Tattoo Cover Up

[Aggie_Ama]

Anyone have experience with getting a tattoo covered? I got a yellow rose on my ankle when I was 18, I thought I might leave Texas and wanted a yellow rose. As I got older I realized a yellow rose really doesn't mean anything to me. Plus it is just plain looking and I don't care for it much. I am considering getting it covered with a lily, it is my favorite flower or a gardenia which reminds me of my Pawpaw. At one point I thought about getting it removed but I don't dislike it that much, it just doesn't hold much significance to me.

My main concern is what do I need to think about, does it need to be a lot bigger? The rose is already decent size, that is one thing I didn't think about when I got it was it is it isn't little or dainty. The other concern is a gardenia or a lily would have light colors, the tattoo artist outlined the rose in black and it does have a green stem, so it is relatively dark.

[gnat23]

You need to find an artist who a) has experience with coverups (check their book of previous work) and b) can work with what you've already got. Colors, if you go a little darker, can be done, but the real artistry is in using the previous black lines to shape what the new piece will be.

On my upper back, I had some egyptian wings with a sun and snakes in the middle. While it was neat looking, my only regret was that it was too small for the placement. My artist added a few more "layers" to the feathers to extend it to my shoulders (yay!) but then there was the issue that the sun was the size of a dime and didn't hold up to the new wingspan. She was able to turn the sun into the thorax of a large beetle, turned everything a blue-green (the red of the previous sun became a "highlight" on its back), used the previous snakes as legs, and then had the beetle holding a HUGE sun over its head above the wings. I was stunned and thrilled with the end result.

This is a little fuzzy, but it's a decent view of where the old one was (colored) and the outline of the coverup.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnat23/153151712/

-- gnat!

[Aggie_Ama]

I knew you would have advice Gnat. The artist that did my wrist tattoo has some cover-ups in his portfolio. I may start with his thoughts since I clicked with him. I need to have him touch up a bit of the tattoo on my wrist so maybe when I go for that. At least I have some ideas what questions I need to think about.

[Aggie_Ama]

I got the piece done on Wednesday night and I am super happy with the results, didn't enjoy the two and half hours on the table but it was worth it. This location hurt a lot more than my wrist or hip, I don't remember the first tattoo because it was about 14 years ago and my memory has faded of the feeling.

I didn't give my artist much direction other than I wanted a pink lily and a picture of one I liked. Ultimately we had to go darker with the lily because I didn't want this any higher really than the existing tattoo, his original design would have put the flower more on my calf and relied on the leaves to cover the old tattoo. The design we used is just a modification of what he initially had for me when I came in.

Before:


Mark-up:


About halfway:


Immediately after:


Today:

[Catrin]

I hear you about how it can feel on the table - my one and only tatoo took two sessions, both were about 8 hours & it covers about 1/3 of my back. I don't do anything halfway

Enough of that, I think the new tattoo is beautiful! The colors are rich and vibrant, and I love the shading. Very nice!

[Atlas]

That's lovely.

[OakLeaf]

Very nice!

[Aggie_Ama]

Catrin- I already have two more pieces in mind. A panda bear against mountains on my back and a paw print from my dear dog Maggie I lost in 2009 on my ribs. I don't want to think about the back piece though because it will likely be 1/4 my back and be a bit unpleasant! I added to my own unpleasantness by not wanting to lay down fully. I found it more interesting to watch the process. Cory, my artist, was really sweet asking plenty if I needed a break but every break it just hurt more when you started again because the adrenaline went down! My friend's first tattoo was a half sleeve, he will have 17 hours when it is finished next month. I guess he is crazy like you and wanted to "go big or go home".

Murienn - It definitely hurt! The artist loves to do flowers or "anything organic" so he said he had a lot of fun with this. I was thinking "glad someone was having fun".

[Catrin]

They sound beautiful Aggie! The large tattoo in particular sounds incredible! If it helps, I doubt seriously that the work on your back will be near as painful as your ankle - there is more cushion there before bone

My large tattoo didn't start out that way. I originally had something much smaller in mind but THEN I saw a drop-dead gorgeous Phoenix in some illustrations in a book she gave me to look it. It looked like a work of art, and it turned out that way. I HAD to have it and being my first tattoo, I didn't know what I was in for. The tattoo artist was from Hawaii and had many years of experience there. She made her own needles and inks - apparently in Hawaii the license requirements for tattoo artists is substantial.

The first appointment was just for the black-work for outlines and details. That took about 6 hours if my memory is correct - not 8. Two weeks later I took the day off work and went in for the 8 hour color session. That was fine, but my endorphins disappeared for that last hour. I was in a full sweat by the end. She made me promise not to tell anyone that I only paid $150 for that beautiful work of art while I still lived in the state! She was totally sick of doing fad tattoos like skulls and cartoon characters and she had been wanting to do that tattoo for a long time. I believe she featured her photography of my tattoo at her next conference. I wish I had a good picture of it, lo these 20 years later it is still beautiful. It hasn't faded much at all!

[gnat23]

The coverup looks FANTASTIC! Great work!

-- gnat!