Design Story

Coverups can be tricky, and it's fundamental to choose wisely the style of the new tattoo for it to perfectly disguise the existing one below the new lines.

Polynesian tattoos may not be the best choice in some cases since they rely on empty spaces as much as on black parts, and a tribal tattoo that is made of thick black lines can look like an impossible task.
While normally a full color design grants more chances of success, a Polynesian tattoo requires a greater study and practice, but if well planned, it can often be as successful without the need to use large patches of solid black.

In this case, Tito had a small, bold tribal on his ankle and we decided to turn it into a Polynesian turtle (mainly Marquesan and Hawaiian style) since it's a subject that's dear to him and has a shape that can take advantage of the symmetry of the existing design to disguise the original shape.

This way, the coverup becomes only slightly larger than the original tattoo, without making it heavier.

The symbols used are tiki and lau hala for protection, and waves.

The image below shows the before and after of the tattoo:
Small tribal to turtle tattoo coverup