Tonight could very well be my last night looking at a design on my inner left calf that has unfortunately healed into, not a work of art, but rather, a mistake. I actually wrote an experience about this in the Ink Rubbing section, entitled "Cutting Myself Open To Find My Circuitry." It was the third, and probably will be the last ink rubbing I have done.
At A Glance Author spikeyannie Contact [email protected] IAM SpikeyAnnie When It just happened Anyway, it began as a spiritual awakening and ended as a very awkward-looking area on my leg that I decided to cover. Now, I have been blessed with the good fortune of having some very good tattoo work done on me. The other two ink rubbings I have done, have healed just fine. This was the tragic exception.
The first part of covering up a bad tattoo (for the sake of simplicity in this article, let's call my ink rubbing a tattoo, since that's kind of what it looks like!), is admitting that you have a bad tattoo. Perhaps merely "less than desirable." Or maybe it just doesn't fit with that half-sleeve idea you had. Whatever the case, you want it changed in a way that suits you better.
Personally, I have a huge admiration for tattoo artists who can cover up other artists' work with amazing results. This admiration grew, in part, out of the months I spent with a "less than desirable" ink creation on my leg. In many ways, I am glad that my ink rubbing didn't turn out how I wanted, because it has offered me the opportunity to learn something new and to think beyond what I originally planned with that area of my skin.
I suppose my reaction is somewhat unusual. Let me tell you, it has not been easy. I think the first emotion that anybody with mediocre-to-awful ink can relate to, is embarrassment. Particularly if your tattoo is of the "awful" variety. After a short phase of "Oh, it looks good, really, it does" denial, you are left feeling like world's biggest jackass because you have something less than wonderful on your body and you are starting to think that you want it to change.
So how do you go about accomplishing that? Well, today I found out that whatever restrictions you may have in terms of size, price, et cetera, be sure to lay that out on the table for the artist (in a polite way of course). Be clear and specific about how you feel, without getting overly emotional or hostile (i.e. don't go into a rant about how you hate the drunk bastard who tattooed that middle finger on your neck, or whatever).
However, the only reason I say "be clear and specific about how you feel", is because you will be communicating what you want to the artist. I'm not saying that you need to get the artist feeling sorry for you so that he or she will knock a few dollars off the price! Assuming that you may be going into this situation as somebody who did not get what they want from a tattoo artist last time, it is imperative that you be more articulate this time.
Again, my scenario is a little different. Still, if this had been the work of somebody else and not my own, I would be going about it the same way. Communication between client and tattoo artist, is imperative. This brings me to another important point: do not be embarrassed. Do not allow yourself to become embarrassed. Swallow your pride, and if you would prefer not to go into detail about how you acquired your bad tattoo, say so!
I went out today, unsure of what to expect, with an idea in my head of an entire calf piece, part of which would adequately cover the ill-fated ink rubbing. I had about seventy dollars on me and I thought maybe I'd get lucky, but realistically figured I'd be seeking out some general advice today and getting a feel for price.
Well, the first shop I went to, I'd always gotten a bit of a bad vibe from. Cosmetically, they had definitely cleaned up their act: it looked (and was) cleaner and they were pretty organized. They have, I believe, four different tattoo artists. I mentally prepared my spiel and walked in. I explained my predicament to the girl at the counter.
My basic little speech said that I was looking for an artist to do some cover-up work on me and that it would be part of an entire calf piece eventually, but I was relatively open-minded in terms of design as long as it fit within the theme. In addition, I don't ever believe in shopping around for a tattoo by price (read: getting a tattoo at the cheapest place possible!), and I said that, but I also said that I was pressed for cash (which I am) and just wanted to get some advice and perhaps a ballpark estimate.
The girl at the counter directed me to one of the artists, who seemed pretty nice, except he did have a bit of a "tough guy" attitude, which threw me for a loop because I've never really encountered that before. Anyway, I figured it was the end of the day and maybe he was tired or something, and I went into his room and told my story again.
When I showed him the ink rubbing, I was completely honest and told him exactly what had happened: that I had sought to do this myself, that it's a different method than a tattoo and was not a substitute for a tattoo, and that it didn't heal the way I wanted it to, so now I was looking to cover it.
He didn't really seem to "get" scarifications, if you know what I mean, and said something like "what inspired this foolishness?" I don't remember exact words because in my nervous state, I just giggled and then tried to explain as best as i could, the mindset behind that particular mod.
Anyway, aside from that and the fact that he said he couldn't work on it for another few weeks because it wasn't healed (and it was!), he gave me what I thought was a pretty reasonable price quote on one of the designs I had brought along, apologized for not being able to be more helpful, and gave me his card.
Ultimately, this sort of encounter was pretty much what I was expecting. I regretted telling him that it was an ink rubbing. It is very hard to explain those sorts of things to anybody but your close friends. Therefore, that's why I think that if your "bad tattoo" is self-inflicted and you feel awkward discussing it, you should simply say that you don't want to go into detail about it.
Well, I walked away from the shop realizing that if I went by this guy's plan I'd be way more broke than I was willing to be, not to mention I'd have to sit with this thing on my leg for another two weeks or so. He also had made it sound like it was going to be a real chore to cover up, which I knew could not possibly be the case. I have looked at thousands of cover-up photos and seen beastly tattoos become beautiful ones where you never would have thought such a thing could happen. So I had my doubts. Even so, the encounter also left a bad taste in my mouth and made me feel as if I would be stuck with this damn ink for the rest of my life.
The closer I got to tears, the faster I walked towards the train station. I was planning to go home, but then I thought to myself, "No. I have to swallow my pride and I have to go to Tribal Ways, where I've always gone for my mods." I guess I had assumed that I wouldn't be able to afford work from them, or that they would make me feel worse about my little mishap, or something stupid like that. Whatever the case, before I could stop myself, I was crossing Mass Ave. and walking inside.
I went into the reception area and saw Aaron. Stephen came up shortly after. I showed Aaron my leg and re-hashed my story again (by this time I was getting a bit tired of it!). Immediately, I realized why I had chosen this shop to go to for years now, even though I'm not in the area as much anymore due to school. They were both very understanding and very kind. I told them about my experience with the other artist and they were sympathetic. Not to mention, the first thing Aaron said was, "That shouldn't be too hard to cover, it's pretty light."
My heart lifted! I went into the back room where their artist, John, was tattooing. I didn't want to interrupt so I waited until I heard the machine pause. He smiled at me and said I could come in and he didn't mind talking while he worked. I had looked through his work while I was talking to Aaron and I liked it. I watched him work on a red and black tribal. The man he was inking said that "John has a very gentle hand." This was something else I was glad to hear because I'm really skinny and believe me, I feel every puncture of the needle.
By this time, yes, I was very tired, hungry, and ready to take the first train home, but I also knew I was in a really good place- both emotionally and physically. So I started talking, and John listened. When I explained my idea for my calf piece, he liked the sound of it, and when I told him about my financial restrictions, he said he could understand that and he could work with it. I drew out some quick sketches for him just for size and said I'd come back tomorrow with the final design.
So anyway, tomorrow I am going to get my first cover-up tattoo, and I have absolute faith that even though it will cost me a little pride and a bit more money, it will come out very well. I hope that for anyone out there who wants a better tattoo than one they've got, they can read this and maybe learn more about how to make their next experience a better one. After all, nobody deserves a tattoo that is less than A+ work!