Not all tattoos are created equal.
We’ve seen some truly beautiful tattoos , and some truly tragic ones . For the people in this article, living with those tragic tattoos was no longer an option.
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All I can say before we dive in is this: my god, people, do not get your partner’s name or face tattooed on your body.
What on earth is that original tattoo?
I’ve been staring at it for a bit, and I’ve convinced myself that it’s Bigfoot, or maybe Godzilla.
I’m gonna go ahead and say that the coverup is definitely the superior tattoo.
Did you know a blackout tattoo can be covered up?
White ink was added to the original blackout tattoo to create a ton of geometric shapes and lines.
I love that the new tattoo has so much dimension, and I especially love the hexagons at the bottom!
Find me a better cover-up. I’ll wait.
Oh, what’s that? You can’t? That’s what I thought.
You can’t beat turning a mermaid tattoo into a well-to-do T-Rex smoking a pipe and reading a book. You can’t.
Pika Pika!
That first tattoo is so funny to me. It looks like a kid drew it! I love that they decided to lean into the original and create a way nicer Pikachu painting a self-portrait. He’s a little artist!
May the Force be with this coverup.
This in-progress cover-up is one of the coolest tattoos I’ve ever seen! That’s a true work of art right there. I really love all the florals and spiderwebs in the Stormtrooper helmet. Ugh, what an awesome tattoo.
Tattoo artists who can hide words are gods to me.
I truly do not understand how they do it, and I don’t want to — I’d rather it be this magical thing that I am always wowed by. Thank you for your service, artists.
This cover-up might just be a miracle.
I’m gonna be honest: I do not understand how this one happened at all. All of the lines from the previous tattoo totally disappeared under the new one! HOW.
Party dog? Party dog.
I almost feel like that first tattoo was specifically created for this coverup montage! The finished piece is so cute and only slightly menacing. What? Those eyes are a little scary!
This in-progress cover-up really shows how the process works.
You can see the original tattoo under the stencil’s linework! I love seeing in-progress looks at how tattooing works. It really shows you how much skill it takes to pull something like that off.
This tattoo had some lovely dimension added to it.
So that’s what watercolor tattoos look like as they age! I’m glad that this tattoo was reworked to make the bird a bit more realistic. And those flowers? So cute.
Goodbye, spiky feather.
Let’s be real, that feather needed some major help. The new bright, vibrant flowers are a much more fun choice, and I love that they kept the blue lines along the bottom!
I’d say they definitely went in a different direction here.
Ah yes, from a woman praying with a rosary to a demonic tiger. I love that they went so hard in the opposite direction with the cover-up here. 10/10 energy change.
What smiley face?
I really love that they chose to still use a good part of the original tattoo for this cover-up. There’s so much creativity here, especially in the sketch-like lines around the raccoon. (Or is it a red panda?)
From terrifying to wholesome.
It took 10+ years to find an artist willing to do a cover-up over that weird lizard zombie, but it was worth the wait. It’s now a very cool, very wholesome gaming tattoo!
I do not understand how this one was done.
First of all, I always get so sad when I see anniversaries covered up. But second of all, look at this coverup! It looks so flawless, I can’t handle it.
I need to amend my whole “no faces” policy.
You should absolutely get fictional characters tattooed on you. Especially if they look this good. Can you believe that’s a cover-up? It’s a full work of art!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go tattoo Captain Janeway onto my arm. Good day.
This little bird got a major upgrade!
Instead of ditching the bird, they added a whole bunch of decorative elements to make the tattoo bigger! I love that they made the bird look more delicate.
Goodbye, weird zombie hands.
That first tattoo sure is something! I don’t know if I’ve ever had the inclination to tattoo zombie body parts on my body, but that’s me. The new tattoo is much better, in my opinion.
I love that they kept the tattoo’s basic shape.
A square tattoo is such a cool idea, so I’m glad they decided to stick with that shape. The new flowers look SO much better than that little heart with legs!
This cover up is so clever.
I love that they used the lines that were already there to create a gorgeous, twisting tree! That tree looks so much better, and it somehow made the twisting vines look smaller and more delicate!
Make way for the Evil Queen.
I love people who cover up a small piece with a giant one. They just go for it all the way, and I respect them so much. That Evil Queen looks so amazing!
This is one hell of a clever way to “cover up” a tattoo.
I’m a big champion of never getting someone else’s name tattooed on your body.
However, if you have to cover one up, this is a hilarious way to do it.
Tell me how you really feel about your ex.
Alongside my belief that you should never get someone’s name tattooed on your body is this one: do not get your partner’s face tattooed on your body.
