Eddie "Piece of Mind"

[mario-cy-74]

Hi Everyone,
I'm working on a cover up tattoo for my brother who was an Iron Maiden Nut! I've grown up with the sounds of heavy metal and punk from my brothers, so I thought a design with Eddie off the "piece of mind" cover would be appropriate.
Just drawing Eddie himself, not the padded cell, but for my brother's tattoo I'm considering just drawing Eddie's body as if it's pushing out of the skin (no legs). What do you think? This is my progress so far....

 

[TexasPT]

I think you're an amazing artist. Without seeing what it's covering I don't know if it is feasible for a cover up.

 

[Jerry7297]

Excellent drawing so far, details are awesome. Not sure if that a good image to use as a cover up. Like Mark said what you are covering would be nice to see.

 

[mario-cy-74]

I think you're an amazing artist. Without seeing what it's covering I don't know if it is feasible for a cover up.

Hi Mark & Jerry - let me get a picture of the tat to be covered and I will post it up for you. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[mario-cy-74]

Hi Mark & Jerry

Here's a photo of the tattoo I want to cover up. It's really old and very poor quality. I'm hoping to enlarge Eddie so that his torso looks like it's poking out of my brother's body, with the chains being attached to his skin. Feedback/comments are greatly welcomed.

 

[Rossco]

its a guess as to how big the tattoo is covering and where your planning on losing it on the new design..i think you would be best losing it below the shoulder on the right on eddie. and youll have to use a light grey or white to cover all the black that needs hiding..the bigger eddie is the easier it will be to cover..but thats just my opinion..im sure others will have a different take on other ways ?

 

[Jerry7297]

That coverable for sure. There are some pretty dark areas in the middle. Maybe add a shadow under Eddie to help cover that. Not sure where that is placed and how much room is around it.

 

[mario-cy-74]

The old tattoo is quite small - only 6cm wide x 10 cm tall and its on my brother's back (left shoulder) - there's plenty of space around it too. I'm going to work on another Eddie which I think will be better. I'll share that drawing with you when I get it finished. In the meantime.... here's the finished Eddie.

 

[Rossco]

thats fantastic ???..

 

[MalligaMallan]

Looks great Marie!

 

[mario-cy-74]

Thanks everyone! This is the design I've created for the cover up. I think it will work and with the black hole it should cover up any traces of the old tattoo. It's just something I've pulled together quickly in Photoshop and I'll work on a sketch, but I think it'll be quite effective. What do you think? Any suggestions/advice please?

 

[Rossco]

if im correct didnt you do your first tattoo on yourself last month.. if im right im right in what i say trying to do a cover up now is way to soon..learn skin and craft and the art of tattooing and then attempt the cover up.. your artistic skills are fantastic and i have no doubt you will turn good tattoos out in time but learn to walk before you run..learn hand pressure and speed ..needle depths ect..remember there's no rubber if you make a mistake..i wish there was lol..if you knew what you was doing you wouldnt have to ask cover up advice if that make sense..you would be able to look and know what would and wouldnt cover...but that is just my advice..good luck if you go for it ?

 

[Jerry7297]

That will defiantly cover it. But to do that with a tattoo is nothing like with a pencil. I agree that more practice is required to say the least. that much detail is really hard to pull off right.

 

[MalligaMallan]

I think that will work fine to cover the old tatto, and I think the motif will work fine for a back.

I agree what the others say about doing such a detailed motif so soon after you did your first tattoo on human skin ever. But what you could do if you want to use the opportunity for practice, is you only do helplines the first session (with a grey wash, not solid black). Then you can spend several sessions on this, and learn a lot from it, instead of trying to do it - god forbid - in only one session.

That's what I'm doing on this back tattoo:


This is after 5 sessions.


This is what it looked like after the first session, healed:


It will probably be 8 sessions before I'm finished. Which is great! No need to hurry, better to learn!

However, I had tattooed 13 times during a year on human skin before I started this.

First 3 of these 13 times I did pretty much the same on myself. A rose motif on my thigh. Did helplines first session (in solid black, which was NOT a good idea ).

But I think you can do this, if you focus on learning and doing a good job in the end, not just finish it in one or two sessions. That would be my advice

 

[mario-cy-74]

if im correct didnt you do your first tattoo on yourself last month.. if im right im right in what i say trying to do a cover up now is way to soon..learn skin and craft and the art of tattooing and then attempt the cover up.. your artistic skills are fantastic and i have no doubt you will turn good tattoos out in time but learn to walk before you run..learn hand pressure and speed ..needle depths ect..remember there's no rubber if you make a mistake..i wish there was lol..if you knew what you was doing you wouldnt have to ask cover up advice if that make sense..you would be able to look and know what would and wouldnt cover...but that is just my advice..good luck if you go for it ?

Hi Richard - yes - you're right - but I won't be actually doing the tattoo for some time. It was just to design something that would work for a cover up for the future after much more experience and work. I appreciate your comments and totally understand where you're coming from. I certainly want to crawl, then walk, then run (if you know what I mean) - I've got more pieces I want to practice on fake skin to get lines nailed then my shading. I know it's all about practice, practice, practice. I just appreciate everyones help here. Thanks guys!

 

[mario-cy-74]

I think that will work fine to cover the old tatto, and I think the motif will work fine for a back.

I agree what the others say about doing such a detailed motif so soon after you did your first tattoo on human skin ever. But what you could do if you want to use the opportunity for practice, is you only do helplines the first session (with a grey wash, not solid black). Then you can spend several sessions on this, and learn a lot from it, instead of trying to do it - god forbid - in only one session.

That's what I'm doing on this back tattoo:
View attachment 21300

This is after 5 sessions.


This is what it looked like after the first session, healed:
View attachment 21301

It will probably be 8 sessions before I'm finished. Which is great! No need to hurry, better to learn!

However, I had tattooed 13 times during a year on human skin before I started this.

First 3 of these 13 times I did pretty much the same on myself. A rose motif on my thigh. Did helplines first session (in solid black, which was NOT a good idea ).

But I think you can do this, if you focus on learning and doing a good job in the end, not just finish it in one or two sessions. That would be my advice

Hi Malin - that's awesome - thank you so much for the advice and what a great idea. It could be an option as my brother lives in England and me in Cyprus. That's a great suggestion about the helplines. Thank you.