Cover Up Tattoos Bangkok

It’s a sad reality that not all tattoos are created equal.

Most of us either know someone who has a tattoo they hate, or might even have one ourselves!

The stories behind these tattoos are many, but the outcome is usually the same…

Living with a tattoo you don’t love can be stressful.

But don’t worry!

In almost all cases, a cover up is a viable option and can turn something you hate into something you’re very proud of.

Yep – a cover up can help you “flip that frown 🙁 upside down! :)”

Alright, enough with the intros. You’ve got a tattoo you hate, you’re stressed. We get it! Let’s get into the details.

Why Might a Tattoo Need To Be Covered Up

Some of the main reasons for wanting to get a cover up are:

• The artist did a bad job. This is probably the most common reason. Cheap, quick, inexperienced artists tend to do bad work. Who would have thought it?! Most have us have been there. We live and learn – you get what you pay for.
• You regret the design. This can be for all kinds of reasons but the most common is probably that you got someone’s name tattooed on you that you’d rather forget!
• The tattoo has faded. Tattoo inks have come a long way in the last few years. Tattoos done 10+ years ago were often done with inks that fade over time.

Whatever the reason, the fact is that what you currently have isn’t something you want a constant reminder of and you’re looking for a way to get rid of it and put something better in its place.

Options For Removing a Tattoo

For many people in this situation, the first thought that enters their mind is, “Can I get it removed?”

Then they discover that not only is tattoo removal very expensive, but that it can take many months – and can also be quite painful.

That isn’t to say that it’s not an option – it is.

Laser tattoo removal has come a long way in the past decade but to say it’s a simple process just isn’t true.

In fact, most of the time people who get laser tattoo removal are doing that as a first step before getting a new tattoo put over the same area, as often the skin is quite damaged and the tattoo itself isn’t 100% removed.

However this isn’t always necessary, it is often possible to go straight to covering up your old tattoo with a new tattoo.

What To Consider Before Getting a Cover Up Tattoo

Getting a cover up tattoo is pretty much a “one shot” thing.

Covering up a cover up, while maybe possible, is often practically impossible.

For this reason, it’s best to make sure you choose a studio that not only has the experience to do the work, the quality of artists required to bring it to life, but the ability to advise you correctly.

A cover up tattoo isn’t the same as tattooing on fresh skin.

When getting a tattoo on fresh skin, your options are essentially limited to your imagination, the size available, your budget, the skill of the artist and practicality (not everything works as a tattoo).

For a cover up tattoo the tattoo you need covered will largely dictate what is possible.

The larger, darker or more dense the current tattoo, the more limited the options will be.

This is why it’s so important that you choose a studio who can give you honest advice instead of promising the world and not really taking the reality of the situation into account.

While we will always take into account your ideas, your preferred style and design, we need to help you to find a middle ground between what you want to get done and what is realistically possible.

At this point it’s important that you think about managing your expectations – what is more important to you: to remove the old tattoo and cover it with something more beautiful? Or to get exactly the design you want?

Working with a professional studio will help you to get the information you need to make the right decision without pressuring you into doing something you’re not sure about.

How Big Does a Cover Up Tattoo Need to Be?

Just like most things – it depends!

The simple answer it – the new tattoo needs to be bigger and darker than the old tattoo.

The real answer though is much more complex.

In some cases part of the old tattoo can be used in the new design, or the old tattoo is faded enough that a bright color will cover it even though it was originally black.

This is where the advice of a knowledgeable studio will come in helpful.

If we’re able to see your old tattoo in person, we can help to give you some options that might work for you.

We understand however that face to face consultations aren’t always an option.

So you’re welcome to send us over pictures/videos of your current tattoo and any ideas you have of what you’d like to cover it with and we can advise from there.

Which Designs Work Best for a Cover Up?

Again, there isn’t a simple answer as the age,size,shape and density of your old tattoo will affect what will cover it well.

However in general some designs work better than others.

Examples of designs that work well for cover up tattoos

• Animals or mythological creatures with scales or feathers.
• Dragons and koi-type fish and other dense Japanese style designs.
• Large birds, such as vultures, ravens or eagles.
• Dark floral designs, with plenty of leaves.
• Old school or new school color work
• Trash polka and brushstroke
• Black out (literally, solid black blocks of ink – which is actually much nicer than it sounds when done right!)

Examples of designs that don’t work well for cover up tattoos

• Geometric designs. These are usually made up just of straight lines in patterns, which means if they are put over an old tattoo it will be nearly completely visible underneath. However dense mandala designs can sometimes work.
• Realistic black/grey. Portraits, realistic animals etc. This style uses nuanced shading to create depth and the skin is used as the canvas to bring out the lighting in the subject. Putting this over an existing tattoo won’t work in almost all cases.
• White ink. People often think that white ink will work to cover an old tattoo. That isn’t the case! White ink is used in tattoos only to create depth of shading, as it will fade almost completely over time. It definitely can’t cover up old tattoos except perhaps for an extremely short period of time.

Can I Retouch My Old Tattoo Instead Of Covering It Up?

In many cases this is a good option.

Sometimes the tattoo itself isn’t something you dislike, or want to get rid of for personal reasons but is just faded, or executed poorly.

Often it is possible for an experienced artist to re-line and re-shade the tattoo and bring it back to life, or to make it look like it should have done the first time around.

Whether or not this is possible depends entirely on the tattoo that you have, so send it over to us and we can give you some honest advice!

Why Do A Cover Up With Us?

Near enough every single day we are covering up, retouching or repairing an old tattoo.

We have become well known as a “go to” studio for this type of work.

This isn’t just because we have excellent artists (we do!) but because our number one priority has always been quality.

We have a large team of staff outside of artists who are very highly trained to assist in the process and their mandate is to give you the best possible outcome.

Not the one that makes us the most money, or the one that we think you’ll want to hear – the one that is best for you.

We strongly believe that if we focus on quality, in every aspect of the business, we’ll be around for years to come.

This means that we’ll give you completely honest advice about what we believe is possible and what the expected outcome will be.

If that means you end up not doing it – no problem!

What it does mean is that you can feel confident that we have your best interests at heart.

So if you have a tattoo you want to cover up or upgrade, contact our friendly, fluent English speaking staff and we’ll let you know what’s possible.

Some of The Cover Up Tattoos We Have Done