Cover up tattoos are a tattoo that is designed to cover or alter a tattoo that was received earlier but is no longer desired. The tattoos that must be covered up with a new design are often regarded as mistakes or regretted by the individual and is no longer interested in the message that it conveyed. Most often, cover up tattoos are done over top of images as simple as the names or initials of an ex-spouse or ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. It could be as complicated and detailed as a portrait of an old partner or someone who used to be greatly admired but no longer hold significance in the individual’s life. The new design must be large enough to hide the old tattoo or incorporate the old tattoo in a way that changes its appearance and use a color palette that is dark or bold enough to cover the old ink. Regardless of what is being covered, cover up tattoos require a talented artist and the savvy to design an image that conceals an old tattoo in an attractive way without appearing like it.

Names are relatively simple to cover up because any larger image can be placed over top. Most fonts are easy to cover but may provide a problem if there is a lot of additional imagery or line work incorporated into the name. The larger the design, the more difficult to cover but any experienced artist should be able to render the old tattoo design undetectable. Depending on the style and color used in the old tattoo, cover up tattoos must be designed around the existing image. It may have to be dark, to conceal black or grey ink, or use white ink to add details and new images.

In some cover up designs, the name is kept but new work is added to alter the original image. A stamp that reads “void” (or an expletive in some cases) is sometimes added if the individual wants to convey that the name is of an ex lover, or lines crossing out the name to make the intent of the new ink very plain. The word may be manipulated into a new word or phrase that cleverly incorporates the initial word or transforms it into a new one.