Is a question I frequently get asked and provides one of the largest but also most rewarding challenges I face as a tattooer. To work with someone on a tattoo that they never/no longer love and transform it in to something that resonates with them is a great experience. There’s often a level of gratitude that goes beyond being happy with a new tattoo.

Due to the nature of my work I often get approached about coverups, blast overs or blackouts and as a result feel that I have a relatively good approach to these situations. If a coverup is to be successful as a new tattoo then it’s important that it doesn’t look like a painfully obvious coverup, and no this doesn’t have to do with the size of an area of black. Instead the emphasis is on composition, balance and intelligent use of negative space. It’s quite common to see people coverup an old tribal armband with just a black rectangle and then put intricate dot work/fine linework/small scale black shapes around it. To me this really just frames the obvious coverup that has been done instead of integrating it in to a design.

So when I get confronted with these kind of jobs I ensure that the client knows they will need to be flexible in terms of the weight and size of the finished tattoo in order to get the best results possible.

The below pictures are from a coverup I did for Oliver who travelled from France and spent 3 days getting tattooed by me. We worked on the design together to incorporate a mayan/aztec feel whilst using the parameters I set for constructing a tattoo of this nature.

It’s an honour to have people travel from afar to receive work from me, who  go the extra mile to ensure they get the tattoo they want and deserve. It’s a pleasure  working on such important projects with people and helping to create the vision they hold for themselves.

Thank you Oliver for seeking me out, travelling and then the patience and perseverance required in getting tattooed by me. You are a warrior, I look forward to meeting again soon.

Merci, Bon Voyage.