Lower Back Cover-Up

Vera’s lower back cover-up

Vera came to me looking to cover up an old lower back tattoo that had definitely seen better days. It wasn’t huge, but it was very dark, and the skin was pretty scarred — which really limited our options and set me up for a bit of a challenge.

As with all cover-ups, the first step was getting Vera into the studio so I could see the tattoo in person. Whenever possible, I find this step incredibly important — it helps me understand exactly what I’ll be working with. Things like how dark the tattoo is, the size, condition of the skin, and where it sits on the body aren’t always easy to gauge through photos. It’s also a great opportunity to chat about what kind of result the client is hoping for, and what’s actually realistic given the cover-up limitations.

In Vera’s case (and luckily for me), she wanted something much larger that would span her entire lower back. As a general rule, I always tell clients a cover-up needs to be at least twice the size of the original to effectively mask or distract from it. Of course, this can vary depending on the situation, but it’s a good rule of thumb.

Unluckily for me, her dream tattoo was a fine-lined, softly shaded floral arrangement — not exactly ideal for covering solid black ink. This is where we had to get creative and find a compromise. On the bright side, florals are actually great for cover-ups because their organic shapes can be tailored to fit just about anything. But fine lines and soft shading? Not so much. If you’re wondering what covers a black tattoo… it’s usually more black. So yes, the central part of the new design had to be quite dark — but we could play with contrast and use the larger size to our advantage.

After the consultation, we landed on a solid plan. We’d hide the old tattoo in the centre of a sunflower, which would be surrounded by other, more lightly shaded flowers of various sizes to create contrast and pull the eye away from the original tattoo. To make the piece more personal, Vera also wanted to incorporate her two sons’ names, along with a dragonfly, ladybug, bee, and butterfly to represent each family member.

With all of that in mind, I designed her new tattoo over a photo of the old one to make sure everything would be covered and look cohesive when the time came.

Fast forward to tattoo day — Vera saw the design, gave it her approval, and was super excited to finally close the chapter on her tired old tramp stamp. Once the size was adjusted and the stencil was placed, we were ready to get to work.

Now, because this was such a large tattoo in a pretty sensitive area, I had planned to split it into two sessions. But whether it was the motivation to finally be rid of the old tattoo or just sheer determination, Vera absolutely powered through — surprising not only me but everyone in the studio — and sat for the entire six-hour session like a champ.

In the end, we were able to transform a dark, outdated tattoo Vera had spent years wanting to hide into something beautiful that she can now wear with confidence.