Cover-up

Cover-up: covering an old tattoo in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Carpentras

A name that no longer belongs, a tribal from the 2000s, a botched or faded tattoo: at TATTOO ON MOVE, Tof covers old tattoos with a new design. It is a job apart, one that takes experience: you have to hide what is there without the new tattoo looking like a patch. It all starts with a visit to the tattoo shop, to look at the old tattoo up close.

Cover-up, rework or tattoo removal: three different answers

• The cover-up: a new design completely covers the old one, which disappears into the shading and shapes of the new one.
• The rework: we keep the base of the old tattoo and rework it: lines strengthened, contrasts redone, design updated or enlarged. It is often the right solution for a tattoo that has simply aged.
• Laser tattoo removal: it is done by a doctor, not at the tattoo shop. A few sessions are sometimes enough to lighten a tattoo that is too dark before covering it.

The tattoo artist will tell you frankly which of the three suits your tattoo.

What decides whether a tattoo can be covered

• Its colour and density: a pale or faded tattoo is easy to cover; a solid, heavily saturated black calls for a much darker design, or lightening with a laser beforehand.
• Its size and placement: the new design has to extend well beyond the old one. So there needs to be room around it.
• The condition of the skin: skin marked by difficult healing or an overworked tattoo has to be handled with more care.

The rules of a successful cover-up

• Bigger: the new motif is clearly bigger than the old one.
• Darker: ink is not opaque paint. White or a light colour does not hide black, they mix. The dark areas of the new design go over the old one, the light details on untouched skin, to draw the eye elsewhere.
• The right style: designs rich in shading and texture hide best — Japanese (carp, dragons, wave and cloud backgrounds), flowers and foliage, animals, ornamental, blackwork and trash polka. Fine line and minimalism, on the other hand, hide nothing.
• Solid black as a last resort: when no design can hide the old one, a completely black area (blackout) remains possible, but it takes a long time to do and can only be undone with a laser.

Before and after: some of Tof's work

A tattoo you want to keep is reworked rather than covered: here, the original star stayed, and the new design was built around it.

The most common requests

• A name or a date: lettering hides well inside a flower, an ornament or a larger motif.
• An old tribal: very black, it calls for a dense and often bigger design; sometimes, extending or reworking it is simpler. See the Tribal and Polynesian page.
• A botched or faded tattoo: this is the easiest case to cover, or to rework.

How a cover-up works

• A first visit to the tattoo shop, with no commitment: Tof looks at the old tattoo, measures its size and colour, and tells you what is possible. Quotes are not given by email.
• The design: it is created for the old tattoo, and begins once the deposit has been paid, at least 30% of the price of the tattoo, deducted from the price.
• The session, or several sessions for a large piece.
• The follow-up: healing products provided, a check-up after healing and a touch-up if needed.

The minimum price of a tattoo is €80. The price of a cover-up depends on the size of the new design and the time it takes: the details are on the Prices page.

Who does them with us

Tof, a tattoo artist since 1995, in both tattoo shops. Book with Tof in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue or in Carpentras.

Coming from Avignon, Cavaillon, the Comtat or Orange? Our pages Avignon, Cavaillon and Luberon, Comtat and Ventoux and Orange give the travel times.

Our styles

• Japanese
• Old school
• New school and neo-traditional
• Trash polka and blackwork
• Graphic and geometric
• Tribal and Polynesian
• Ornamental and dotwork
• Fine line, minimalist and lettering

Frequently asked questions

Can any tattoo be covered?

Almost always, but not with just any design. The blacker and heavier the old tattoo, the bigger and darker the new one needs to be. The tattoo artist will tell you at your first visit to the tattoo shop.

Can a black tattoo be hidden with white or a light colour?

No. Ink is not opaque: white or a light colour laid over black mixes with it instead of hiding it. We cover with something darker, and keep the light colours for the untouched skin around it.

Do I need laser treatment first?

Not always. For a very dark tattoo, or if you want a new, light design, a few laser sessions with a doctor to lighten the old one give you more freedom. The tattoo artist will tell you whether it is worthwhile.

Can a name be covered?

Yes, it is a common request. Lettering hides well inside a flower, an ornament or a motif larger than it.

Will the new tattoo be much bigger?

Yes, it has to extend clearly beyond the old one to hide it without looking like a patch. The exact size is decided together, at the tattoo shop.

What happens if I have to cancel?

The deposit is not refunded if you cancel less than 48 hours before the appointment. So please let us know as early as possible.