Video summary
This video documents an ambitious and intricate full-back cover-up project designed to transform a confusing, dark tattoo featuring a horse and demons into a cohesive Egyptian-themed piece centered around a skull. The artist begins by carefully applying stencils for the central skull and surrounding hieroglyphics individually to ensure precise placement before diving into the shading process. A key strategy employed throughout the session is the exclusive use of solid black ink during the initial stages, rather than relying on gray washes or tones immediately. This approach allows the artist to establish a strong foundation that effectively masks the old tattoo while providing enough density for subsequent layers of detail and highlights to complement the design without compromising coverage.
The process involves significant navigation between sessions over three days due to client pain levels in sensitive areas like the spine, where the needle speed causes rapid pore opening rather than scarring. The artist emphasizes a specific technique using only a 14 round liner cartridge throughout the entire project, avoiding magnetic grips to maintain direct control and an aggressive scribble texture that mimics carved stone or deteriorated surfaces. By filling in large areas with solid black first, the artist ensures that the cover-up is nearly complete before introducing lighter grays and white highlights, which serve only to brighten specific features like eye sockets and headdress details rather than doing the heavy lifting of hiding the old ink.
As the project progresses from day one to three, the focus shifts from aggressive black saturation to matching tones so that new elements blend seamlessly with existing healed areas, tricking the viewer's eye into seeing a single unified artwork. The artist explains that relying on grays for full coverage is ineffective and can lead to visible patches if not backed by sufficient solid black density. Despite some unavoidable irritation in sensitive spots requiring breaks between sessions, the final result successfully distracts from the original tattoo with creative Egyptian motifs, cracks, and vintage-style weathering effects. Ultimately, the video concludes that while absolute invisibility of a cover-up is difficult to guarantee for everyone, proper technique involving heavy black saturation first can make even the most challenging old tattoos disappear under a new, fashionable design.
Read the full video transcript
How's everybody doing? Welcome back to
my channel. This week I'm going to be
doing this insane full back cover up. It
is going to be a crazy one, especially
because it is such a dark tattoo. As you
can see, the tattoo
is very confusing. I can't even read it.
Uh
>> [music]
>> all I can see is pretty much a horse, a
few demons, a few clouds, but other than
that,
>> [music]
>> it was very confusing. Now I'm applying
the stencil. Uh I wanted to put the
stencil separately. First, I wanted to
put the skull, [music]
uh the Egyptian skull, which I feel like
it is going to be the center of
attention. So, I wanted to make sure
that I placed it on the right spot. And
then after that, I slowly started
putting on the hieroglyphics, uh the
Egyptian hieroglyphics. That way it can
complete the full back piece. It is not
just solid black in the background. It
is going to add a little bit more
dimension to the [music] whole thing.
And I'm really liking how everything's
coming out. Like I said, I'm putting
everything individually [music]
so I can make sure that everything is is
where it's supposed to be.
There it is. I love the way it looks, uh
very fashionable. And it fits his back.
[music] I know it's going to be a
complicated cover up, but I really found
one for sure.
Now I'm going to go ahead and get
started here on the top [music] of the
skull. Uh I'm using my 14 round liner,
uh and I'm actually going to be relying
on my 14 round liner throughout [music]
the whole entire tattoo.
Um I wanted to show you my process of
how I'm doing it.
Here I'm using my 14 round liner with a
5.0 voltage with my machine flux, and
I'm going to be first doing the outline
of the owl to kind of give it that
illusion like if it was carved in. So,
I'm just doing the thick lines that that
is needed before I start adding my
scribble technique.
And that's why I'm using a little bit of
circle so that way the lines are not
perfect. I want to make it look like it
is uh it is stone. So, as you can see
now, it is going to look a little
aggressive when I do my scribble
technique, but that's what is needed to
be able to create that effect. Now, I
know it's going to look
very aggressive, [music] to be honest.
And
watching this back, it it doesn't look
pretty, for sure.
But,
it gets the job done. I've been doing it
for so many years that I feel like I
don't think about it anymore. And I just
[music] go. And I just go go go go go.
Keep adding texture because I can kind
of predict how it's going to look. And
all I'm using is solid black here. I'm
not using [music] any tones, any gray
wash, nothing. It's just
solid black.
And I slowly started adding inside of
the owl to figure out how much black I
wanted to have inside [music]
before keep adding around it.
And I'm very comfortable with this
style, so that is the main reason why
I
I'm able to move a little bit quicker
and being able to complete this full
back piece in 3 days [music] back to
back. So, it is definitely guaranteed.
Like, whoever books a back a back piece
with me
3 days back to back, it is guaranteed
that you're going to leave with a full
[music] back piece, for sure.
Um
navigating is key when it comes down to
[music] doing this kind of a project so
big. So, I like to navigate. I like to
stay in communication with my clients,
how they're feeling,
what hurts, what doesn't hurt. So, that
way they able to
be strong enough to make it through the
whole entire thing.
And I know this area, for some reason,
you can see my client taking off his
glasses cuz in this area it is a little
more painful.
He was telling me that that area is
[music] very sensitive. So, that's why I
had to start navigating a little bit and
being able to
go in and out.
So, everything is a little bit more with
purpose.
Um which everything of of course I would
the whole entire thing is with purpose,
but in this situation is a little bit
more intentional on where I'm moving and
how fast.
My client got this tattoo many years ago
>> [music]
>> with when he was I believe he mentioned
19.
And and [music]
he he was just you know having fun with
his friends and that guy who did it just
you know free [music] handing and you
know that the same story which ended up
being a really bad tattoo.
You can see here the skin does look a
little irritated.
>> [music]
>> If you are attempting this just know
that it is because how fast your hand is
moving. You're not scarring the skin.
[music] You're not making it super
irritated. It is because you're moving
the needle so fast that the pores are
opening extremely fast. So [music]
it is totally normal
nothing to be concerned about if you are
attempting this technique [music] of
course.
And as you can see now now I got
comfortable. Now you're going to be able
to see since you already saw my hand
movement. [music] I'm just going to time
lapse this area
just because you already know how the
whole process is going [music] and
that was fairly quickly. So I decided
you know what before I keep going with
the higher lift inks. I want [music] to
start with
the top of the skull
and started adding getting creative
there with adding some cracks [music]
with wherever it was beneficial.
I'm all I always start with my solid
black. I always say every time I do
seminars I say
just apply your solid black first.
Figure out how much black you can add
before started adding your grays. Like
[music] in this situation you can see my
light gray started going in there. A
little bit of white highlights but
mostly it's like a 10% gray
contrasting [music] it.
So that is the main reason why I wanted
to add black first. [music] It gives me
an idea on how bright I I make a tattoo
look. Also another thing I do is I do uh
teach on my seminars is that the goal is
to use the solid black and almost
complete the cover-up. If you are
relying on your grays to do the job and
cover it up, you are doing it wrong. The
grays are not meant to do the full
cover-up. The black is the strongest uh
shade that you can use to be able to
cover it up. The gray is only a
complement and your white highlights, of
course. The white highlights is just a a
a cherry on the top.
But, if you cannot use your black and
almost cover it up, you're definitely
going to have a lot of trouble
covering up the rest of it.
So, as you can see here, I'm just
freehanding. I'm just doing what I need
to do. None of that was there, so I'm
just adding whatever is necessary to
kind of distract the eye from whatever's
underneath. So,
>> [music]
>> I'm just using shapes that I've seen on
on the Egyptian um culture, art in
general. So, I'm just adding what is
needed.
And whatever feels right. As you all
As you guys know, I've I've mentioned
this in many, many videos. I like to
study my concepts so I can be
spontaneous as I'm tattooing and be able
to [music] add and take out whatever is
needed. So, that way the cover-up is
successful.
And I decided that
day one, I was just going to do
this area here of the headdress
>> [music]
>> and the background. And as you can see,
this is day one here. This is what it
looks like fresh. Very easy cover-up. As
soon as I did that, I said, "You know
what? The rest of the project is going
to be extremely [music]
easy."
And here, this is day two. I'm going to
go ahead and get started with the snake
before that day continues and his skin
start getting more irritated and starts
going through the healing process, I
said, "Let's get rid of this uh the
cobras
uh before continuing." I want to make
sure that I do the connection first.
Um because it is definitely a little bit
tougher later on. Uh, so I have to be
very intentional with how I'm moving,
how I'm navigating, so I can make sure
that I'm not, you know, just hurting him
>> [music]
>> for no reason. So here I'm doing the
hieroglyphics again. Um, I'm slowly
moving down.
Um, I did not want to go all the way
down because I
doing this, the hieroglyphics [music] is
very easy for me. So I wanted to leave
that for the last day.
That way I'm able to move faster and he
[music] feels less pain. Today I'm going
to focus on doing the hardest areas of
this tattoo, which [music] is doing the
eye sockets, which takes a while, the
nose, which is painful because it is
right on his spine. So I said, let me
get through the eye sockets and the nose
and then I'll get started with the
forehead. Same thing [music] as the top
of the back piece. Uh, I am doing my
scribble technique with my 14 round
liner once again. Uh, I haven't used a
mag. I just want to let you guys know
that I haven't used a mag. Uh, it's all
my 14 round liner.
So it is it it it is
one of my favorite cartridges. It just
helps me do every single project. I
don't need to use a mag if I don't want
to.
Uh, but yes, as you can see, I'm I'm
adding my black. Once again, I want to
remind everyone [music]
you have to be able to almost
complete the cover-up with nothing
[music]
but black.
The gray and your white highlights are
only there to complement and make the
tattoo a lot brighter. That's it.
So that's why I'm attacking the cover-up
first [music]
so I can be able to get it out the way.
I want to really test how bright I can
make that skull look.
But I already knew that I was going to
be a successful cover-up based on day
one. So I wasn't even worried. I was
just having fun at this point. [music]
And to be completely honest, at this
point I don't feel like I'm doing a
cover-up anymore. I feel like it's a
normal tattoo. I'm treating it
I I don't I you know, it's [music] it's
crazy to say, but I don't see it as a
cover-up anymore. At this point, I'm
just having fun.
Uh I knew it's going to it's going to be
successful, so
>> [music]
>> um
I'm just adding little details here and
there, little cracks. How can I make
this skull look vintage? [music] I
shouldn't have said vintage. I would say
deteriorated.
Um and yeah, I right now what I'm going
to do is add some gray tones because I
want to match the tones [music]
from the cover-up area because if I keep
adding black on this
uh blank canvas, it's not going to look
cohesive. It's going to seem like
you're going to be able to spot where
the cover-up is. So, the the whole point
of this is to trick [music] the eye. So,
at this point, I'm trying to match the
gray tones to how dark the the cover-up
is.
So, I'm just matching tones. I want to
make [music] sure that nobody knows it's
a cover-up. That's the main goal. Of
course, there's going to be areas that's
going to be a little questionable
because it's like, you know, it I'm not
I'm also not a magician where I'm going
to 100%
cover it up where [music] you won't you
can't tell. Of course, you know, there's
somebody that knows
uh that's part of the tattoo industry
might be able to spot it and be like,
"Oh, that's a cover-up."
But sometimes, you know,
I I get the job done very well to the
point where you can't [music] even can't
even tell it's a cover-up.
And I'm just I'm still using the
scribble technique. I'm dipping back and
forth. If you guys don't know about the
the the ink set that I use, it is my
cover-up ink set, which you can purchase
at dynamiccolor.com.
Search it on the on the search bar, put
Mr. Reyes cover-up set, and they'll
[music] deliver it to you guys. It is an
amazing set. I use it for every
cover-up. I worked on it for 3 years
with Dynamic until we got the formula
right cuz I wasn't satisfied. I was
like, "I can't use this. Like, I can't
If I'm going to use a product, I you
know, I don't want to sell something
that I don't use.
Um so,
you know, I
I'm very, very happy with the product.
Dynamic really killed it. Um so, yeah.
As you can tell, I'm just still moving,
dipping back and forth. If you guys want
to learn how I do my ink set [music] or
how I move through my ink set, the
formula and everything,
uh there is a video here that I posted
that's called how to use the cover-up
ink set. Search that up, watch the
[music] video,
uh very informative.
Now that I'm done with the forehead, now
I'm going to start doing the rest of the
headdress. I what I didn't want to start
the headdress yet because I was afraid
that I was going to make it too dark by
the time I reached the forehead. [music]
So, like I said, I'm navigating. I want
to make sure that I'm not going too
dark, especially because this part of
the headdress it is the brightest point.
And
>> [music]
>> I wasn't able to um
record it. Sorry. But, here I'm adding
my light grays and a few white
highlights.
Now I'm starting with
>> [music]
>> uh
this that skull of the cheekbone. Again,
using my 14 wide liner.
Uh just because I'm so comfortable with
it. Like, it's [music] it's getting the
job done perfectly. And this is, you
know, clean canvas, so I don't have to
think about it too much. [music]
All I got to do is tattoo
like I would like I would tattoo a
regular tattoo. That's it.
Doing the the teeth. Now I'm This is day
three right here.
And unfortunately, I wasn't able to
record the whole entire entire day of
day three because it was he was in pain.
He was [music] in pain.
So, I'm so sorry, guys, but the rest of
the video, the rest of the tattoo, it
was literally the same exact thing that
I've been doing throughout the whole
back piece. So, there was nothing really
new to show. I just wanted my client to
[music]
get through it because he was in pain,
and I was not about to waste time
recording. But, thank you guys so much
for watching. I appreciate you guys so
much, and I'm going to go ahead and
leave this here so you guys can enjoy
the review of this project. Drop a
comment, subscribe, [music] and if you
guys can share this video, that would be
really much appreciated. If you're a
tattoo artist, I hope you learned
something from this video. And if you're
a tattoo enthusiast, I hope you were
entertained. Thank you so much for
watching. I'll see you guys in the next
video. Peace.
>> [music]
[music]
>> like