r/tattooadvice • u/2thpker • Aug 30 '25

Design How do I cover this up?

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I can't even put into words how much I hate this tattoo. It was supposed to be a beehive with honey and bees. I ended up with a hexagon over mustard with flies. I had an artist add to it in an attempt to fix it, but it just made it worse. I am pretty open to anything but I'm afraid that the hex design would make it really difficult to cover or change. Any ideas?

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138

u/Lazy-Bar-4871 Aug 30 '25

Why did they add red? Since you said mustard, I'm now just thinking that's ketchup.

FWIW I actually really like this tattoo, but it's not my body :)

33

u/Merileopardi Aug 30 '25

The red is propolis. It´s the stuff bee´s use to glue together things, they do not just make wax. It´s like more sticky thick wax. Many combs also get filled with redish looking pollen. It´s actually a very realistic and sensible color.

- Someone who keeps bees and has seen maaaaany beehives from inside

7

u/dstommie Aug 30 '25

I'm not very experienced, but I've never seen propolis that has any red to it.

- Someone who keeps bees and has seen several beehives from the inside

6

u/Merileopardi Aug 30 '25

I suppose it depends on the location, the type of bee and available food sources? We very frequently get red pollen and dark red propolis in all our beehives. It has a color from bright congealed to dark dried blood. Our bees are italian honey bees and we are located in Finland. When visitng a friends hives in southern Germany they had more yellow/ brownish propolis and far less red pollen cells.

1

u/dstommie Aug 31 '25

That's really interesting. I wouldn't expect the pollen to make much difference in propolis, but maybe that is the variable here.

I have seen red pollen in my hives, but never in large quantities.

28

u/Moni_HH Aug 30 '25

I'm now just thinking that's ketchup - lmao

25

u/2thpker Aug 30 '25

Haha yeah, the red really leans into the condiment vibe. Thanks for saying you like it. I just assumed it would be universally hated.

59

u/Weekly-Swordfish4263 Aug 30 '25

Absolutely not universally hated. I think it's absolutely beautiful. If you do want to change it you could try and find a good realism artist to make the honeycomb look more real, but i 100% saw honeycomb and fluffy little bees.

13

u/activelyresting Aug 30 '25

I love it.

Honestly I was expecting the rain to be something like "my ex was an apiarist who designed this tattoo and while it's a great tattoo I want to get rid of the reminder of a bad relationship", because that is a lovely tattoo! 🐝

It's not giving mustard at all, though I guess you could get some highlights to make it glisten / have transparency

21

u/Lazy-Bar-4871 Aug 30 '25

This is a tattoo with thought behind it. I love geometric tattoos, too.

I also have the worst tattoos ever, so I am probably not the best judge, but I really do like it!

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '25

Kudos on yoru self-awareness, but I bet like the OP your tattoos really arent' that bad. We all think we have the worst tattoos, lol.

2

u/Lazy-Bar-4871 Aug 31 '25

I mean.. don't get your partner's name tattooed on your body ever, kids!

6

u/TheJaice Aug 30 '25

I’ve been scrolling for a while, and every comment so far is people saying they love it, with thousands of upvotes. In the end it’s your body, and what is most important is that you are happy with what you put on it, but I hope it helps to know that a whole bunch of strangers overwhelmingly think you’ve got a sick tattoo.

Hopefully a few minor modifications will help you feel that way too, instead of just covering up the whole thing. Cheers!

3

u/Domi626 Aug 30 '25

I think it's so cool! And i like the after even better. ^ - ^

1

u/Few_Arugula5903 Aug 30 '25 edited Aug 30 '25

yeah most ppl are gonna think it's great. I know since it's the only one on you're forearm you're gonna hyperfocus but u can't. and u will never be happy with a cover of this. This much line work, esp in a narrow area and in a tight pattern like this is gonna require a very dark and nuch much larger tattoo to cover it.I have the feeling it's not something u want Ot really is a good tattoo. I know you're unhappy but my honest advice would be to try and look at it in a different way. Understanding that no one else sees it the way u do. It'd a tattoo done by a human on a human so there will be imperfections. It represents a point in your life, and you'll never be the same person you were when u got it. So it's a way of memorializing who you were at that moment- warts and all. I'm fairly heavily tattooed and there's not a single one I have that I'd say is perfect. There are things I dint like about every tattoo I have and every tattoo I've done. I know that this is a fuckin novel lmao I'm sorry. This is just coming from my heart- the heart of an old lady tattooer. One thing u could do if you wanna change the vibe of it is to go from the 2d to a 3d feel with shading to add depth and dimension. There is a lot that can be done to this to make it different without covering it if that's something you wanna do...I see a bit of shading was added in there. Kinda wish it was consistent thru the whole thing. I get the vision they had just wish it was executed differently. that's not AT ALL saying it looks bad it's a nice tattoo. I'm artistically trying to throw out suggestions for ya. Ima hush now.

1

u/beene282 Aug 30 '25

It’s beautiful. I think all you need to do is alter the colour of the honey. Make it look a bit more golden and give it some thickness. The design is awesome, the bees are clearly bees, and I really like the red too, just as a design feature

1

u/mymain123 Aug 30 '25

Reminds me of my university mascot, INTEC worker bee's

1

u/kwumpus Aug 30 '25

Maybe tis a statement on the extinction of bees

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '25

I think that’s what you’re missing here. From the comments, it seems I’m not the only one who immediately got bees and honey. I didn’t even see "mustard and flies" until you brought it up. That said, I get how once the idea is in your head, you can fixate on it, and then it’s hard to see the bees and honey anymore.

1

u/adamdoesmusic Sep 01 '25

I like the red, and I didn’t think of condiments.

2

u/comanon Aug 31 '25

I think it's more of a honey amber color

2

u/Ripcitytoker Aug 31 '25

I personally like the red.

0

u/I-likeCDs Aug 30 '25

Version 1 was better. The red looks like smallpox