You need to find a good cover up artist and get a completely new design, that tattoo on your arm sucks. It’s hard for me to say if any laser sessions will be necessary because I’ve never dealt with them, but spend the time, money, and effort into finding an exceptional artist that is good at cover ups and turn this mess into a bad ass sleeve

Zach

Still better than my tribal

I have to agree with buttwheat here. The more you mess with this the worse it will end up looking and you still won’t be happy. The best I would imagine you can do, and this is what my tattooist recommended for me, is find a laser removal professional (not sure if your doctor can point you in the direction of a reputable one), tell them what you intend to do ie have it knocked back as opposed to removed. Apparently black is an easier colour to remove with laser than reds due to the pigment absorbing the heat better. It will only need knocking back to a lighter grey for a decent cover up.

My advice, and this is just my personal opinion (what do I know?) get a Jap sleeve(half or full) done. The intricate colours and design will hide the previous remnants of your tribal. Plus, it will be timeless. I can’t help thinking tribal will go the way of a lot of ‘trends’.

Just some food for thought bro.

Okay, the good news is that it does look better now than it did after Phase 1. But, the bad news is that you’re not going to win any awards with it, either.

Tribal is never going to get good feedback here, dj. And the folks here have really, really high standards for what they consider a quality tattoo. That being said, there is only one person that has to like the work, and that’s you. If you like it, and it tells a story of where you were at a certain point in your life and that means something to you, then keep it. If I were to go the keep-the-tattoo route, I’d try to find a really quality artist that could tie it together with the shading from both pieces of work.

Just know that lasering will be expensive and painful, but it is the best route if you want to have a higher quality piece on your arm. Good luck with it either way, and let us know what you decide to do.

I never said that was a bad thing, just wanted the guy to know his audience, that’s all. You know folks on this forum can be brutal and very judgemental, Standard. At the end of the day, he is the only one who has to be happy with the work on his skin. Not, you, me, his ex-girlfriend, or anyone else.

I did tell him that he would need to get it lasered if he wanted a higher quality piece of work. But in reality, there are thousands of people out there with less than 5 Star tattos and they are very happy with them. Nothing wrong with that.

I think this is deviating away from the original thread a little.

At the end of the day, if everyone had the same tattoo, it would be a little boring. What one person likes inked, another won’t necessarily. For me personally, tribal on me had it’s day a few years ago, a bit like the Celtic bands everyone trended for back in the early 90’s – but that’s just my opinion which is why some people still have them done and others want them covering up – hence the original point in this discussion.

It would be good if we could change tattoos like we change clothes but sadly until that day arrives, I guess we have to plan out what we want carefully before committing to it.