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 my internet time 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 original tattoo, as 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 scabbed 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.

Artist Clint Cummings Owner Sparrow Tattoo