The Tig

Personally, I think it's kind of cool to have older tattoos that are "beat up." They age with you, and each one has a story. I considered having my first tattoo redone because it has faded a fair amount, but I could never do it. It's a memorial tattoo for my older brother. I got it shortly after he passed away, and it still comforts me when I look at it. Having someone freshen it up would be weird to me, I guess.

After going big, I go home; I prefer to shower there.

i don't think there is any such thing as getting too big of a piece as your first piece, but i would consider that you may want some of that space further down the line if you discover other artists you like. that's the advantage of having a bunch of smaller pieces in certain areas (or all over if you fancy) as you gradually gain more work, but have more opportunities to have different people tattoo you and different ideas that develop over time.
then again, what do i know? i got my chest done as my first tattoo so sometimes, you just gotta say "fuck it."

I did much research before deciding to do my coverup. After watching television shows showing what could be done, it was encouraging while at the same time, you don't want to trust just anyone. As great as the internet is, I have seem far too many bad cover ups although many were simply amazing. My first attempt at research was disheartening as after asking several shops, I simply got too much conflicting information, people simply too eager for business, or simply my gut telling me something wasn't right. Finally I saw some coverup work on a tv show mentioning an artist from Dallas. After a quick search I found that he was a few miles from my house. At this point I went to his shop, but he was on the road. Talking to the shop manager and explaining my situation, I mentioned that if possible I would like to do a Captain America tattoo. Once I said that, I was quickly able to set up an appointment with the owner/artist. Although very high in demand, apparently if you are wanting something that they want to do as well, I have found that artists can shift schedules if there is a type of tattoo that they want to do. Fortunately for me, I later found that the artist was a much bigger superhero fan than myself. Over the next month, I spent wakeless nights admiring his work and many of the comic stuff he has done and spend many hours downloading comic images trying to conceptualize what would work for the coverup. My consultation finally came and after asking me what I wanted, I kind of hesitated with questions as to what my limitations were. His response was, not to worry about it, just tell him what I wanted and he would make it happen. So, I gave him my top 3 comics. We set an appointment and I left trusting him to come up with something. It was kind of crazy committing to something without knowing what exactly I was going to get until I showed up, but I trusted my instincts and research. I was straight up blown away with the results and feel I learned quite a bit along the way.
- Older tattoos are better candidates for coverups than relatively new ones
- Non-recognizable shapes are easier to cover than geometric shapes
I don't know why some artists try to just go for the simple black out with no detail, like a panther head. You do not necessarily need to go darker for coverups, blues rock!
- You should anticipate going at least 2x the original size. Bigger is better
- Detail will help draw attention away from the orginal tattoo, so some slight detail show through
- At least for me, the skin where the old tattoo was scarred and bleed a bit more than fresh skin. These area scanned more.
Anyway, if anyone has any questions, shoot away.
PS.. I was still a little bloody on the yellow lines, but you get the results.

The peony on my left arm was done over a very dark older tattoo with a lot of black in it. This was done in 2011 and the white and blue have held up well since then. I'll have the white touched up on a future appointment. I would have never guessed it was possible and was entertaining a chemical peel or having it lasered off.

I have a Tigger tattoo also! Tigger makes me happy.
- - - Updated - - -
oofda, talk about boring explanation--I am a girl. From Iowa.

I dont know man, You seem pretty fly for a white guy to me

I still can't get a handle on what a Hipster is. Maybe the generation gap lets me down.
Are we talking motherfuckers who change their style depending what the current trend is?
In Australia we have a simple term for them types. "Wankers".

uhhhhh....

"Well, I finally got my period. I just wish my breasts weren't so sore and tender..."
(I was going to make a comment like "Only I can prevent Breast Cancer"... but then thought it may be slightly on the not cool side... but y'all can make up your own minds ;) )

He's all "well shit, I know I left my cock somewhere ... "

When removing any of the -derms, pull it in line with the skin, not away from the skin, kind of like when you remove those 3M "Command" hooks adhesive from the wall. If you pull it straight in line down with the wall it pulls off without damage, but if you try to pull it AWAY from the wall you'll damage the drywall. The -derm film is similar to that, and if possible grasp both sides of the film and pull apart, like stretching a rubber band, and it will lift off the skin, just like the wall hook adhesive.
My problem this time was that it was on my arm, so I needed someone to do it for me in the parts that weren't already starting to peel. Where it wanted to stick I used coconut oil and worked it into the skin and it slid off. I use this stuff at work so that's how I know a few tricks!

Tegaderm worked great on my calf tattoos.

The final dead skin peel on some parts of the manta rays took a long time, but that had nothing to do with tegaderm. I think in general the skin in between the calf and ankle tends to shed slower, plus some heavy black areas in the tattoo.

a buddy of mine shared this short little documentary with me. pretty good stuff.

@Sick, I think it's okay to ask an artist if there's something they'd like to tattoo. Some will go for it but others will want something more concrete to work from to start with. Ask them and they'll let you know. If an artist agrees to do this though and draws something up but you don't like it at all, then you've wasted his/her time. You may end up with a panther, an exploding feather, or a tanuki w/ giant testicles (minus the tanuki) but you asked for it because they felt like tattooing it. You may get a watercolor artist draw a traditional eagle because you're giving them an opportunity to switch things up. Worse case, you then feel pressured to get a tattoo on you that you dislike and the artist tattoos you none the wiser. Which you shouldn't get obviously. Or everything could turn out absolutely amazing and you get a tattoo that makes you do a happy dance.
Personally I have never started completely blank. I have always given an artist something to start with cuz that's just me. It doesn't limit their creativity though. In the case with my back piece Jill Bonny completely changed what we had discussed at my consult. The subject was the same but after some thought she felt the idea we discussed was stronger carried out in a different composition. I was so blown away by the new image, I couldn't even begin to fuck with her head by making some wise ass comment. And I love me my wise ass-isms.

This always happens to me on whichever side I have worked due to the favoring of the area. Chest, back, arm, each time and it bothers me more than the tattoo. Usually at day 3 I stop favoring it.