01 / Cover-ups · Hecate · Watercolour and colour
Chusi wanted a new image, not a touch-up.
In the before image, you can see a winged figure with concentrated ink and several shapes running into each other. That was our starting point. Chusi wanted to cover it, but she hadn't picked a random subject: she liked Hecate and wanted the piece in my style.
That was the lovely challenge in this brief: bringing what she wanted to see on her skin together with what this cover-up could allow. I couldn't design as if the old tattoo weren't there. It had to be part of the thinking from the first sketch, without becoming the focus of the new piece.
In Greek mythology, Hecate is associated with magic and crossroads, and she has representations in triple form. Her reference opened up a very different possibility from the old tattoo: a strong female presence, brought into my way of working with watercolour and colour.
02 / Cover-ups · Hecate · Watercolour and colour
From a reference to a design for her leg.
The idea wasn't to place a same-size image on top. In the stencil you can see how the new face, hair and horns extend along her leg. We needed to think about the whole piece: the space the old tattoo occupied and where the new design would draw your eye.
Looking at her photo, I could distinguish more saturated areas and softer ones. I proposed colour transitions, organic shapes and shadows within a flowing composition. That was the design direction; the stencil shows it beginning to take shape on her skin.
A reference is a starting point, not a ready-made solution for any tattoo. For Chusi, Hecate needed to become a piece designed for this placement and this particular starting point.
03 / Cover-ups · Hecate · Watercolour and colour
A powerful figure, even before the colour.
You haven't seen the finished colour yet, but the new scene is already there. The front-facing portrait, the profile, the hair and the skulls create a different image. The hair travels through the design, connecting the shapes; our attention is no longer on that small motif near the ankle.
I like showing this stage because it helps explain the work between an idea and a finished piece. Watercolour doesn't replace composition: the design needs its lines, forms and arrangement to work too.
The horns and skulls belong to this visual interpretation. Together with the faces and the movement of the hair, they build the figure’s presence. The colour is still to come, but Hecate already has her place in the composition.
04 / Cover-ups · Hecate · Watercolour and colour
Then Hecate comes into colour.
Colour brings out the violet tones in the face and hair, the green eyes, and the blues, pinks and greens around the skulls. The forms still hold the design together, while the watercolour marks give the whole piece a different energy. That's the transformation you can follow in these images: the same starting point, a completely different scene.
Chusi later commented publicly on the video: “Quedó precioso,es mi pierna ❤️” — “It turned out beautiful, that's my leg ❤️” (translated from Spanish). I like ending with her words, because this isn't only about what I see in the result. There's also the person who brought the idea and now wears the piece.
This is the fresh result, not a photograph taken years later. It isn't a promise for every dark tattoo either. If you want to change yours, show me a clear photo and tell me what you'd like in its place. You don't need to arrive with a finished design: we start with your tattoo and your idea.