Little story of a tattoo cover

Did you ever want to cover an old tattoo that you got a while ago, but that does not feel quite right anymore?

This is what happened to one of my friends. Twice.
And it ended up creating a little family… which I secretly hope will keep growing, because they are fun, cute, and colourful.

I thought I would share this one because it has been such a fun project.

A few years ago (or was it just a year ago?), they messaged me with a photo of an existing tattoo (not by me). It was getting a bit blurry and pale, so they wanted to refresh it and add something a little silly on top.
It was a teacup, with what looked like the remains of a mountain inside. Luckily for us, the mountain was made with coloured lines only, no black, which meant I could probably cover it.

Their idea was a kākāpō, a wonderfully goofy local bird, drinking a glass of wine. Perfect.

So we went for it. I tattooed this little silly guy while refreshing the teacup at the same time.

And not long ago… they came back. Same story, other arm.

This time it was a teacup with a big wave. And just like the mountains, no black lining. Great news for a cover-up!

So, to keep our little bird company, we created a takahē (another iconic local bird), holding a big glass of beer. Living its best life. Takahē have these amazing deep blue and green tones, with a bold red beak. It worked perfectly over the faded tattoo underneath.

And just like that… a little bird party was born.

Cheers to our local birds 🍻