Cover-ups · Stitch · Watercolour

A dark tattoo. A Stitch full of colour.

Can a dark tattoo become a colourful character? In this case, yes. I turned the little design near the ankle into Stitch with balloons and watercolour. But colour wasn't the only change: the size and the way the design sits on the leg changed too. Let me show you where we started.

The starting point: A small, dark tattoo on the lower leg.
The new idea: Stitch, balloons and a splash of watercolour.
The change: A larger composition over the previous tattoo.
What the pictures show: Before, stencil and finished work — not a healed follow-up.

In this story01 · Small doesn't mean we can ignore it.02 · Before the colour, Stitch needs to find his place.03 · Now for Stitch, balloons and a burst of colour.04 · Watercolour has its dark areas too.

Small tattoo with dark areas on the lower leg before the Stitch cover-up — Before: a compact, dark design near the ankle.

01 / Cover-ups · Stitch · Watercolour

Small doesn't mean we can ignore it.

This wasn't a blank canvas. There was a compact design with very dark areas near the ankle. That was the starting point for the cover-up, even if something else catches your eye in the finished picture.

I'm showing you the before because size alone doesn't tell the whole story. Where the ink is concentrated matters too. Here, I didn't just add colours around the old design: I worked on a new composition that takes up more space.

Stencil of Stitch and balloons over the previous tattoo, still visible on the lower leg — The stencil shows the change in size and where the old tattoo sits.

02 / Cover-ups · Stitch · Watercolour

Before the colour, Stitch needs to find his place.

The stencil makes the change in scale easy to see. The balloons reach up the leg, with Stitch underneath. You can still see the previous tattoo within the area that the character and surrounding colour will occupy.

This may not be the most eye-catching picture, but it explains something the finished tattoo can't show on its own: the new design has been positioned with the old one in mind. That's why a reference picture alone can't determine the size of your cover-up.

Laura Caselles' finished cover-up: blue Stitch, yellow and pink balloons and watercolour splashes on the leg — The full result: Stitch, balloons and a larger watercolour composition.

03 / Cover-ups · Stitch · Watercolour

Now for Stitch, balloons and a burst of colour.

Here's the full result. Stitch, from Lilo & Stitch, sits beneath the balloons with his ears spread wide. His blues and purples contrast with the yellows, pinks and oranges above him. Greens and watercolour splashes bring the surrounding areas together.

We're no longer looking at a small, isolated design near the ankle. The composition travels upwards, from the colour at the bottom to the balloons at the top. A different subject, taking up the leg in a different way. Not simply a touch-up of the old tattoo.

Close-up of the Stitch cover-up: dark eyes and blues beside pink, purple and green watercolour areas — A closer view of the same result in the carousel: outlines, contrast and colour.

04 / Cover-ups · Stitch · Watercolour

Watercolour has its dark areas too.

Take a closer look: the eyes, outlines and deep blues sit alongside more open areas of colour. A watercolour effect doesn't mean every part of a tattoo has to be pale or soft. This piece has contrast, and you can see it in the face, the body and the lower part of the composition.

If you like this transformation, tell me what draws you to it. Is it Stitch, the colours, or the idea of changing your tattoo completely? You don't have to want the same balloons. What I need is to see your starting point and understand what you'd like to wear instead.

Thinking about your own change

Can a dark tattoo be covered with a colourful character?

This case shows a real possibility, not a guarantee for every tattoo. To assess yours, I need a clear photo, its size and placement, and a view of the surrounding skin. The design would have to work with what you already have.

Does the cover-up have to be bigger?

In this case, it is: both the stencil and the result take up more space than the old design. I can't give you a size for another project based on this picture alone. I also need to know how much space you'd be comfortable using for the change.

Is this the same tattoo as Stitch and The Little Prince?

No. They're separate projects. This is a cover-up with Stitch and balloons on the lower leg. Stitch and The Little Prince is another design, with a different starting point.

Is this how it looks once healed?

These pictures show the finished work, not a review of its healing or how it has aged. To explore that, take a look at the examples specifically labelled as healed.

The before, stencil and result all belong to this project. You can follow the transformation in the original reel and see the stencil and close-up in the carousel. Watch the original reel on Instagram · View the original carousel.

Character reference: Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. This design is not presented as a specific scene from the film.

The same character can belong to very different stories.

In my Stitch and The Little Prince tattoo I worked with a different composition. It is not the before or a later stage of this cover-up. If you would rather keep the original subject, you can also see how I transformed the colourful owl.

More cover-up examples · My watercolour style · Healed tattoos

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR TATTOO

What would you like to wear instead?

Show me what you have and tell me your idea. The starting point matters just as much as the character you'd like to wear.

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