As you add more art to your body, you may begin to notice that some of your older tattoos just don’t match with the newer ones. One way to make your collection of tattoos more cohesive is to upgrade the older ones with tattoo cover up.
Some of your older tattoos may be dark or made up primarily of black ink. Are your options limited for a dark tattoo cover up? Not necessarily.
Can You Cover Up a Dark Tattoo?
With the help of an artist experienced with cover ups, any old tattoo can be upgraded to a more vivid design. You’d either work with the current tattoo as a base layer for the new, or you fade the tattoo with lasers to make “negative space” for the new design.
Below are the six most common reasons why our clients pursue a dark tattoo coverup:
- No longer like the design.
- The tattoo has faded or blown out with age.
- Preferences and tastes have evolved.
- The tattoo represents beliefs you no longer hold.
- Reminds you of someone with whom you no longer have a connection.
- The tattoo has flaws, or the design has distorted with age.
It may seem that the size of the design or the amount of dark ink saturation is a barrier, but with the creative-problem solving of a talented tattoo artist, you can get a dark tattoo cover up you’ll be happy with.
However, it’s not as simple as coloring over something as a painter would reuse a canvas. Instead, tattoo cover up is more like Photoshop where the old tattoo becomes a backdrop layer for the new design.
With the blending of color and its depth, shading, or detailing, the tattoo artist either creates something that integrates the old design or creates something new that completely draws the eye away to the new design.
The primary factors that determine what all is involved with dark tattoo cover up are how saturated the design is, the size of the area you want to cover, and how flexible you are about the outcome.
In many cases, the tattoo designer can work with the existing tattoo as a foundation for the new design. For example, white ink over black work gives a large block of dark ink more interesting detail and dimension
When the available means for a dark tattoo cover up won’t give you the results you want, then the tattoo artist might recommend fading the design with laser removal. This will lighten it and create more negative space for the design.