New Tattoo Or Cover-Up On Your Mind? This Expert Guide Is All You Need!

“I would say be wary of thoughtlessly following trends. As obvious as that sounds, we see far too many trending tattoos age badly. For example, the style that’s currently in trend is micro- realism, which is basically a smaller design with lots of detail. But these are ill-advised because over time those small details will merge into each other, and the tattoo that originally looked intricate and beautiful will end up looking like a blob of ink,” shares Prashant candidly.

“Another thing to be very particular about is that the tattoo should go with the flow of the anatomy of your body and not look odd and out of place. This is a very specific process and shouldn’t be rushed. A good artist will be able to guide you here,” he adds.

“Choosing an artist is a decision you should be nitpicky about."

According to Prashant, the things to look for while choosing a tattoo artist are:

- The variety of work in their portfolio

- How long they have been practising for

- Is their work good consistently? Make sure to see enough of their work to ensure that they’re good throughout, and not fluctuating when it comes to quality.

- Make sure to check the healed work by the artist

“Something that really is a lose-lose situation is when the client is too set in their idea of what they want and doesn't allow room for the expert’s (which is your tattoo artist) input. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to be clear with what you want and that eventually makes the job for the artist easier too. But don’t approach your consultation with a closed mind. Sometimes what you have in mind might not look good when healed on skin, or might not be doable in reality. Try to have an open mind and listen to your artist, and together try to achieve the best possible design for your idea that will also age well."

Prashant says, "Nothing too hectic. Small tattoos might not need any touch ups but tattoos with a lot of details and colour might need touch up. That is completely fine and doesn’t reflect on the quality of the original work. The best maintenance is the maintenance provided by your tattoo artist. Listen carefully to their instructions, be cautious while it heals, and you are set.”

Basic expectations to have when going in for a cover up consultation according to Prasahnt:

2. Choose the right artist for that design: “Mostly, it is true that we need to make a bigger tattoo than the existing one to seamlessly camouflage it because we try to use the darker shades of the new tattoo to hide the old one, while guiding the eyes to focus on the more beautiful and detailed parts of the new tattoo. This is so that it looks like the new tattoo was always supposed to be there instead of it screaming that it’s a coverup tattoo. However, sometimes there isn’t an option to do that as the existing tattoos are already dark and big. But even in those cases, with the right skills, knowledge, and experience, the right artist can cover the darkest of the tattoos as well with lighter tones (read above: choosing the right artist).
It might take two or more sessions for it to completely overpower the new tattoo.”

“What makes my coverups different is that I try to approach it differently, with technique. I cover the darkest of inks with lighter tones making it a possibility to avoid going darker and bigger as the only way. I usually use true grey or light pastel grey tones to cover the darker tattoos as they’re opaque in nature, unlike the grey wash sets which are just diluted blacks to weaken the value and give a greyish tint.”

"When you combine both laser + cover ups it might end up costing more but you will get to have more options in choosing a design for a coverup, with fewer limitations. But it is important to choose a good clinic for laser services as oftentimes people’s skin can get ruined, and make it much worse than when you just had a bad tattoo. So, researching thoroughly when choosing a place for the treatment is imperative."

If you’ve been mulling over getting a coverup, we hope this piece helped answer some of your questions.