Cover-up Advice

Pippy1976

I got a tattoo about 2 months ago - on my back, under my left shoulder blade.

It's totally black and a little smaller than my palm. I'm not happy with the work that was done & am wondering about getting it covered up. I know getting a cover-up isn't that simple... black tattoos are harder to cover as there's no white areas to fill and a cover-up needs to be larger than the tattoo it's covering.

I'm attaching here two ideas I have (similar to Kim Saigh's purple rose tattoo on her shoulder).

http://www.blingcheese.com/image/code/67/purple+rose.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43748737@N00/3166663578/

Would my ideas work? What else do I need to consider before I get this done?

Any help is really appreciated guys. Thanks!

SolvableKnave

It's quite possible they could work, but the only sure fire way to know is to go talk to an artist. They could tell you quite quickly if it will work or not, as they would be able to see the tattoo being covered.

Star Lord

It may be possible to fix the tattoo to your liking, without resorting to a full 'cover-up' tattoo, find an artist whose work you like, and have a talk with them about it.

Killer_banana

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

It may be possible to fix the tattoo to your liking, without resorting to a full 'cover-up' tattoo, find an artist whose work you like, and have a talk with them about it.

+1

Or cover the design iwth a bigger, better done, version of the original design. My friend, unhappy with the lillys on her foot and them covered with slightly bigger lilys. Once the colour and shading was done it looked gorgeous and there wasn't any sign of the originals underneath,

Pippy1976

Thanks for the advice.

The tattoo I got was a waveform of a Led Zepp track - which is a pretty cool idea for a tattoo but it wasn't executed properly which is probably both mine & artists fault if I'm honest.

Anyway, I like the idea of the tattoo but not the way it was done as it's too big hence why I'm thinking a cover-up rather than a fix-up... I want the waveform to be smaller so it wouldn't cover the one I actually got. Thought the rose was cool...

I'll go talk to someone about it. Maybe I should just leave it as it's the idea behind it that I like. and, actually - I've probably answered my own question... if I'm not sure then leave it!! ha

SolvableKnave

, It would still do no harm to talk to someone anyway. If you happen to walk past somewhere, drop in and ask. It'll cost you nothing, and it might help you confirm whether or not you want the coverup or re-do.

Pippy1976

yeah, this is true - thank you!

I'm reluctant to go any bigger though & that is the problem with the cover-up idea. Will go talk to someone though... it's hard to do this kind of thing on-line.

Chur

Star Lord

Obviously I don't know the size of your tattoo, but it may be the case that in order to have the waveform clear, it might not be possible to do it much smaller. Just a thought!

Pippy1976

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Advice and help appreciated. I figure if I'm not too sure about changing it then I'll leave it - it does look kinda cool & very distinctive. Might get the rose done anyway - the purple looks amazing on the skin...

pips

Black Sheep

When it comes to cover-ups I sometimes think that the success of it depends on how big you are willing to go to conceal the original tattoo.

The most effective cover-up I have ever seen was also the most drastic... A tattooist in Scotland, Richard Pinch, covered up his old tattoos by getting a full body suit from Filip Leu which incorporated thick bands of black smoke and water. You don't have to go that far, but I do think that in general the most ambitious the design for the cover-up the better chance of whatever is underneath being overlooked.

Just an aside, but something that you could look into is the possibility of breaking down (even partially) the tattoo with laser treatments. No idea if they're available in Ireland, but I know people abroad who have gotten a limited number of sessions in order to break down black work that they wanted to cover up. Might be worth looking into to see if there's anything to it.

Pippy1976

@BlackSheep - that sounds kinda hardcore for me! I hear what you're saying but I'm not keen on going bigger.

I'd love to be a bit more adventurous when it comes to tattoos but alas, I'm not - although I have a few & want to add to them but tend to play it a little safe.

My next one is going to be a drawing my niece did - she's 5!

Black Sheep

Completely respect that point of view - my girlfriend is pretty conscious of the size of pieces she is planning too.

FWIW the drawing your niece did might well make a cool tattoo. There's a school of 'naive' tattoo design that is pretty popular in some circles these days. Here's a guy who specialises in (slightly polished up) versions: http://boucherie-traditionnelle.com/boucherie_traditionnelle/HOME_BOUCHERIE_TRADITIONNELLE_NOON_TATTOO_TATOUAGE_TATOUEUR_PARIS_NEW_YORK.html

Pippy1976

What's FWIW?!

Thanks for the link - his stuff looks really cool. How do you find this stuff?

Star Lord

FWIW = For What It's Worth

Black Sheep

Thanks for the link - his stuff looks really cool. How do you find this stuff?

Well, he does a lot of guest spots at a tattoo shop I use in London (The Family Business Tattoo, Exmouth Market) ... But I had also come across him via various Tattoo Magazines. I always encourage people to pick up Total Tattoo every month if they want to get a sense of what's out there.

Pippy1976

Deadly. Thanks for the link anyway - love it.

you must have some awesome tattoos if you use The Family Business. I got mine done in NZ - some really talented artists out there. One was done in Dermagraphics (my favourite) and the other was Sacred Tattoo... both in Auckland.

Star Lord

I just got to have a look through that link now (wasn't loading for me earlier) and that stuff is amazing, I've never seen anyone use shading like that before! I would wonder though how well some of it (like the swirly shading on the hat, and the fine lines on the peak of the below pic) would stand the test of time. His work is awesome though!

Black Sheep

I see what you mean - I hadn't actually noticed that curly line shading before...

Star Lord

I really like it though, as it's so different. It's more akin to print/illustration than tattoo!

Elbow

Love that style, the swirly shading is a really nice detail

Pippy1976

amazing tattoos - that's what tattoo-ing should be... art. Hard to find artists like that in run-of-the-mill towns / cities though.

love it