upworthy

Tucker Flodman

Tattooing, like any other skill, requires practice. The problem is, how do you practice permanently putting a nipple on someone else's body?

This genius tattoo artist found a solution. "Shannon McCauley gives out free tattoos to the people who volunteer their bodies to help her practice tattooing nipples.

McCauley is a tattoo artist at Steadfast Tattoo in Rochester, NY. She went absolutely viral after tweeting a photo of a leg with a nipple with the caption, "Tattooed my first nipple on skin. I'll be covering this tattoo for free once it's healed. I'm learning this so I can tattoo in surgeon's offices and help breast cancer survivors that had mastectomies."



She later said she'll also use this skill for people in the trans community. Simply amazing. You can visit Shannon's instagram to see even more photos of nipples tattooed on legs.



Tattooing is very common for people that have gone through mastectomies because surgeons can only do so much in terms of pigmentation. Tattoos on the hand have a practically infinite range of shade and color. Artists like Shannon are necessary in helping people through the recovery process.