MakaveliX

Got a dreadful tattoo a few years back and have had a couple of sessions of removal. I spoke to a good artist who said the scratcher had gone deep into the skin and used way too much black, therefore it will get lightened but after a lot of sessions I am happy to go down the laser route and then get it covered up. Thing is, I have had two sessions so far and it still looks the same. Here is a photo of the tattoo from back in 2021 And here it is now after two sessions Is this likely to take years?

I spoke to the artist who said he could do a japanese style piece and showed me what he meant, it's not what I'd want. Spoke to another artist and they said the only option is a full black out, which is definitely not what I want. I know I can't be picky but I'll be asking around a few places. If I went the removal route to get it faded would that cost a lot of money and time? As there is so much black.

lolz. Didn't want to come off as arrogant and I do appreciate the advice. You guys said find a decent artist and i've found a couple who do very good blackwork. I'll keep updated in a few months once It's done

Get a small text tattoo that you can cover up with clothing perhaps ?

I've found a couple of artists who are good at blackwork so I think i'll be fine

Well yeah that's what I was getting at. At least you can see what I meant

Sorry dude

OK @SStu thanks. So to find a decent artist for this job, they must have a strong portfolio and evidence they can do decent blackwork? Should I also ask a few artists for their ideas and designs to see which one I like the best ?

As you guys are in America that's pretty irrelevant right ? I'd need to find an artist who specialises in black-work won't I ? I'm still looking around, not going to rush into anything. This time round i'll do my homework and make sure I find the right person, not an apprentice

Now I have some transport I can venture out of my small town. I spoke to a highly regarded artist who said he can possibly do a Japanese style tattoo with it.

Minor blowouts on the wrist are common as the skin is very thin

To be fair the Daschund would work lmao but obv I don't want a dog silhouette on my arm

Lol yeah I did think that, I call everyone dude btw nothing personal I won't say it again in future on here then so sorry. was just a suggestion to fill it black then base an idea around it.. thought maybe that sort of thing would work. obviously not.

Just an idea dude. It took 1 minute to make in paint. What im saying is maybe we can fill the letters in and then base a tribal sort of design round it.

Another idea could be a tribal design. I'll pop into my more experienced artist next week and see what they say. Quickly made this on gimp lol. But that's what I mean by tribal, filling the letters in then having some blade type lines coming out of it. Just an idea. Hopefully they'll have some suggestions at the studio as I'm terrible when it comes to art. Hopefully the panther idea works, however I do have small forearms and the rear legs probably wouldn't fit on and look like a dashund lmao 😞 Either way there's not much more to say at the moment but i'll keep updated with what my artist says

Well i'll learn from it and not go to an apprentice next time . Especially when my usual artist has been tattooing about 20 years

OK Cool, thanks. Black panther is the best suggestion so far then. I can't think of anything else though, hopefully a decent artist will. I'll take the advice and live with it for now, it does look better in real than the picture to be fair. I'm learning to like it which is all that matters really. In defence of the artist it's partially due to the font I chose.

Yah that is true. I'm just trying to be positive about it at the moment, I was quite upset after getting it done I'll see my artist in a couple of weeks and see what they say. I hope I manage to get something to cover it up with eventually. I don't have the time or money to go through getting it faded from a removal place as my artist told me ( and from what i've learned ) there's so much black there that it would be very difficult to fade/remove it at all. However I don't mind getting something like @Hogrider suggested like a large panther.

Two other ideas... If anyone else has any ideas then please share them, and i'll suggest them to my artist in a couple of weeks. Thanks

yes I understand. my usual artist is exceptional.. check out this one I had done last week from them... It was just a friends suggestion who said the black arrow as they were trying to just reassure me that a cover up can be done. As said, I'll speak to my artist when I get a chance and see what they say about the panther.

OK dude thanks. I'll try and do some research into what might work as a cover up and speak to my artist in a couple of weeks

Yeah I'll live with it for now as I have just had a load of tattoos recently. In the mean-time I suppose I could do some research, a black panther / leopard is a good idea but not sure if it would fit on my forearm Something like this do you mean ?

I spoke to a good artist and they said that the white wouldn't last long at all, so you are right. He also said what you guys said, it would be very difficult to cover that up as there's so much black I'm in the UK dude and don't have a car so i'm quite restricted. I should have transport soon so I can then ask around different places Someone did suggest turning it into an arrow, I know it sounds random but with the right artist ( my usual place, not where I got this one ) i'm sure they could do a good job of it. Attached are the healed pic and the arrow suggestion

Thanks guys, really appreciate it

I'm really happy with it, came out even better than expected. I went to my usual place and didn't disappoint The dots in the face are just my hair btw Here's the tattoo...