I knew i had over 7 hours to kill in London yesterday so booked in a tattoo session a week beforehand. When I got there the artist I asked for and booked with wasn’t actually there, but the other one was very friendly and reassuring about doing the piece on my back, but I asked for it to all be in red with no colour, like this album and he ended up doing a pretty bad job of it – the black outline makes it look cartoonish, the tree veins don’t work and I don’t like the difference between the brown and red from the stem and the top. Only tattoo I have where I’ve disliked it.
Never had to think about cover ups or retouches before. I’m wondering, if I were to get someone to colour the brown in red, and do red over the black parts how that would work? I know the pigments combine, but I wouldn’t mind if the black outline and veins were a bit brighter, but honestly I’m just so annoyed I can’t have it like this and hoping there’s a way it can be redone so it’s all red – the shape and design as such is actually fine. And how long do you need to wait before getting it worked on again?
Welcome!
I saw the tattoo picture first, and thought it was a leaf with a fucked up stem. I never would have guessed it was a tree.
If it were mine, i would add a few more “leaves” and try to do something with that trunk. (Most tree trunks I know get thinner at the top)
Good luck, keep us posted. (Don’t let the same tattooer touch you again)
I sent them an email, got back a response.
“Apologies for the delay in response, however I spoke to ___________ for you, the owner of the business and artist for 30+ years who recommends that you allow the tattoo time to heal- usually around a fortnight, from which if you would be so kind to return to us he will fix the tattoo himself for you.
We apologise unreservedly for this inconvenience for you and hope that you will allow us the opportunity to make it look as beautiful as you first imagined. it”
So now got to decide if I want to got back to the same place to get it sorted out. I
@swirlsofnoise 147562 wrote:
So now got to decide if I want to got back to the same place to get it sorted out. I
Same shop perhaps, but I suggest a different tattooer.
This is pretty much exactly how I wanted it, size, colour and that level of fuzziness (the lack of complete clarity fits somewhat with the album’s feel for me)
So pretty much only one colour – that browny red. It seemed so obvious for me I wouldn’t need any outline that I never even thought I would need to specify that. I’m more asking how and if this COULD be redone to look anything close to that, whether by them or by anyone? I get the impression that you can’t do anything about black, but not got a cover up before so don’t know. Could it even be worth doing some kind of background to the tree like the album art – the grass and background?
I would accept your criticism of the treatment of this tattoo…but it’s also the wrong shape for that body part, far too linear and narrow for a piece of prime flesh real estate.
I think the lesson here (for anyone interested) is to get a sketch first, that indicates the entire shape of the piece and any linework, colour grads etc. In this case something fuller, perhaps approaching an oval shape, offset towards the top of your shoulder. This could inform your repair job. I would abandon the integrity of the album image to get this right, allow a good tattooist who understands composition and flowing with your body shape to re-work it. Constraining them by the album image could compromise this process.
Personal story: I’ve done some crap tattoos myself, in the early days. However, the tattoo I was least happy with once I felt I was technically proficient, was one I refused to do initially and then got talked into by the customer. It was an album cover from Mötley Crüe, featuring a dagger and serpent. Not a bad design BUT completely inappropriate for the guy’s forearm, the shape was just all wrong leaving too much negative space on either side of the blade. It looked ok on a square record sleeve. I think the message here is to take a concept rather than a totally fixed image and allow the tattooist to show you how best to apply it.
Good luck with the repair job and please post an update when complete.
I think it turned out much better IMO… in terms of matching the reference photo. The 1st one took your painterly looking tree and turned it in to flash art, the coverup definitely looks more like your reference pic. It’s certainly not some amazing tree, but I think he did okay matching the fuzzy tree in the reference…I think everyone is assuming the artist should have taken the reference photo and spruced it up a bit.
You must be logged in to create new topics.
