Chihiro & Haku watercolour lettering cover-up

Before and after of a lettering cover-up on the forearm with Chihiro, Haku in dragon form and watercolour flowers — The old lettering and the Chihiro and Haku result. Image from the original carousel; tap to enlarge.

01 / Lettering cover-up · Spirited Away · Watercolour

She'd wanted delicate, elegant lettering

That was her starting point, and I explain it at the beginning of the video. But the lettering on her forearm looked dark and lacked definition. This time, we weren't going over the phrase: we were changing the subject completely.

We moved from lettering to a Spirited Away scene. Chihiro and Haku, in his dragon form, became the main figures. The before-and-after shows something important: the new piece takes up more space than the old tattoo.

Chihiro and Haku stencil placed over the old forearm lettering before the cover-up — The stencil on the forearm, before starting to tattoo.

02 / Lettering cover-up · Spirited Away · Watercolour

First, finding its place on the arm

Here's the stencil in place. Haku wraps around Chihiro, and the composition extends along the forearm, accompanied by flowers. It's not just about choosing a lovely image: we need to see how it works with what's already tattooed.

The lettering was small compared with the scene we ended up creating. If you're considering a character cover-up, this step helps explain why size and placement are assessed for your case, rather than simply copying someone else's measurements.

Line work of Chihiro, Haku and flowers before completing the watercolour — Characters and flowers defined in line, before continuing with colour.

03 / Lettering cover-up · Spirited Away · Watercolour

Lines first. Then colour

In the video, I show this moment before moving on to colour. Chihiro, Haku's head and the dragon's flow are already recognisable. The watercolour doesn't appear on its own: here it works alongside lines defining the characters and flowers.

Then I worked pinks and purples alongside blues and greens. That's the mix you see in the result: the characters have their place, and colour spreads around them, bringing the scene together.

04 / Lettering cover-up · Spirited Away · Watercolour

From lettering to a scene you can explore

In the result, your eye can move from Chihiro to Haku and follow the dragon's body among the flowers. The change isn't about rewriting the old phrase more neatly, but giving that area of skin a different subject.

The original video also shows the moment the client discovers the result. Here, I'd rather show you the process and let you see that moment as I shared it. This isn't a photo years later or evidence of how it has aged: that's what the dedicated healed tattoo section is for.

If you have lettering you'd like to change, tell me what you'd like to wear now and show me the tattoo. Finding a solution for this case doesn't mean any design can cover any lettering, but it does show a real possibility.

Watch the process and result in the original video ↗

If you're thinking about your own tattoo

Can lettering be covered with Chihiro, Haku or another character?

I did it here with Chihiro and Haku. To assess another tattoo, I need to see the lettering, its size, darkness and placement. The character you love is a starting point, not a guarantee that any composition will work.

Does the new tattoo have to be bigger?

Here, the scene covers more area than the old lettering. You can see it in both the stencil and the before-and-after. I wouldn't use these measurements as a rule for everyone: the tattoo you want to cover needs assessment first.

Can watercolour tattoos have outlines?

Yes. In this piece, you can see the character outlines before colour is applied. The watercolour effect and a defined drawing share the same composition.

Do these images show the healed tattoo?

The process and result images come from the work I shared in the video and carousel; I don't present them as a long-term follow-up. In Healed, you can see other pieces with their context and available comparisons.

Original TikTok video ↗ · Original Instagram carousel ↗
As I stated in the original post, the composition is inspired by an illustration by @dreaminkcolortattoos.

Ask about my idea ↗

Change the subject or rework the one you have?

Here, I changed lettering into Chihiro and Haku. In the owl case, the new drawing is still an owl. They're different starting points: tell me what you'd keep and what you'd rather leave behind.