Negative space tattoo - cover up?

trio

Howdy,

I have a tattoo on my foot I'm not too happy with. There's nothing wrong with it - it's just old and amateurish and gotten way before I knew what artists could do.

So I want a cover-up and since I've since seen a hell of a lot more work and have formed my own tastes - I'd love for my next tattoo to have the primary design done in negative space.

For example, I'd love it to be in a similar style to this (not the specific design, just the style) - negative space picked out by stippling:



I think it's just so strong and yet so soft at the same time. Gorgeous.

The question I'm asking though, is can negative space tattoos be even used as a cover up? By using white ink I mean? Or would that distract from the design in a way that bare skin wouldn't?

I would want the cover up to be much the same size as the original - it's on my foot and there's limited space there unless I want to do a Fearne Cotton thing and cover the whole foot, which I don't, really.

Keep in mind that I'm so white I'm practically blue, and have never had a tan in all my 30 years, so in fairness white ink would probably look like my own skin.

I'm honestly not that familiar with what white ink can do at all, though.

But I'd like opinions - if a design similar in spirit to this wouldn't be suitable at all to a cover up then I can try to find something else and keep the negative space idea for a future tat.

Will

Loving the negative space idea. However, don't think it is possible to use white ink to cover up current tattoos.

Best bet is to go talk to an actual tattoo artist and see what they say.

c - 13

A friend of my parents has a tattoo with that stippling effect.

Its a bunch of stars starting at his wrist and coming up towards his elbow. Each star has a solid outline fading into the stippling effect. Its hard to explain but it looks really good.

He said it hurt like an absolute bitch to get done mind you

I love negative space tattoos myself, they're very different to the normal block styles that you see in a lot of places.

Raze_them_all

i dont think white can cover up black....as far as i know, could be wrong though

hot2def

white will not cover black, or anything else in the long term

trio

Ah well, at least now I know - will have to think of some other cover-up. :rolleyes:

Still going to have a neg. space tattoo at some stage though - it's great when you find a style that really stays with you.

j0e

trio wrote: »

Ah well, at least now I know

and knowing is half the battle