01 / A COVER-UP IN COLOUR
From three unclear shapes to a different idea
My client explained that these were meant to be three birds, but had ended up as three blobs. That gap between the idea and what you actually see on your skin is the starting point of this cover-up. This wasn't about adding a detail to the birds: I created a new subject.
The proposal was a long feather, with a curve running along the forearm. In this first image, I'm placing the stencil. Some of the paper is still on the skin, covering part of the earlier tattoo; dark ink is still visible beside it. I'm showing you this moment as it was, while the new drawing was starting to find its place.
I moved from several separate shapes to a single figure. If what bothers you is that the subject isn't recognisable as you'd hoped, that's a useful question to bring me: do you want to keep the original idea, or would you like to change it? Here, I took the second path.
02 / A COVER-UP IN COLOUR
Creating a feather, not trying to bring back the birds
As I worked, I added colour to the new shape. The central curve guides the feather, with the different sections arranged around it. Pinks and reds appear near the top, alongside greens, purples, blues and turquoise.
I wanted to show the process between the stencil and the finished piece, because it makes the change of subject clearer. I was no longer drawing three separate birds, but building a continuous composition. The tips, lines and washes of colour all belong to that feather.
When I shared it, I joked that we'd ended up plucking them. That's the twist in this case: birds became a feather. It's not a restoration of the old drawing, but another way of transforming the space it occupied.
03 / A COVER-UP IN COLOUR
Watercolour and lines: both sides of this feather
Up close, you can see how I combined colour with dark outlines. Some sections are more defined; elsewhere, the colour opens out into small marks and splashes. The feather's curve stays recognisable among those looser areas.
If you like my watercolour but worry about the dark ink in your existing tattoo, here's a piece I've done: it has bright colours as well as dark lines and areas. They aren't mutually exclusive in this drawing.
Notice which part draws you in. It might be the pinks and blues, their contrast with the greens or the loose edges. Telling me that helps me understand what you're looking for much more than just saying you want an identical tattoo.
04 / A COVER-UP IN COLOUR
The whole piece, and a question for your own tattoo
Here's the full feather on the forearm, with its finer end pointing towards the wrist. The figure follows a long curve, with colour details around it. This wider view completes what I've shown you up close.
You don't have to want a feather for this story to be useful. It can help if you're choosing between reworking what you have and changing the subject. In this project, I changed the drawing; if you want to keep yours, tell me from the start.
To assess a transformation, I need to see the whole tattoo and know what you don't like, what you'd keep and which ideas appeal to you now. We can use this palette or the way it follows the arm as references, without assuming the same solution will suit every tattoo.