Cover Ups by Lydia

These are just a small sample of Lydia's work; you can see more photos by visiting Ancient Arts at 1065 K Street in Arcata, California.

Paula's one-sitting dragon cover-up:
Paula came to town on vacation, and got a big multiple tattoo cover-up in one sitting! This took about 4 hours from start to finish.

a. Paula's arm BEFORE. This presented me with a number of challenges: the colors in the nautical star and shamrock, the darkness of the name, the horizontal lines of the armband, avoiding the tattoo on her back, not to mention our short time frame.

b. Stage one--stencil and freehand drawing. Paula had fallen in love with a little dragon from Cherry Creek flash, so I re-drew it to fit the existing tattoos. After putting on the stencil, I then sketched the tail and some parts of the wings directly on Paula's arm. The tail curves and twists around her elbow.

c. The outlines are done. I like to work some of the lines of the old tattoo into the new one, though it's not always possible. Notice that when Paula bends her arm, the dragon's legs and feet follow, like he's coming in for a landing.

d. Shading gives the dragon dimension and begins to hide the old tattoos. A good cover-up doesn't always obliterate the old tattoo; sometimes it just fools the eye into seeing only the new tattoo.

e. I then add color, further covering the old tattoos. It's a delicate balance making the newly tattooed skin match the darkness and intensity of the covered-up parts. Green and blue in the belly scales very effectively covered the shamrock. Voila!

Don't get tattooed by some scratcher at a house party.

Ancient Arts Tattoo Studio & Art Gallery 1065 K Street, Arcata, California, 95521 707-825-TAT2 (8282)