They always say not to get a tattoo of somebody’s name on your body. After all, that person you once held so close to your heart might one day become a source of great pain and frustration for you. Unfortunately, these 35 individuals didn’t listen and had to learn their lesson the hard way. Despite the fact that they loved their significant others dearly at the time that they got the tattoos, in the end, things took a turn for the worst.
Now, they are being perpetually reminded of their past mistakes and it’s up to the tattoo artists to save them. Really, as long as a person is willing to go big, there is nothing that some more additional ink can’t fix. That’s what these photos prove. From tattoo disasters to beautiful masterpieces, these people will be forever grateful to the artists that helped them to cover up their terrible ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend names for good and move on with their lives.
1. Feather Coverup
Her ex had a very long name, making covering it up a big project. Luckily, it was originally done in light blue ink. After blending the name into the watercolor feather design, it’s not even noticeable.
2. Calming Nature
Sorry Chloe, this man is moving on with his life. First, the artist drew an outline of a mountain forest scene over the name. Then they completely covered it with dark black trees.
3. The Simpsons
With a few clever strokes of ink, the name Mary can be transformed into Marge. Accompanying the new name is a tattoo of Marge Simpson cleaning in a sexy outfit.
4. Red Rose
In this case, the boyfriend’s initials were tattooed on a puzzle piece. He was the missing piece in her life at one time, but not anymore. Now, a tribal flower design is much more appropriate.
5. Mysterious Woman
First, he tried to get the tattoo of the girlfriend’s face removed. When there were still remnants of it remaining, he realized that his only option would be to add a mask and cloak over the face.
6. Expired Relationship
Sometimes humor is the best option for a coverup. That was this man’s preferred method. He had the tattoo artist place a red void tattoo over the name.
7. Paint Splash Plume
These feather coverups are popular for a reason — they look great! This one uses a black and white plume to hide the name. It is surrounded by beautiful splashes of color.
8. Black Spider
Spiders are dark and ominous, just like the memories of his ex. The name was haunting him daily and he knew he had to replace it with something. Personally, spiders freak us out, but to each his own!
9. Symbolic Death
This man was once dating an amazing woman, or so he thought. Now she is dead to him, literally. He covered up her face with an image of the Grim Reaper.
10. Painted Over
Most people don’t want others to know that their tattoo is a coverup. However, with this one, that is the actual point. The tattoo is a small stick man covering up the name with a paint roller.
11. Monstrous Past
Here we can see the step by step conversion from a picture of an ex to a crazy-looking monster. In each frame, the previous form gets more and more distant until finally, the transformation is complete.
12. Have Faith
This tattoo placed on the top of the woman’s butt cheek used to say “Frank”. The artist found a clever way of changing the word. They manipulated the “Fr” into a lowercase “F” plus a cross. Then they spelled out “faith”.
13. Day Of The Dead
It was a little name, but the man was ready for a big change. He covered it up with a giant lady of death tattoo. The final result is both spooky and beautiful.
14. Deteriorating Skull
We have seen a lot of skull tattoos in the past, but this one is completely unique. The attention to detail is incredible, and most importantly, it does a fantastic job of blocking out the ex’s name.
15. Two Feathers
This one started as a tiny set of wings. The artist extended the shape of the wings outward and transformed them into feathers. A black one hides the wings and the white one crosses out the name.
16. West Coast Coverup
This tattoo coverup doesn’t try to hide anything. It is very blunt in its approach. A few letters of Francesca’s name are simply crossed out and replaced with substitutions.
17. Ouroboros
The ex’s name was Wendy. The place she used to have on the man’s body has now been covered up by a three-headed dragon. The intimidating beast circles around in an attempt to eat its own tail.
18. Permanent Ring
In the past, she wore her ex’s name like a ring around her finger. It wasn’t exactly easy to take off after they broke up, but now, a dark-colored mandala plant tattoo encapsulates the whole thing.
19. Gotham City
You would think that a name tattoo as large as this one and done in such thick black ink would be hard to cover up. However, it was no match for Batman. The superhero successfully helped the man to fight back against his troubled past.
20. Sarcastic Coverup
This person just scribbled out the name and labeled it. At least, that is how we imagine it must have played out. Either that, or it’s just one big sarcastic joke and there was never a name underneath there.
21. Primate Preference
It was a difficult choice for the man. He could spend the rest of his life looking at a big face of his ex, or he could replace it with an adorable gorilla. After much deliberation, the gorilla won out.
22. Wise Owl
Animals are definitely one of the wisest choices for tattoo coverups. This person decided to use a cute little owl. We love how the white ink stands out against the black and brown colors.
23. Forest Silhouette
Silhouettes are another cool method many artists use to hide unsightly names. It allows them to simply fill in over the old tattoo, burying it deep beneath the ink, never to be seen again.
24. Changing Teams
He used to be a big fan of his basketball player partner Chris, but they had a falling out. Now he prefers to think about football instead. His favorite team to watch these days is the Oregon Ducks.
25. Colorful Feather
This name took up an entire forearm. However, the artist was able to make it virtually disappear. The psychedelic feather blurred the lines between the past and the future.
26. Cool Car Tattoo
The muscle car was the perfect way to hide the ex’s name. The dark black vehicle rolled right over the old faded tattoo, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke behind it and no trace of what was there before.
27. Fly On
This wing tattoo matches the contour of the man’s chest and shoulder perfectly. It looks right at home. You would never guess that its real purpose is to cover up a former partner’s name.
28. Heart Vines
The heart was pretty enough to stay, but the name had to go. All of the outlines and colors were redone to make the tattoo more defined. Then a butterfly was added, perched onto the side of the vine.
29. Old Interests
Now that they are broken up, the man can finally get the tattoo he originally wanted — an action-packed Batman scene. With Jessi out of the picture, he can pursue his comic book hobbies in peace.
30. Minor Correction
The first woman’s name was a big accident. Here’s to hoping that this new relationship works out for him. Otherwise, he is going to end up having a full sleeve of crossed-out names.
31. No Longer Valid
The man took canceling his subscription to his ex very seriously. He slapped a large red void tattoo over her name. Now, he will be reminded every day that the past mistake is no longer a part of his life.
32. Greek Mythology
Kim used to be everything to this man. Somewhere along the way though, their relationship changed. He now views her more like a Medusa — the mythological monster with snakes as hair whose gaze turns people to stone.
33. Lightening The Load
Atonio’s name no longer hangs heavy on this woman’s heart. His memory is now light as a feather — a long blue feather with a yellow stem. That’s all that remains.
34. Flying Eagle
This eagle is pretty awesome. It came flying down out of the sky to replace Tabatha Ann’s spot on the man’s chest. After a few hours in the tattoo studio and a bit of solid line work, that was it for the ex-girlfriend.
35. Time Waits For No One
Here we have another man who views his past relationship through the lens of death. The woman used to have a prime location on his body, but her influence has definitely faded over time. There is not much left of her now.
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