Can you cover up black tattoos with white ink?

i had a peice done about a year ago on my fore arm of bengali writing and basically to shorten this i dont like it, is there any waya to cover up black ink with white? thanx

Don't get another tattoo over it, thats stupid. Burn it out with laser treatments or if your low on cash, cheese graters work too...

white will not completely cover black, the black will shine through or mud up. best to get a coverup designed by someone. coverups work,more painful the 2nd time. if you had good work with no scarring. shouldn't be to bad.

go to a good custom artist and get something great over it. Where do you live?

I live in sunderland thats in the UK and its just annoying really cos there aint really that many good artists over here, i want one from paul booth. : (

You can catch some real talented artists that do the convention circut. Also, If you take the trip to Paris, Tin Tin is a bad ass tattoo artist. Actually, if you are willing to travel to the mainland, there are some world class artists over there. Philip Leu is over there too. Boris from Hungry is fanfuckingtastic. The best artists are capable of designing the perfect coverup tattoo design over almost anything. And if you have patientce you can get your tattoo done by one of the best!

im in the same predicament ... i got a tattoo done by an unlicensed person whilst drunk N woke up the next morning with it. i thaught 'maybe its not healed up enough to stay there' so i picked at it N tried my hardest to make sure it wouldnt scar on my arm as a tattoo. but alas! it has and its all blotchy N everything. im wonderin will white cover it up, its no where near as dark or anything as it could be

im in the same predicament ... i got a tattoo done by an unlicensed person whilst drunk N woke up the next morning with it. i thaught 'maybe its not healed up enough to stay there' so i picked at it N tried my hardest to make sure it wouldnt scar on my arm as a tattoo. but alas! it has and its all blotchy N everything. im wonderin will white cover it up, its no where near as dark or anything as it could be

Since its still fresh... NOWS the perfect time NOT to take care of it! Id keep picking ALL the scabs....even abrading it and soaking it relentlessly while squeezing to REMOVE as much of the ink as possible. This will help you greatly when its time to cover. NEVER thought Id see the day when I gave aftercare instructions like this! lol

white will not cover black completly,but it will lighten it enough so it can be covered.

I have a fairly large fairy tattoo. It is a shoulder cap and some of the shading on her face is to dark. Will white ink mix with the black to lighten it up enouph to look shaded and not solid?

..." i got a tattoo done by an unlicensed person whilst drunk N woke up the next morning with it." Dude, that's the oldest excuse in the world, but giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming it's accurate, you should go to a doctor and check to see if you have hepatitis or any number of other diseases that can be transfered by the unlicensed tattoo fairy that goes around looking for drunk passed out people to tattoo.

Hey Nilla...Yes white CAN be used to lighten up black but only to a very limited extent...Can you e-mail a pic of your tattoo?...Just click on my name above the post for my e-mail...I can give you a much more accurate answer if I can see the work...TAz

Definitely not and don't make the mistake of letting some hack convince you you can you will only get scar tissue out of repeatedly trying to cover up black with white, your better off seeing a lasor surgon. A good lasor surgon can lighten up a tattoo enough to allow art without limitations and cause no scar tissue.

YES YOU CAN!!!!!!! I said NOTHING about COVERING black...I said white can be used to LIGHTEN black, that is, if you are a competent artist. Tattoo artists use this method frequently to LIGHTEN up small areas of black say as in the details of a face that are blurry.so the area can be modified..key words there are "small areas" AND...for example take plain ol solid black tribal...you can really do some kick ass effects with white pigment...you must use a good quality white pigment with a high opacity ratio and the artist needs to use a very light hand to avoid scarring. Scarring does not occur because of using white...thats ridiculous...the scarring can occur for several reasons...overworking the skin, bad needles, improper angle and a slew of other things including aftercare deviations, but never allow a "hack" I think was the term used, tell you that any one color pigment will scar you more than any other....JEEEEESSSSHHHH!!!!!!!...TAz

To mr AKENT...I would suggest reading Guy Aitchisons book"Reinventing the Tattoo"this subject is talked about in it..Guy uses this method and I wouldn't consider Guy a "HACK" would YOU?

Why waist the white ink or another artists time? Why don't we just start ordering Trichloroacetic Acid from www.inkbuster.com? Then all of or problems would be solved! TAz will no longer be considered a "hack" and these poor people will spared the embarrassment of having to walk into a, heaven forbid, respectable, licenced, tattoo shop with the "Drunken Fairy Fandango" story! Shew! Now I can fall over with my legs in the air and die!

All this time and I never thought to ask because the whole idea seemed ignorant...but where did the thought that white ink could be used to COVER black ink? White ink is a bitch to take to skin so, DUH! What gives???.........Sleepless in St. Joe.

Nope, but good luck. Well, unless it was really crappy and the black ink isn't dark. But this is why we Tattoo Artists tell you people it's PERMANENT!!! White ink is a highlight color. Take the rest of the answer from there.

Nope, but good luck. Well, unless it was really crappy and the black ink isn't dark. But this is why we Tattoo Artists tell you people it's PERMANENT!!! White ink is a highlight color. Take the rest of the answer from there.

I just found this and I guess I'll chime in by repeating the question but in a different way. In short, I have a large 3 yr old solid black cross. I don't want to "whiten " then middle, but have it be more like a grey, keeping the black lines but softening the image somewhat. 1 artist I went to here in SF said no, but I never did get a second opinion. Is it too late to ask now?

Would i be able to make my tattoo lighter.? It is purple right now.. and i was wondering if i would be able to make it a ligther purple.

i have a half-faded black tatto on the side of my heel, i was wondering if its possible to use white ink to make the non-faded bits look the same as the bit that didn't take, to make it look deliberate and smooth? the artist didnt explain about the shed line on the foot, and i only found out about that since, hence why its faded :(

As for what everyone else may think, white ink if used properly can be used to lighty somewhat remove a tattoo.. As i am doing it currently on one of mine.. The key to it is to shade into the tattoo lighty to yes get the fade effect. cause as most tattoo artists know that white ink is a pain in the ass to get the color to stick.. so in other words. if u can manage to apply it where it wont stick it will fade then there is a possibility that u can get the ink that is under it to fade as well. Now im not saying go to a tattoo artist and do this cause there is no telling how much someone would charge for something like that. BUt if u have tattooing experience at all give it a shot..So ive basicly been working on and off with this effect to see how it will work and so far it has worked well for me. concidering ive only done one treatment so far, but parts of it has faded along witht the white ink. Other options. go to laser tattoo removal. ive done it. only been thru 2 sessions so far but it does work. just hurts like a bitch to get it done.Good Luck.

I have been reading over all the comments and i must say im confused. Very adiment on both sides, i got a tattoo done about four years ago during a hard time and its a constant reminder of the past and i would like to move on, i love tattoos and want something over it but its oddly shaped and placed. They said it would be nearly 2k toget it removed so i wanted to see if i could get it lightned enough to do anything. If i could send pics to someone and get some ideas that would be really helpful

On the same note- I had an armband done a few years back and the guy did a very poor job. I went to a certified plastic surgeon and laser specialist here to have it laseresd off after I had done much research. Nonetheless, after a year and a half my tattoo (which was black and pink) is faded only- and scarred in some parts. I would consider it to be a light blue now and the pink is completely gone. I have now decided that rather than continuing with the removal (which will look like a brand if the ink is all gone) I want to redo the tattoo. I was wondering since it IS faded if I can get the exact same tattoo, but in white. What are my options?

I went recently to get my first tattoo on the top of my foot. It was a dove. I originally wanted to get it in all white but the artist said it wasnt going to be a good idea and talked me out of it. So I got it done in dark blue and had yellow accent on the outside to try and create a soft glowing affect. It's not exaclt what I wanted and I regret letting him talk me out of getting all white. But I was wondering if there are any techniques that could be used with white ink maybe to soften it up a little. I wanted to maybe cover the whole tattoo with white ink but I'm guessing that will turn out like crap. So can someone help me out? I just want my dove to look nice.

I went recently to get my first tattoo on the top of my foot. It was a dove. I originally wanted to get it in all white but the artist said it wasnt going to be a good idea and talked me out of it. So I got it done in dark blue and had yellow accent on the outside to try and create a soft glowing affect. It's not exaclt what I wanted and I regret letting him talk me out of getting all white. But I was wondering if there are any techniques that could be used with white ink maybe to soften it up a little. I wanted to maybe cover the whole tattoo with white ink but I'm guessing that will turn out like crap. So can someone help me out? I just want my dove to look nice.

I went recently to get my first tattoo on the top of my foot. It was a dove. I originally wanted to get it in all white but the artist said it wasnt going to be a good idea and talked me out of it. So I got it done in dark blue and had yellow accent on the outside to try and create a soft glowing affect. It's not exaclt what I wanted and I regret letting him talk me out of getting all white. But I was wondering if there are any techniques that could be used with white ink maybe to soften it up a little. I wanted to maybe cover the whole tattoo with white ink but I'm guessing that will turn out like crap. So can someone help me out? I just want my dove to look nice.

I have a large celtic style dragon on my hip- black, I don't want to cover it up or fade it but would it be possible to change it to japanese dragon using white ink?

Hey! My boyfriend got a giant tattoo (5 by 2.5 inches) of a solid black razor blade. Is there anything he can do about it?

i got a solid black star on my left arm, i want to know if there's a was to make some lines with some other ink (i dont care if it's white, red, gray, pink, yellow, etc) to make it into a nautical star. It looks like the cowboys star (Patriots fan tho) and i want to put some more details to it. I wanna highlight it or something. Let me know what i can do to it and i can provide pics if needed. Thanks

Hello can anyone please respond asap. I have a black design on my lower back which i realllly like. I then decided to tattoo a playboy bunny above the design last september and i dont think i like the rabbit anymore. Its not too big and its solid black and i want it redone into anorther design not so big and i still dont know what design i want maybe somethin with shading still deciding. I feel like the rabbit head doesnt compliment my other design and it was a random decision which im starting to regret. So please please please advise me what to do i live in the middle east so i cant visit a tattoo artist as we dont have them here so i can only change it when i next travel.

I really think almost all color tattoos are so ugly. there will be more people getting heavy black work in the next few years.

HELP! I just had a large ship tattoo done with a banner and some words on it. The tattoo artist shaded in the banner with too much black so that the words are hardly noticeable. QUESTION: Will shading over the black with WHITE lighten it enough for the words to be more visible?

I had to post to this thread because I was irritated with a few of the responses I read on here. I just had a coverup done of a tattoo I got 3 years ago. It looks amazing. IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL COVERUP PEOPLE. You just have to find an artist that is good at it and that you trust. The tattoo I had covered brought back horrible memories of a life that I had left behind. Yeah, it hurt like a bitch because the artist stated that the tattoo was so botched that I had fluid build up in the scar tissue and the tattoo was in the muscle of my breast. ( That was where the tattoo was.) For those of you who say it can't be done, shame on you. My tattoo is a little darker than I thought I would ever get, but it still looks amazing and no one can tell that there was something else there. I do not suggest white for a black tattoo. That is just common sense. But a cover up can be done successfully. Laser surgery DOES produce scarring (especially on home done tattoos like mine.) It would be better just to pay the extra to cover up and take it like a man. THe pain is not that bad compared to the embarrassment of others seeing the tattoo that you don't like. I'm a woman and took it like a man. So can everyone else.

Most professional tattoo artists seem to think they are gods. Actually, any "real tattoo artist" can cover up a black tattoo with white ink. It may take a few sessions, but I've done it a number of times and there is no sign of the black ink left. A "real" tattoo artist can do this for you but again be prepared to make at least 3 appointments. It's a very gradual process but YES, it can be done!

You can certainly lighten it with white to prepare for a cover up. I have done it and have seen it done several times. It will not pull all of the color but it does work.

I got a very small (about an inch) black anchor tattoo on the top of my foot a couple months ago with some of my friends, I love it and am perfectly fine with it staying how it is however when I look back on the outline he did before he inked it I think it looks really awesome as just outlined and not filled in, I'm wondering if theres any way I can have white put in the middle to make it look more like it just has an outline and isn't filled or if that is a bad idea?

Hi, I recently got half my face tattooed with big black tribal designs...Will white ink make me look young again and remove my wrinkles? :/