Have a laugh at my rubbish tattoo/ suggest a solution

disssco

I got this tattoo done when I was 16. My parents said I'd be sorry. Little did I know they'd be right I've been meaning to get it sorted for ages. I've got the cash set aside, should I get a cover up or get it lasered off?

In tattoos I like stylised, tribal (as in aztec and inca, not random abstract crap), simplistic designs. I'd also prefer to have it all in black I don't really like colour in tattoos.

I suppose I'd like to have a sun done again, but I'd be open to other suggestions. A tenner to the person who comes up with the best design

Raze_them_all

hee heee *laughs* ok now thats outta the way I think it comes down to this, are you comfortable with getting a bigger piece to cover it? If not laser

disssco

I wouldn't mind getting something bigger, as long as it was tasteful and didn't cover the entire of my back.

disssco

I do like tattoos. I want to get another one on my arm or wrist, but I should get this sorted first.

Gauge

I'm no tattoo expert but it looks like you could cover it up with the help of an experienced artist, especially if stylised tribal is what you want. If you're not entirely opposed to getting a similar design you could get something in the style of an incan sun- do a google image search for inca sun or something similar to get started, there's hundreds of designs out there. It was just the first thing that popped into my head when you said 'inca'...

disssco

Yes an inca sun is along the lines of what I'm looking for. Something like this would be great



The problem is I don't want a random flash tattoo, or something that hundreds of other people have on their bodies. And I'm rubbish at designing tattoos myself (see original tattoo ). If I brought this design o something like it to a tattoo artist would he work with me to design a more personal cover up? I presume they charge extra for this?

jenizzle

A tattoo artist would be only delighted to put their personal touch to a design like that. They shouldn't charge extra for the effort, only charging for the time spent on physically tattooing you. Any tattoo artists I've met would love to keep away from the flash sheets too.

Gauge

Try and get your hands on some books on Inca Art as well perhaps- something with large, high quality representations or photographs, there's loads of them. Architecture, pottery, scrulptures- It'll be a good reference point for the artist and you'll be able to get a lot of ideas from it.

disssco

Ok guys thanks for the ideas. Who would be a good artist for this job in the Dublin area? I'll ask my NCAD chum to have a look in the college library for some Inca/Aztec books.

Diceicle

Because of the position of the existing tattoo you may have to get a fairly large (not necessarily huge) piece done to cover it and also to not look as if you have a tattoo plonked on your back (this type of thing is why I think tattoo artists should advise more readily on placement of tattoo but I digress), from your pic you don't look to have any more tattoos so I take it this is probably your 2nd or possibly 3rd tattoo? If thats the case, don't discount colour tattoos totally. Many, many people (myself included in the years past) don't go for colour tats when they start out (for whatever reason) but as with almost everyone I know, they end up coming around the the variety and world of possibilites colour can give to a tattoo as well as aspect of vibrance good use of colour can bring. I'm not knocking black and grey (as I've got a sleeve of it) just consider the options before deciding.

Junki3

I like it. Pity its in the middle of ur back. You could do any design around the sun. Do you hv any outdoor or water hobbies? Gv me some suggestions and dimensions on how big you might wanna go. Black/Grey or Colour? Which County do u live in? (To ref a Tat2 Artist)

Miss_lady

believe it or not its actually not that bad, I mean you can cover that easy Id say and you really could have gotten so much worse hahaha - like certain ex of mine who got a name of a gf after a week of being with her?

popecatapetal

I actually like it - it looks like a little amoeba:) you could work it in to a microbe backpiece:D

of course, that probably wasn't the look you were going for...

PinkTulips

it's slightly irritatingly crooked isn't it?

could be worse though. a good artist could easily enough cover it, think if you go for a balck and gray though it could end up being quite a dominating back piece... which is great if that's what you want but i sounds like you'd prefer not to go that route. colour might look better in the long run

disssco

Thanks for all the tips guys. I checked my bank account and it looks like I don't actually have said funds to get this done, so I will be putting it on hold till the summer and in the meantime really researching it and coming up with the best solution.

Some of you mentioned colour as an option, to prevent the cover up piece from being too big. Can you tattoo colour over black? I was under the impression that it was impossible.
I wouldn't mind a red and black tattoo to be honest, I've seen some that work very well.

Star Lord

disssco wrote: »

Some of you mentioned colour as an option, to prevent the cover up piece from being too big. Can you tattoo colour over black? I was under the impression that it was impossible.
I wouldn't mind a red and black tattoo to be honest, I've seen some that work very well.

It will probably have to be broken up with black lines to disguise the original tattoo, but depending on the colours used and the design, it could be very do-able from what I can see of your existing tattoo.

disssco

Which artist/shop would be helpful with a cover-up like this? I remember about a year ago going into the tattoo place in the Stephen's Green shopping centre and they weren't at all helpful.

Star Lord

Had a similar experience when I called in there myself.

Depends on what style you decide on covering it up with, have you settled on one yet?

disssco

Not yet. I have it narrowed down to an inca, aztec or poynesian design. I'm browsing through designs and working to get my hands on a few art books.

Star Lord

If you want a cover up done, it's better to go to the artist with a general idea of what you want, rather than a specific design, and let them design a piece to cover it up.

Because of this you really wanna make sure you're going to someone awesome for it.