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Breakups can be very, very emotionally draining. Especially if you're left with a permanent reminder of your ex on your body. Getting a tattoo design with your partner's face, name, or initials inked is easier than getting rid of it. Luckily, some crafty tattoo artists have the skills and creativity to turn them into something new, allowing them to let go of the past and move on. Bored Panda has collected a list of clever ways people covered up tattoos that were dedicated to their exes, so continue scrolling to the tattoo gallery below and remember to upvote your faves!

Everyone who wants a tattoo cover-up has to be open to modifications that will allow it to completely hide the old body art. And the more complex the cover-up tattoo design is in terms of fine details and rich shading, and the more solid, deep colors it has in it, the better it will turn out. For example, tattoo ideas with layers like scales on fish, variegation in flower petals, and swirls of hair in different shades are really useful. Also, deep purples, blues, greens, and other dark, cool colors with lots of black shading work really well. Especially if the original tattoo is dark. On the other hand, warmer colors tend to be less successful at covering an old tattoo.

Typically, the new design has to be larger than the old tattoo, so that it provides more than sufficient coverage. According to Painful Pleasures, the shape of the new design and the way it's angled over top of the old one will determine how much larger the cover-up tattoo needs to be to successfully mask what's underneath it.

The artist may also suggest a few sessions of laser tattoo removal to lighten the old tattoo before attempting to cover it up with a new one. The necessity for laser tattoo removal usually depends on the age of the old tattoo, how dark its colors are and what colors the cover up tattoo will consist of as well as the complexity of the cover-up design. When covering up an old, faded tattoo, laser tattoo removal usually isn't necessary.

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Once the ink of the new tattoo settles, the old design may peek through somewhat, but a few more passes should take care of that problem, if it arises.

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#12

From Wife's Portrait To Gorilla

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Mark Smallman
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Mmmm,go around with a tattoo of your ex or replace it with a very random gorilla. Tough choice :)

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#13

Cover Up

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Koalamonster
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can see it a bit still but with how dark and wide those letters are... not many great options.

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#22

Cover Up Tattoo

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Magpie
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scrolling down, the middle pic looked really bad.... but the last/bottom pic is very nice.

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#25

Cover Up Session Today

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Aramis
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

first artist was terrible anyway, I think a cover up was inevitable

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#28

Oops

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Hello it Smee
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

O hell, you just doubled down on a bad decision. Hope you and Hollie last.

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#31

Cover Up

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