I resolve to finally do something about that bad decision

December 31, 2021 5:43 PM

Years ago I got a terrible illegal tattoo. It has aged as well as you'd expect. I'd like to update it - I've planned to update it for 25+ years, and well I just don't know how one fixes an old, ugly, stretched tattoo. Many questions inside.

I don't know how you find a good tattoo artist. How you work with them to cover an old tattoo. How you plan for an aging body that may gain or lose weight. How you select a design. Where the design comes from. And well, what else I should think about. I've started looking through Instagram to find artists and it's *overwhelming*.

Any advice to help me finally take care of this?

Note, I understand I could get it removed, but for reasons I'd prefer to integrate it into a new design.

posted by Toddles to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Best answer: There are tattoo artists who specialize in cover-ups of old tattoos! For instance, the best cover-up artist I know personally is Misha in Los Angeles. If you look at the kind of work she does for cover-ups, she finds ways to work with the colors and shades of the original tattoo and transforms it into an entirely new design.

If you don't mind saying what region you're in, I'm sure people can recommend excellent cover-up artists. Professional tattoo artists who are skilled with cover-ups will work with you to help you figure out what you want, tell you what's possible, and provide their artistic skills to design some delightful body art. It'll likely take a consultation visit first before you commit to the new ink, and please know that tattoo consultations from serious pros are probably not free -- but you're paying for their time and their artistry, whether or not you choose to put it on your body.
posted by erst at 5:56 PM on December 31, 2021 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Hey! Coverups are cool! It's all fine. You first of all want to find an artist who works in a style you like. Look up tattoo parlors in your area and go to their websites. They have them. It's cool. Most if not all of the artists will have instagram. Look at their posts and just start curating a bunch of stuff you like. I use pinterest for this but you can just as easily save a bunch of images on your phone. Marinate in this for a while. It's cool.

I collect "tattoo inspiration" on a pinterest board. Literal tattoos, other images, whatever. Just start collecting things that speak to you. Start thinking about it on lunch breaks. Find a few images, add them to the board.

OK so you have some ideas of stuff you like now! AWESOME. Now you want to reach out to those artists who work in the styles you like. You may be able to figure out if their books are open from the shop's website, but most artists handle booking via email these days.

For a coverup you will more than likely need a consultation. That's fine and cool, go in and see your artist and let them work with you to develop a coverup piece.

Now all you have to do after that is sit through the appointment to cover the old tattoo.

You got this! I have a lot of tattoos and I'm happy to speak via DM if you want.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:56 PM on December 31, 2021 [4 favorites]

Best answer: A good way to find a tattoo artist is to look at all the tattoo studios in your local area. Find their websites, they'll usually have a small portfolio for each of the artists they have in residence, or an Instagram account where they share their artists' work. Look for a style that you enjoy and that speaks to you. Depending on how large and dark your current tattoo is, you may need a design with a lot of shading or colour, so keep that in mind. It's likely to need to be a piece that's much bigger than the current tattoo, so don't bother looking at artists who do tiny delicate work.

Once you've narrowed your search down to a few artists or just a style of tattooing, contact the shops and ask for a consultation, explaining that you need a coverup. These days that might be online, or they might just ask you to send some photos of your current tattoo and any inspirational images or thoughts you have for the design.

Some artists will talk to you a lot about the design and consult you on it at every stage. Others will just go away and come back to you on the day of the appointment with a design to be tweaked while you're in the shop. Sometimes getting a tattoo is a bit of a gamble in that respect, so try to look at your chosen artists' whole portfolio to get an idea of their range and compare similar work. There's also nothing wrong with coming to an artist with an image and saying "I'd like a version of this". Some artists would rather do their own work or spin on an image but some are happy to just faithfully reproduce whatever you've brought them, it depends on the artist.

Also: no shame in having an old and ugly, or even illegal tattoo! If you watch any of those crappy reality TV tattoo shows (and I do, they're addictive) you'll see how often pro artists have someone turn up and say "I got this shitty ink when I was 14, please god cover it up". It's very, very common. Whatever artist you pick won't care.

One last thing: since it's over an old tattoo, depending on how that ink has healed it may be a little more painful than if it was on bare skin. Old tattoos can essentially be scar tissue under the ink and scar tissue tends to be a bit of a pain in the ass to go over. I have a tat on my upper arm that's 5+ years old and starting to fade out a bit. I asked for a touch up on it during a session for another tattoo and the area the artist re-inked immediately swelled up and was very sore, so she didn't continue. She said that just happens sometimes. So just prepare yourself for that, make sure to bring a sugary drink and a snack to the session and so on.
posted by fight or flight at 5:23 AM on January 1, 2022