With the newer pigments out there today, can a tattoo artist cover over a faded black tattoo successfully?

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 1:41 am

I have a tribal tattoo that is about 3 1/2 " long. It has a small rose in the middle. It was poorly done about 18 years ago. The black is more green, and the rose is more of a Buy Drugs pinky red. Is it possible with the newer brighter more vibrant inks, to actually color over the faded black and red with say blues, pinks, or purple? Or will the tattoo artist have to cover over the whole thing with black to make it "disappear" into the artwork? I was thinking about having it turned into a hummingbird with some small flowers around it. It's sort of in that shape already. The body of the bird could be what is there now-I think. I just want to have an idea what I want before I go into a place and ask for a custom design. Thanks.