Tsam

A healed photo showing where I am currently, I'm back in the chair in about two weeks and I can't wait! Looking forward to those last traces of the old pieces disappearing.

Also based in the UK, I honestly wouldn't have ever made the connection. Even a straight up knife with nothing else doesn't seem to get people going, I've seen a few London based tattooists offering them as designs without people decrying it. Go get it!

Greetings! I'm still in the early stages of my back, but yeah, not a ton of fun to be had there generally. Welcome to the site!

Looking really nice man, Scott does great work. Also, I think the 3/4 sleeves look awesome! Looking forward to your next set of photos.

Progress from a couple of weeks ago. About four hours here, next up is another half day to get the black into his body and get to work hiding that lower cover up. Can’t wait! Shading was definitely a different experience from the lining, much more so than usual I thought. Had completely different hot spots as compared to lining day. Kidneys still leading the way for my least favourite spot so far though.

I work in a customer facing job with customers from all sorts of backgrounds. The number of negative comments or even looks have been so small in number as to be negligible. Generally people either say something positive or nothing at all. I see your concern, and it’s totally valid. Only you can decide whether you’re ready, but I don’t think you’ll find anyone ever notices the difference as much as you will. Good luck with whatever you get!

Great news indeed, I remember reading about this case a while ago, glad sense has prevailed.

As has been said, there's nothing at all you can do for a little while in any event. I've had a knee jerk reaction to a piece before that I was convinced would never settle into my collection and after a bit of time, it looks just fine to me. Hope you come to like it more, it's a nice tattoo.

And I'm back! Had my first session a few days ago, we went for about 7 and a half hours or so and got all the outline done. Was definitely a tough session, the kidneys, parts just below my neckline and the tailbone were all particularly unpleasant. I'm hoping the shading will go a little easier on me. We're going to add some more at some point so that my ass is covered, probably flowers or some cool swirling wind bars. Next session is another day in about three weeks or so. I couldn't be happier with how its looking currently, I just wish I didn't have the view intruded upon by the old pieces, still, they'll be gone soon enough! I can't wait to see how it all unfolds from here really.

@gingerninja Thanks so much! Well, I'm done, seven and a half hours to line and I'm now I'm at the morning after and feeling absolutely drained. It's incredible though, I'm over the moon with it. Can't wait to get started in a month on some shading. I'll post a picture at some point in the next couple of days over in the backpiece experience thread for anyone that is interested.

Well, tomorrow is my first session on my backpiece. I saw the design for the first time today and I'm getting seriously stoked, there are a ton of lines to lay down so it'll be a long one, but I can't wait to get started!

I have pretty skinny arms and was worried about whether I'd end up with massively wrapping designs that wouldn't read well but just chose an artist I trusted, let her do her thing with the design and all came out great. As others have said, the key is just in going to someone who you can trust and going for it. Good luck!

Stomach has definitely been the most testing for me so far. Had it tattooed three times and each one was just misery, thankfully it's full now though! I also had a four and a half hour session on my inner bicep and by the last half an hour or so I was just a puddle of misery and sweat on the bench. Will be getting my back (and ass) lined in two days though, so we'll see where that lands on the scale!

My experience wasn't the best unfortunately. My very first tattoo didn't actually cause anything but a few raised eyebrows, but once I got a couple of others (and a septum piercing) in the same year all hell broke loose and I ended up getting thrown out of the house. They were all quite small, in discreet places, but were a solid no-go as far as my parents were concerned. A lot of years have gone by since then, and nowadays on the relatively rare occasions that I see my father he just completely ignores my tattoos. We both know he hates them, and is convinced that I'm ruining my life by getting them so it's just easier to let that remain unsaid. Strangely, he actually has a tattoo. I've never found out how he ended up having one done given that he claims he's always hated them, it's an old one from when he was about 19 I think. Still, people are strange, and at least we got to the point where we can meet up without the topic coming up every time.

I found that my expectation of how bad I thought my knees would be was way worse than they actually were, you should be fine. That first morning after bending it was admittedly a stinger though!

@scottyg Thanks man! Hanan Qattan is doing it, she tattoos from Circle of Swords in Worcester. She has already done a sleeve of sea beasts for me, as well my knees so we're pretty well acquainted and she's always nailed great designs based on my suggestions before. I've given her carte blanche to play around with the design and come up with something rad, I can't wait to see what she's drawn up for me, counting down the days!

First post here at LST, just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their experiences across this thread. I'm currently two weeks away from my first sitting on my Fudo Myo-o backpiece and reading my way through what everyone has had to say has been helping both fuel my stoke and nerves for it!