how much were you going to pay for that it looks like you've opted for a cheaper tattoo parlour

A good friend of mine got something covered up that was slightly bigger than this.
I recommend going to some shops and see if there is anything they can do to possibly make it look better than to cover it up.
If you go with complete cover up, go with dark colors as they'll hide the old lines better.
Luckily there was no shading done to your tattoo which will make the cover up much easier and look much cleaner.
Good luck man. Remember to do a ton of research on shops. That's what I did for mine

lol it can probably be covered up but it's gonna cost a lot, that's a big area to cover. Find out if there's any places that do cover ups around you and ask them what they can do with it

Did he show you the sketch before he actually started to tattoo you?

Rather than going straight for a cover up you could save some money, go to a more well known tattoo artist, and ask them if they can fix it up a bit with some shading.
For example, if you were to shade the entire beard then the lips would be quite easy to get rid of.
The axe could be improved simply by making it bigger, you could even change it into a war hammer.
I think dark shading could solve most of the problems with this. It might look less realistic, but it would look a lot better than it does now and you would get to keep the design.

Don't get anything with like an "underworld" or gothic theme like the cover up ideas you have. You will certainly regret it when you have a family one day or when looking for a job. Get something you like but that also won't scare other people, especially employers unless you plan on starting your own company

I don't think you would be able to sue him unless he isn't a licensed tattooist.
Bright & dark colours cover up so good. The outline of your tat is really really dark. So would have to be a lot of shading. Like RepBandit said...cover ups are not cheat and also hurt a little more than usual due to it's going over already tatted skin/scars/scratches etc. I'd look up some cover up artists and get the opinions from them rather than the community to be honest.

He didn't show you the sketch before putting the outline on your skin? When I first got mine, my artist, Chris, made it in the computer (it's lettering) and tweaked it however I liked. Asked me where I wanted it and even let me look in the mirror after he water printed it on to see if I liked the way it looked on me. He made sure I was 100% committed to it before even starting the line work.

Goddamn, if that was me, I don't even know what the hell would be going through my mind.

Thankfully, yes you can cover it up. From the image the tattoo looks blue, yes? That will be a lot easier to cover up since another colour can be put over it and have it blend, as opposed to a black tattoo that would need black for almost everything.

Your best bet is going to some tattoo shops showing them the tattoo and asking what artist they feel will do the best job, look at their artwork and choose what you feel will be best suited for your liking and to cover that up completely. Also looking for cover up tattoo artists would also be another great option, however if there isn't any near you, go on a tattoo parlour hunt.

Now the bad part, cost. It's going to be costly to do a cover up, reason being, it's not going to be in one sitting, you're going back multiple times, even if it was say a rose on your shoulder, you would be going back multiple times. They have to tattoo it over first, let it heal for however long the artists says, go back to re-tattoo, shade it better, let it heal some more and more than likely go back for a 3rd time to finish up any details, shadows, colouring, ect. There may even be more sittings if needed. I would honestly see if an artist can fix the design for you over covering it up as it will be cheaper and it's something you already had your heart set on, instead of being forced to change it due to someone screwing up that badly.

Terrible luck on your previous artist though, honestly that's just straight up bullshit. Did he sketch it and trace or was a freehand artist? I've always felt more comfortable with artists who can look at an image and just draw it free handed, to near perfection, like a few artists at LA Ink; where I am going to go to get my sleeves done. I've had a few friends have bad luck with artists who trace and then one friend had bad luck with a free hand artist, but he went to some budget parlour, $100 something for a little more than half a sleeve, so don't know what he expected.

I wish you the best of luck with covering it up or having a tattoo artist completely fix it for you.

Dude please tell me that's a pen

Guhwap wrote Don't get anything with like an "underworld" or gothic theme like the cover up ideas you have.

I already have a large skeleton on my other arm thats affected my life in no way besides people saying it's awesome. It's fine if you wouldn't get something like that, buts it's what I like, and if I keep it in a place where it's not always easily visible, then I'm fine with it.

TaigaAisaka wrote Goddamn, if that was me, I don't even know what the hell would be going through my mind.

Thankfully, yes you can cover it up. From the image the tattoo looks blue, yes? That will be a lot easier to cover up since another colour can be put over it and have it blend, as opposed to a black tattoo that would need black for almost everything.

Your best bet is going to some tattoo shops showing them the tattoo and asking what artist they feel will do the best job, look at their artwork and choose what you feel will be best suited for your liking and to cover that up completely. Also looking for cover up tattoo artists would also be another great option, however if there isn't any near you, go on a tattoo parlour hunt.

Now the bad part, cost. It's going to be costly to do a cover up, reason being, it's not going to be in one sitting, you're going back multiple times, even if it was say a rose on your shoulder, you would be going back multiple times. They have to tattoo it over first, let it heal for however long the artists says, go back to re-tattoo, shade it better, let it heal some more and more than likely go back for a 3rd time to finish up any details, shadows, colouring, ect. There may even be more sittings if needed. I would honestly see if an artist can fix the design for you over covering it up as it will be cheaper and it's something you already had your heart set on, instead of being forced to change it due to someone screwing up that badly.

Terrible luck on your previous artist though, honestly that's just straight up bullshit. Did he sketch it and trace or was a freehand artist? I've always felt more comfortable with artists who can look at an image and just draw it free handed, to near perfection, like a few artists at LA Ink; where I am going to go to get my sleeves done. I've had a few friends have bad luck with artists who trace and then one friend had bad luck with a free hand artist, but he went to some budget parlour, $100 something for a little more than half a sleeve, so don't know what he expected.

I wish you the best of luck with covering it up or having a tattoo artist completely fix it for you.

It's not blue, it's just the lighting in the picture. It's all black.
I gave him a quick bad sketch of what I wanted and told him the basic idea. Then when I went in to get it he had a horrible he-man looking thing, so we sat and made changes to it for a while. I thought it looked good enough after a while, but once he put it on me, well, it looks like that.
Unfortunately I live in a small town and there's not too many shops around. I'll see what I can find though, and ask them if they think they can do it.
I don't really even want to have someone else try and make it look better, I feel like I should cover it while I still can with only the line work..