These People Transformed Tattoos Of Their Exes Into Something Entirely Different
Getting a tattoo of your significant other's name or likeness can be a bit risky. Unfortunately, sometimes relationships don't pan out the way we'd hoped. Still, many people take the risk, and end up in desperate need of a tattoo coverup.
On the bright side, skilled tattoo artists can turn just about anything into art that you'll be happy to have on your skin for the rest of your life. Whether it's an intricate design, a special symbol, or someone's face, these transformations go to show that it's never too late to salvage a tattoo.
The Name Lost In A Forest
The before photograph looks like the name "Coralie" with a heart over the "i." It's a shame to see such a beautiful font and a unique name have to go away. However, the coverup definitely makes up for it.
The new and improved tattoo is a forest of trees partially fading in the distance. The vanishing effect makes the trees appear to be growing more distant and dissolving into the mist. That's a true work of art on someone's arm.
He Let His Batman Out
After the initial heartbreak of a breakup, you can sometimes feel like a superhero once you've gotten back on your feet and recentered yourself. For this individual, it looks like he found his inner Batman.
Whoever "Jessi" was, they now are no longer featured on the chest that now bears a detailed Batman tattoo. While the person you're dating may change over time, childhood superheroes are timeless. Now this man can feel confident when he looks at his arm.
Married To The Simpsons
One of the easiest ways to transform a name tattoo is to change it into another, extremely similar name. In this case, a man altered his "Mary" tattoo to a "Marge" tattoo.
However, it wouldn't have been enough to just change the name, since onlookers might think "Marge" is the next woman in his life. Just to be safe, he had the tattoo artist include a flattering image of Marge Simpson over the name like a true animated sitcom fan.
Engaged To Herself
Getting married can be a beautiful thing, but these days there is a significant chance of it ending in separation. A tattoo on your wedding finger is far more permanent than a ring, and therefore more challenging to get rid of.
This woman transformed the faded "Chris" on her ring finger into a charming flower design. Whether she's remarried or just self-committed, this tattoo definitely evokes a sense of peace. Our hats are off to the artist who managed to do such good work on such a small space.
Lots Of Coverups Here
This is British reality TV star Jemma Lucy, and you can see that she's no stranger to tattoos! She's had just about everything inked on her body, from her baby's name to a portrait of her friend Katie Price.
When things went south in that friendship, however, Jemma got creative about covering up her tribute. She had the realistic image of Katie covered by a horse! That's sending a pretty clear message.
From Basketball To Football
Chris is a popular name, hence yet another tattoo inspired by an ex named Chris. This one appears to be on the arm of a man who clearly loves sports. In the before picture, the name rests above a basketball.
This man decided to scrap the sport along with the partner. The new tattoo features a football helmet with the emblem for the Oregon Ducks on it. Boyfriends may come and go, but a fan's loyalty to their team is solid.
Kim Took A Turn For The Worse
It's one thing to get a person's name tattoo on you, but to get their name and their face is a whole other level. Whatever Kim did, it must have been quite a doozy judging by this transformed tattoo.
The tattoo artist did an incredible job turning Kim's face into the completely different face of Medusa. According to Greek mythology, Medusa had snakes for hair and a stare that could turn you into stone. It seems that Kim turned this man's heart to stone, as well.
This Woman Blossomed
While putting someone's name on your body is risky, putting that name on your wrist, where anyone can see it, is riskier. On top of that, "Julie" was written in blue ink, which isn't exactly discreet.
Breakup aside, the new tattoo definitely does more justice to this woman's wrist. Rather than a simple, boring name tattoo with a sun next to it, the new image is in classic black ink, and has intricate detailing to turn a plant's leaves into a work of art.
From Child Doodle To Artistic Feathers
Once again, this tattoo would have needed a pick-me-up with or without a recent breakup. The before image reads "Dendo" beneath an angel wing that any teenager could sketch in their notebook.
The after tattoo is a white feather overlaying a black one. Unlike the previous image, this one has texture and depth to it that make it apparent that it was done by a true artist. It's nice to see a positive tattoo transformation.
A Face Upgrade
We can't say for sure what's going on in the before photograph. It looks like the face of a young girl named "Fabka" has a poorly drawn in mustache and oddly outlined eyes.
The new photo is much better, showing the face of an older woman dressed in Day of the Dead face paint. One possibility is that this was not an ex, but a deceased person who is imagined to have grown into a beautiful young woman in the afterlife.
From Woman To Gorilla
This individual skipped the name and tattooed only a face to their forearm, which is a recipe for disaster. The large image is located in a place where people probably see it all the time and are likely to ask about it since there isn't a name to imply a relationship.
Fortunately, they now have an image that is probably less awkward to explain. Whether their favorite animal is a gorilla or they just really love ape movies, the story behind this new tattoo is bound to be an easier one to tell.
Chloe Is Buried Under A Mountain
The before photo shows how this tattoo artist planned out the new design in such a way that the name would be completely obliterated. You can see in the after photo that the name is submerged in black ink where the trees are most thick.
Above the trees is a beautiful mountain backed by a setting sun. The positioning of the image is such that the name Chloe rests behind the trees and underneath the mountain. That's one way to symbolically bury an ex.
Stacy Is No More
Similar to a previous tattoo coverup we've seen, this one was transformed into a woman's face decorated in Day of The Dead makeup. However, the before image was a relatively simple name tattoo, rather than a full-blown face.
Nevertheless, this individual opted to completely eradicate the name by covering it with a large and detailed image of a woman's face. Her hair is black, which probably helped to ensure that the name did not bleed through.
A Color-Bleeding Feather
This person went all out with their name tattoo; the large font covers nearly their entire forearm. Whatever the name was, it's hard to make out due to a poor choice in font.
Fortunately, the new tattoo manages to completely cover the area. The artistic design leaves the meaning open-ended, rather than denoting someone or something that is no longer relevant in this person's life. The large feather is predominantly blue, but all the colors of the rainbow bleed from it.
Dead To Me
While many of the other before tattoos were less flattering than the after image, this original tattoo was actually quite nice. The detailing of the hair and the woman's subtle smirk are nice to look at.
The individual who got the tattoo clearly did not feel the same way. That's why he hired an artist who skillfully altered the image so it now appears to be a smiling skull wearing a mischevious expression. We would guess that the message here is that his ex is dead to him.
Wendy Turned Into A Dragon
This before photograph shows the name "Wendy" with the impression of the new tattoo layered over it for reference. Incredibly, the small tattoo is completely dissolved by this circular dragon tattoo.
The new image is shaded in to provide extra coverage. For such a small image, it has an extraordinary amount of detail, including three dragon's heads with slithering tongues coming out. Hopefully, the new tattoo is not meant to imply that Wendy metaphorically became a three-headed dragon over the course of the relationship.
A Simple Coverup
Most of the coverups we've seen so far were intricate both in the way they masked the original image and in the detail of the new design. This one is for the individuals who don't care what it looks like, they just want the name gone.
A stick figure man with a paint roller appears to be painting black over the name. The idea may be simple, but it also is witty. The problem is that people still are going to ask what the tattoo covered up.
Jennifer Is Long Gone
This image shows the gradual deterioration of "Jennifer." In the first shot, she is glowing and appears to have light beams and stars overhead, with her name written down below.
The second photograph shows the artist's drawing and how it would cover the original tattoo up. By the third picture, Jennifer is gone, along with the stars, light beams, and her name. Instead, a dead woman in a hood smiles while looking half skull and half flesh. That's one way to get back at your ex.
The Most Simple Coverup Of All
This person clearly had the name "Lauren" tattooed across their wrist on its own before stepping back into the tattoo parlor for a swift alteration. Instead of going over the name, they just added to it.
They must be a fashion fan because they chose to add on "Ralph" with the Ralph Lauren emblem underneath. With all of the success the clothing line has had over the years, it probably is a safer bet as a tattoo than the ex Lauren was.
It Doesn't Get More Transformative Than This
When it comes to changing an image to its complete opposite, this one takes the cake. The original photo was a lovely-looking woman surrounded by flowers. The new version is a woman who looks like she's ready to eat you.
The extreme expression of the woman in the coverup tattoo is aggressive, with a furrowed brow and sharp teeth. Being that the artist left the hair and shoulders of the original woman, we would guess that the illustration is meant to depict how this man sees his ex now. That's quite a change.
She Gave Herself A Diamond
The initial tattoo was a faded diamond with the name "Isaac" written over the top. We're assuming this tattoo was meant to imply that Isaac would someday be or already was her fiance. Clearly, things didn't work out.
What did work out is her brand new diamond tattoo that looks far more vivid. This tattoo seems to encourage other woman, or perhaps just herself, that you don't have to wait around for someone else to give you a diamond; you give yourself that diamond!
A New Kind Of Dark Night
The previous tattoo was written in giant block letters, which aren't the easiest to cover up. Then again, if you're tattooing someone's name on yourself, you probably don't have in mind ever needing to cover it up.
Nevertheless, things clearly came to a close with "Kayleigh" because the tattoo was covered with a Batman emblem, inside of which you can see the dark knight and the city of Gotham. That's far better than being reminded of the dark nights he had with his ex.
Void This Tattoo
This kind of tattoo is obviously spiteful because the individual left their ex's name overtly apparent. The black ink tattoo of the name "Tara Lynn" stands out like a sore thumb beneath the red-inked "VOID" tattoo added on.
The VOID stamp is at least a charming addition. However, it wasn't drawn consistently with the word. For instance, the "V" of the stamp and the "V" of the word should be near one another. It's a small detail, but it adds to the already distasteful tattoo idea.
That's Commitment
To anyone who has ever gotten a tattoo, and to most of the people who have ever imagined getting one, the first thing that comes to mind when looking at this transformation is "Ouch!"
Getting a completely filled in black box tattoo of that size would require a ton of time, ink, and painful patience. It certainly blocks out the image before, and also sends a message. Anyone willing to go through that to completely eradicate a tattoo must really despise the person it was inspired by.
One Big Mistake To Make
Getting a name tattooed on your arm makes it difficult to hide. However, as we've seen, there are plenty of ways to completely obliterate the name. Instead, this individual decided to let the name remain obvious, covering it with a simple "X."
Below, a corny joke makes the whole thing seems like a silly mistake. That obviously isn't how this guy really feels about his relationship with Megan if he still hates her enough to commit to a cheap tattoo like this one just to spite her.
Your Name Here
This tattoo coverup probably would have been better off if kept just to the black scribbles that overlay the space where a name used to be. The arrow and the phrase "Your Name" is just confusing.
Is the individual saying that anyone looking at this may as well put their name there? Or is the message meant to be directed at the person whose name used to be there, in which case they are stating the obvious?
Some People Never Learn
We can presume that the original tattoo read "Nathan" alone below the rose. This woman thought that adding "Is nothing on Ryan Wilson" would be a clever way to spite her ex.
However, shouldn't it read "Has nothing on Ryan Wilson" or "Is nothing compared to Ryan Wilson?" It's a small mistake but one that makes the phrase sound a little funny. You'd think she would have put a little more thought into such a permanent decision.
San Francisco Was A Safer Bet
This person lucked out since their ex's name was so close to the beloved city of San Francisco. However, they didn't opt to have a talented tattoo artist simply alter a couple of letters to make it seem as though the tattoo was never a mistake in the first place.
Instead, they did something that makes it obvious that the original tattoo read "San Francesca." The put an "X" through the last half of the name and then tattooed the new letters below. That must have been an intentional dig.
Here We Go Again
Why someone would want a permanent reminder of all of the significant others they had committed to at one point or another is a complete mystery.
Nevertheless, this person went ahead and tattooed every girlfriend's name to their arm. We can't say for sure if the names were added gradually or all at once. Either way, you can bet that if Laura doesn't work out, she will be getting crossed off the list and another will get added on.
Scribbled Out
Whatever the initial tattoo name was, you can tell that it was pretty faded. That means it probably would have been fairly simple to cover up with an image or a design.
Instead, this person decided to take the easy way out and treat their arm like the sketchpad of a baby. The scribble is done overtly so that, while you can't read the name, you definitely can tell that the marking was intended to sting the person whose name that was.
