The Art of the Cover-Up
A truly successful cover-up shouldn't look like a cover up. If someone can recognize a cover up tattoo, it failed the test.
People need cover ups for a variety of reasons, most of them stemming from bad ideas.
I have covered up gang affiliation symbols, racial themes, ugly fairies, howling wolves, you name it, but the majority of cover ups are names. One customer even covered up a girl's name, only to put it back on again!
The popular gothic-style lettering that is so common right now will put any artist to the test.
Here are some pointers for making a cover up work well:
1) Work WITH the original tattoo, not against it.
Think up ways for the new tattoo to work with the existing tattoo. Could you incorporate a few old pieces into the new design? Could the tail of an ugly kitty turn into a tail of a new colorful seahorse? Could the bright green, ugly evergreen trees turn into tropical green leaves? I try to think up ideas that will work what is already there versus thinking what could just get layered on top.
The one style I avoid for cover ups is tribal. I call tribal the lazy artist solution. Solid black is an easy fix for most unwanted tats, the problem is that it can scream "I am a cover up!". The big black "brick" shaped tattoo is a dead give away.
I like to find creative solutions that use what the existing tattoo has to offer and use the least amount of ink necessary to turn one thing into another. This takes imagination and lots of creative energy. Since I love animals, I find they make great cover up subjects. I can hide just about anything in feathers and fur.
2) Use the same color values in the new piece as the underlying tat or go darker.
You cannot successfully go lighter with the pigments for the new tattoo. If you try to put hot pink over faded black it will not work. You may think you made it work at the moment, but check it a few months later and you will see that the old black "ghosted" up through. "Ghosting" is the term used when the old piece from underneath will slowly start appearing again. Faded black can be covered by purples, greens and blues very effectively though.
You cannot go lighter but you can stay the same shade or go darker for successful covering.
White never works for any covering up at all.
3) Keep whatever areas "light" that you possibly can.
This is what will throw people off from an obvious cover up. Leave whatever areas LIGHT that you can. It's important to incorporate into the new tat the same amount of contrast necessary for an interesting tattoo. All good tats have contrast: light and dark areas, this is what makes objects appear 3-dimensional and interesting. Keep whatever areas in the old tat that appear light, light. Having extreme lights and darks in the new tat will fool everyone from thinking it is a cover up.
4) Be sure to cover ALL of the old tattoo.
This means that you must cover or reline every part of the old tat. If you don't, the old pieces will stick out like a sore thumb when you have completed the new part.
I find most artists turn away cover up work. Perhaps they are too busy and don't want to take the time necessary for a creative solution but they are missing an important customer relation opportunity.
A good cover up creates HUGE customer satisfaction. By turning "Nicole Forever" into a beautiful flaming skull, your customer should be forever in your debt.
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