticeship with a guy named miller cotton some say before he died he was a different man. this i cant say but i do know he liked speed rattle snakes and stun guns.. you can guess how this goes. have you ever been stun gunned in the nutts? its awesome. i would be sitting at the the desk making needles for two tattoo shops and then bammmmmmo i would be on the ground needles everywhere floping around screaming like a little girl while he laughed at me.. cant say i miss him but a gratefull he gave me a job. oh and he would stab me with used needles...fuck....

not so much a horror story, but i remember having to put on gloves and help my teacher stretch a guys ass cheeks so he could tattoo them. i think he was seeing what i would do and what i wouldnt do haha