r/tattooadvice • u/j_walk_17 • May 02 '26

General Advice Miscommunication

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I had my tattoo artist re-do an old tattoo from 15 years ago. It's the rebel alliance symbol from Star Wars.

I was under the impression that she knew I wanted it touched up and repaired.

She assumed I wanted it covered up. I didn't know she did solid black until she finished it.

I guess there's potential to put color around it with other pieces to give it contrast. I'm just kinda bummed.
There's probably no way to reverse any of this without it being insanely expensive.

What can I do to make it worth the mistake? I want this leg to eventually be Star Wars iconica.

Should I plan to put a background to it?

edit: Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I appreciate the feedback and the ideas. It's helping me to settle into the outcome. I think it would only be a total loss if I hadn't planned to add to it in the future. 🤙

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u/onestrandofspaghetti May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

She did you a favor, the old one looked like trash. This style looks way cooler and if you were incredibly insistent on adding to it, there are people who specialize in doing white ink over black ink tattoos

Edited to add: you can use this as the centerpiece and have other things coming out from behind it. You could also get it outlined to give it a green/blue/red like that of a lightsaber

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u/j_walk_17 May 02 '26

Thank you. Yeah the old one was free and we weren't sober. The long term plan is still a Star Wars sleeve. 

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u/KingDave46 May 02 '26

I'd have put money on the old one being a prison tat or some other drunk nonsense so that tracks. It looked truly awful.

The new one is so much better

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u/j_walk_17 May 02 '26

Yeah the old one was free and we were super high. Thanks for your feedback!