Anointed Ink Call (708) 770-2754

Cover-Ups

Cover-up tattoos

Old work, faded work, a name you would rather not explain, or somebody else’s mistake.

A cover-up is a different problem from a fresh tattoo. You are not drawing on blank skin. You are designing around something that is already there and is not going anywhere, and the new piece has to be bigger, darker and busier in exactly the right places.

Which is why the first step is always a photograph. Send a clear, well lit picture of the existing tattoo before booking anything. From that you get a straight answer on what is realistic, including the answers people do not want: that it needs to be larger than you hoped, that it needs laser fading first, or that the design you have in mind is too light to do the job.

You will not be told a cover-up will work when it will not. That conversation is cheaper before the needle than after it.

Call (708) 770-2754

What this covers

  • A clear photo in daylight, no flash
  • A rough measurement of the existing tattoo
  • What you would like to see there instead
  • Whether it has been lasered or faded already
  • Whether you are open to going larger
Serving Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip, Palos Heights, Bridgeview, Burbank and Evergreen Park.

Cover-up tattoos, and the scale this work takes

2 tagged pieces in this category, shown alongside 10 more pieces from the gallery that show the density the work calls for. All tattooed by Nestor Juarez.

Before and after cover-up showing stencil over an old tattoo and a finished crowned skull
Crowned skull cover-up, before and after, by Nestor Juarez
Three panel cover-up showing an old red forearm tattoo, a purple stencil, then a finished winged warrior woman in a crested helmet
Cover-up: old ink to Aztec warrior, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey Aztec sun stone medallion with a hummingbird carved in relief on skin
Aztec sun stone and hummingbird, by Nestor Juarez
Color tattoo of a roaring bear wearing an Aztec feathered headdress with red lightning behind it.
Aztec warrior bear in full color, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey forearm tattoo of a woman with half skull face, roses and colored butterflies
Catrina half skull with roses and butterflies, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey forearm piece with laugh now cry later theater masks and flowing script lettering.
Laugh now cry later masks in black and grey, by Nestor Juarez
Norse forearm sleeve in black and grey with a longship, a raven, a hammer and a snarling wolf.
Norse forearm sleeve in black and grey, by Nestor Juarez
Upper back tattoo of two skeletons embracing inside a tarot card labeled Lovers, with a red rose and sunflower
Skeleton lovers tarot card back piece, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey tiger with bright blue eyes and blossoms wrapping the thigh
Blue-eyed tiger and blossoms on the thigh, by Nestor Juarez
Color realism tiger head with pink cherry blossoms and a monarch butterfly on an upper arm
Color realism tiger with cherry blossoms, by Nestor Juarez
Thigh tattoo of a woman's face emerging from a lioness head with a cub below, daisies and leaves framing it
Woman and lioness split portrait, by Nestor Juarez
Two hand tattoos side by side, a skull in a feathered Aztec headdress and a jackal headed Anubis with red ankh symbols
Aztec skull and Anubis hand tattoos, by Nestor Juarez

Questions

Can any tattoo be covered?

No. How dark and how solid the old ink is, how large you will let the new piece go, and where it sits all decide it. Send a photo and you will get a straight answer.

Will the old tattoo still show?

The old tattoo does not disappear, it becomes shadow inside the new design. Done properly the eye stops finding it, which is why the new piece has to be bigger and darker.

Do I need laser fading first?

Sometimes. A lightened base gives back the mid-tones a cover-up design needs for depth. If it is needed you will be told before booking, and we refer that work out to a laser clinic, which decides the number of sessions.

Does a cover-up cost more than a fresh tattoo?

Usually, because the same area needs more ink packed into it and often more sittings. The hourly rate is the same.

Other work

Black & grey Chicano realism

45 pieces by Nestor

Portrait tattoos

15 pieces by Nestor

Religious tattoos

14 pieces by Nestor

Memorial tattoos

5 pieces by Nestor

Aztec and cultural tattoos

6 pieces by Nestor

Color realism tattoos

11 pieces by Nestor

Tattoo sleeves

17 pieces by Nestor

Find us

Visit the shop

We are on 111th Street in Chicago Ridge, minutes from Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip and Burbank.

Anointed Ink
5920 W 111th St
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415
(708) 770-2754
anointed.ink29@gmail.com

Get directions

Serving
Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip, Palos Heights, Bridgeview, Burbank, Evergreen Park, Hometown, Palos Hills, Hickory Hills, Chicago's Southwest Side.

Hours

Opening hours
Monday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Tuesday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Wednesday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Thursday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Friday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Saturday12:00pm to 7:00pm
SundayClosed

Plus code M6RM+72 Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Text your idea Call