This piece utilizes negative space in the geometric design to help create variety in the old tattoo’s cover up. The key here is being able package weird shapes of black into something new by turning lines of untattooed flesh into a more artistic shape.

This is the epitome of making the best of a bad situation. The old piece would have been a detailed, heavy shadowed bit of tattooing that obviously left the artist only one choice; get blacker. The cool thing is though that this one has been made into a nice ink splatter new wave concept tattoo rather than a hard to miss wall of black without any theme.

2. Hand Cover Up Tattoos

Hand tattoos are tough. Many people choose to get ink on some of the most visible parts of the body without properly thinking through the life changing effects they can have. Thankfully there are talented artists that are able to apply a variety of images in a number of different styles to create compelling designs that perfectly hide the existing ink. 

3. Abstract and Geometric Cover Up Tattoos

In this piece the cover up is almost incidental. The geometric style of the main work is a real showstopper and done with great precision and clarity. At the very end of the work the artist opted to use some heavy kohl shading to eliminate the ugliness of the previous barbed wire tattoo. It is likely some more work will go into that section of the piece to complete it.

This mandala style tattoo cover up idea is somewhat unusual in that part of the original tattoo’s color and shade is central to the new art. The artist uses fine black line work over the top to create the middle of the flower, then moves outward with symmetrical detail to finish it off.

Many people prefer the freedom of expression that more abstract approaches provide, and this sensibility applies to cover up work as well. This style is actually better suited to cover up work than other methods thanks to the lack of constraints that this style has, allowing the artist to create a design that perfectly covers the existing tattoo.