30 of the Craziest Cover Up Tattoos

Your cover up tattoos are not a sign of defeat. Oh, no! In fact, they represent growth and a need for change in the current season of your life. Tattoo removal is a painful experience that often leaves folks with nothing but regret. But, with cover up tattoos, you get the opportunity to transform your dated ink into something completely new that better expresses your current point of view.

We wanted to better understand the limitations and possibilities of cover up tattoos so we took a deep dive into the world of cover ups by researching recent social media posts about them. What we discovered shocked and surprised us as tattoo artists are really pushing the limits of what is possible in this space. There are a million reasons why you might be wanting a change and all of them are valid. Let’s take a look at the work of talented artists to see just how successful a cover up can be!

Check Out These Unbelievable Cover Up Tattoos!

Initials? No Problem!

Did you happen to get the initials of someone you once thought was the most important person in your life? No biggie! Look at this excellent cover up tattoo that uses flowers to obscure the old design!

Not Until the Very End…

We find an old tattoo that states “Always until the very end,” but that does not have to be the case. Take a look at just how magical cover up tattoos can be! Isn’t the whale floating through the galaxy a huge upgrade?

Feel the Force

For cover up tattoos, you can go one of two ways. First, you can get something a similar size to hide that old ink or you can really go big for a completely new tattoo style like this half-sleeve. So much better, right?

Nuts About It

If you did not get the best work possible, it’s not the end of the world. Take a look at how brilliant this nut cover up looks. It looks so intentioned that you would never know that something was underneath it!

Good VS Evil

These tattoos stand in stark contrast, don’t they? We all grow and our values change which means that a tattoo that once seemed like a good idea is not so today. Find a tattoo artist who is skilled in cover up tattoos and walk away with an evocative sleeve like this one.

The Veteran

We find two different tattoos here that both seem to convey a sense of patriotism and love of country. However, one certainly feels more detailed and aesthetically pleasing than the other!

A Soaring Improvement

There was a moment in the late nineties and early 2000’s when getting characters from other languages was all the rage. Those don’t typically age so well and you might be curious about cover up tattoos that take care of them. How dramatic is this gorgeous wing? You might be happy with something similar!

Fun Florals

You will quickly gather that florals are a very smart way to go for your cover up tattoos. They look smart and nod to nature while also possessing the organic shapes necessary to give you optimal coverage.

A Sea Change

Thematically the original tattoo and the next iteration seem rather similar, however, the two end results could not be further from one another. The tattoo on the left is a photorealistic masterpiece and it’s hard to believe that anything at all was ever there before.

On Healing

Notice how the tattoo artist who shared the before and after images below included the time that has elapsed since the tattooing had been completed. Often, cover up tattoos aren’t fully realized until a couple of months have passed and the ink has fully healed. Keep this in mind after you begin the process.

Meow!

While the ornamental element that was on this hand before was not bad, we feel like the bold feline friend on top looks so much better. The artist has managed to retain some lightness with this cover up which always feels like a win!

The Sequel

The original tattoo had seen much better days before the tattoo artist here really created a design that improves on the original. If you loved that first tattoo but it looks worse for wear, time to get it upgraded!

Like Magic

Wow! Totally different vibe, right? Before the tattoo didn’t look as sharp as most would like but after, it’s a whole new scene. We find the architectural elements of a cathedral expertly tattooed!

Florals Will Do It

Perhaps the very best cover up tattoos are flowers? You can cover a lot of real estate on your body with beauty with a floral scene like this one. It’s night and day, right?

RELATED: 25 Extreme Blackout Tattoos: Reimagining the Limits of Cover Up Tattoos

Drama

We’re not sure what was going on before (Is that a dog with a top hat?) but the cover up is a miraculous achievement! The dark, dramatic blues and golds look so handsome on this lotus flower. We told you flowers are where it’s at!

Delicate

Honest question: Is this tattoo artist a witch? It’s one of the most delicate cover up tattoos on this list. You can’t tell anything was there before and just enough ink has been applied without making things look too deliberate. Bravo!

Moody Blues

Can we just take a moment to marvel at the beauty, movement, and emotion in the finished product? This tattoo of a dancer feels so personal and expressive. Unfortunately, the dragon that was there before just looked a bit sad.

Mums the Word

The thing to remember with cover up tattoos is that almost anything is possible when a tattoo artist puts her mind to it. How stunning is this chrysanthemum tattoo? You’d never know that there was an entire portrait there before!

On the Other Hand

For the last tattoo, we someone getting a portrait covered. On this arm, we find the opposite in a portrait that covers up a less-than-spectacular design. From bird and quote to work of art, we say this is one of the craziest cover up tattoos we’ve ever seen! Amazing!

Statuesque

Did we speak to soon? Here is another absolutely magical cover up tattoo but we find a mythology-inspired design that’s reminiscent of statuary from antiquity. Moody blue inks are clearly a winning strategy for your cover up tattoos.

Crisp

Thin, crisp lines help these tattoo achieve “nothing to see here” status by completely obscuring the old design with no hint that a tattoo was there before! May you find results as good as these!

Go Full Color

Another way to erase an old tattoo is to drown it in colorful ink. Even though this large tattoo is on a leg, it’s still called a sleeve in tattoo parlance. This is one of the most colorful and dreamy sleeves we’ve seen!

Amazing!

Now, this is what you came here for! The uninspired tattoo on the left was honestly rather sad-looking. Now, a vibrant and lively flower has taken its place with petals and leaves covering the finger tattoos that said “love.”

Carved

We loved this tattoo cover up because it looks like a carving or etching. When negative space is used in this way for tattoos it often requires more patience on your part but the end results are totally worth it.

Black Old Sun

We find love for celestial bodies in both of these tattoo designs but one certainly looks happier than the other! How beautiful are the deep blues and warm purples used for the cover up?

Only the Rose Knows

Aren’t cover up tattoos the most rewarding thing on the planet? We find a lovely skeleton hand holding a rose, a beautiful juxtaposition of life and death. There’s no sign of that old scorpion anywhere!

Tired VS Wired

We’d say the infinity symbol here has been massively upgraded by the addition of some gorgeous and crisply tattooed flowers. It went from being cliché to something unique and very endearing.

The New You

Cover up tattoos offer you an opportunity to express an idea you care about more fully. An old worn-out rose tattoo has been completely updated with a Mandala-inspired design that is full of color and life. We like the new look!

The Tribal Cover Up

Tribal tattoos are still a thing and people have been getting a lot of them for a few decades now. However, it might be time for a change. Take a close look at the image on the left. You can see the outline for the cover up sitting on top of a tribal design that sits on the shoulder. It’s a whole new ball game on the right!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Ricky Martin & Adam Levine Both Got Massive Leg Tattoos, Check Out Their New Ink and More Like It

Sunflower Jams

We leave you with one more floral tattoo cover up to really hit home the fact that botanicals are one of the smartest ways to achieve coverage. These vibrant flowers look so much better than the faded black tattoo that sat there before.

There you go! What did you think of these cover up tattoos? We think the transformations are breathtaking! If you’re interested in getting your dated ink covered, there are a number of ways to go about it. We hope these cover up tattoos inspired you with the best ways to move forward and start your very own ink journey with a cover up.