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Original was my first tattoo from 20 years ago. Met with my artist to see what would work. He took several photos, did an outline tracing and committed to drawing what might work. The old dragon was 20 years old and tired. Got it on a business trip in Chicago at the Jade Dragon Tattoo Parlor. At the time a group of young, enthusiastic managers went downtown to see the iconic tattoo shop. 6 of us left with new ink. Many years later, I wanted something new, fresh and keeping with the dragon theme. My artist carefully explained what colors would work, what design would work and the size of the new piece to effectively cover the old work. Little did I know this was going to be a journey, a process and commitment of many months. Once I saw the stencil and the pc screen illustrating the color choices. I decided to take the plunge. First session was about four-five hours for outline work. Second session was the beginning of shading. (4-5 hours) Third Session more color. ( five hours) Fourth Session-almost done ( Was coming down with the flu and getting cold chills and shaking thinking I was getting cold) close to 4 hours.. Have been back for two touch up sessions and have the last one scheduled this week. If you notice the yellow areas in the whiskers and scales between the horns, a little more color saturation is needed to prevent the old image from showing through. Comments-Cover work can be very complex. Its a blend of design, choosing the appropriate colors that will cover light and dark and going larger to find a design that will obscure the old work. It may never be completely invisible, however the focus of the new work will draw the eye away from the previous work. Detailed shading and design is never one and done. Plan on more than visit to get the deep color saturation you desire and to cover the old areas. I waited 30 days in between sessions to allow my skin to heal and allow my artist to see what really needed to be done next. Learned a lot about what after care products I prefer. When doing a lot of shading work, some products with lidocaine do make a difference. While you might not experience the same level of relief on line work. When shading and the pores get opened up..there is a difference. At my age-(56) five hours is longest I can sit. Four hours is much easier. Having a cool artist that understands you and the end goal are very important. I wont be doing any more cover work but I plan on lots more ink. Have had a couple more new pieces since this piece was almost done. Hope this helps those thinking about cover work. My artist explained he would much rather work on a 20 year old piece than one done six months ago. Just one old guys experience.

I honestly think it looks fine. It's a bold tattoo in a highly visible place, maybe that's where some of your doubt is coming from. I see extremely minor blowouts I probably wouldn't have noticed if you wouldn't have said anything, but really all tattoos have flaws and the neck is a tough spot to tattoo as it is. If you really think having a solid line at the top would make you feel better about it, go for it...but I like it how it is, man, and I think the surrounding tattoos you're talking about adding will only improve it more.

sounds logical to me, that skin on the back thigh is pretty tender,and they do stay sore and tender for a while sometimes, depends on the artist's method who did it and where it is on the body, and you are basically sitting on it a lot. keep it clean and put Aveeno on it a couple times a day.

Here is my latest tattoo. Just finished it last Thursday. Four hour ribs session 😬

I personally love the little peek you get at the collar of your shirt; it would prompt me to ask more about what’s on the rest of your chest. I would hold off on a couple of months, maybe even a year, before settling into a decision about what you want to do. I know I personally had a small adjustment period when I went from not see my tattoos to having one that peeks out of my collar and one smack dab in the middle of my forearm. Also, it sounds like you may feel more “complete” and settled into the tattoo once you have the surrounding pieces you mentioned.

I think you are as likely to make it worse than better. That's a nice tattoo. As @Synesthesia pointed out, that's in a tough spot, really delicate skin. NO tattoo is perfect, if you look hard enough and long enough, you'll always find something wrong. You have a really good, strong tattoo. Enjoy it!

+1 You don't know what it looks like until it heals.

I dig it. As mentioned above, I think that once get more work around the area, you will feel more balanced!

like was said it looks pretty good,and also I like the way it peeks out when you have a t-shirt on.

Some updates on the things I'm working on this year... I had a minor financial setback and didn't feel comfortable getting my "get what you get" piece from a local shop yet, so maybe I'll swing by this week on one of my days off. I reached out to Paul Dobleman for a piece, unfortunately he's not taking appointments as far in advance as I wanted to make it so that needs to wait a little longer. I'm thinking I'd like either a vase with flowers or a Rose of No Man's Land design. I'd be fine with just about anything he wanted to do, though. It's for my other outer forearm and it needs to cover a burn scar, so I'm anxious to hear his thoughts on the spot. I'm also still hoping to get one of my knees done this year, I'm thinking either a peony or chrysanthemum and there's two or three artists I'm still considering for it. I have some work around my knees already so I don't know how either of those designs would fit really.

Just relax and do your usual aftercare and let it heal. You couldn't change anything now either way. But those lines probably won't get any thiner anymore. The skin on the ankle is know to tend to blowouts, so probably not the best placement for such a small and filigree tattoo.

this looks absolutely normal for the healing process, and yes, that's what it's going to look like. no tattoo ever looks exactly like it did when it was just applied. I think you need to adjust your expectations for what tattoos can look like. enjoy it, it looks nice!

Evan Dowdell is nearby, he mostly does color illustrative stuff but I've seen him do some good black and gray. His composition is excellent, imo, and he could put together a really nice half sleeve: https://www.instagram.com/evandowdell/ Same with Travis McGregor: https://www.instagram.com/travis666/ If you can make it into NYC, the world is your oyster. There's tons of world class artists at just two shops alone: New York Adorned and King's Avenue. I would personally suggest Rose Hardy (https://www.instagram.com/rosehardy/) or maybe Matt Black if you want it to be really geometric heavy (https://www.instagram.com/mattblacktattoo/).

Both cities have many great tattooists, but for black/grey illustrative my list includes: Sao Paolo = https://www.instagram.com/fetattooer/ and https://www.instagram.com/sevenflowerstattoo/ Toronto and nearby = https://www.instagram.com/davidglantztattoos/, https://www.instagram.com/coryferguson/

I am so over the moon with this tattoo 😍 Tomas Garcia Old Soul Cannonsburg PA

Got a new one today! Six marbles by Dyuntats :)