Refreshing an old tattoo

[houlagirl]

I'm new here and am hoping to get some experienced feedback on this ... I have a 12yo, larger, color tattoo that faded a lot and had some spreading of the (originally thick) black outline. I've had several other tattoos since then but I wanted to have the color refreshed on this one and went to a talented artist that normally works in solid, bold traditional pieces. We agreed not to add more black to the outline since it will add to the black bleed over time and just added color on top of the old work. Well, the colors look straight from the bottle with no blending or subtlety and seem to be very opaque. It looks very cartoonish right now and I'm sort of freaking out. Do some newer inks contain more white in the base or have more opacity than older mixtures? The artist said that the old shading and black lines should show through once it settles and heals ... but right now the new ink looks very opaque and just sits on top of my skin and the underlying design is just lost. I've never seen this before, but I've also never recolored an older piece. Will these colors fade and blend into the old design or will I need to have this reworked yet again to make it look cohesive? Thanks! 

[Hogrider]

It would help to post a pic. Also, how long ago did you get it?

[houlagirl]

Thanks Hogrider, I just had it done yesterday but it is so far from the colors he was trying to mimic from my old photo. I'm actually embarrassed to show it at all. It looks like I was attacked by mini paintballs from a clown car. I already talked to my original artist about fixing it (he was supposed to do the refresh, but he's backed up for months and I'm working with him on a different multi-session piece). I got impatient and just figured any competent artist could copy simple shading, but I was apparently wrong. This guy literally used every color straight from the bottle and didn't blend them on my skin, so it looks like a primary palette paint-by-numbers fiasco. 

[SStu]

yeah, definitely need pictures to offer an opinion on it . . . 

[Hogrider]

3 hours ago, houlagirl said:

I got impatient ...

This is how many tattoo disasters start out.

One day in you can't really tell anything. Give it 6 or 8 weeks. Then if it needs to be fixed, get it done right even if it takes a year. 

 

Good luck

[houlagirl]

I totally agree and am really kicking myself. And that will definitely be how I move forward with this. I guess I'm wondering just in general, can new colored ink actually cover old faded black ink or should the black eventually show through? 

Edited June 29, 2019 by houlagirl
And are there newer, more opaque inks? I have over 10 pieces and have never seen anything this solid - all of the colors look more like paint than ink.