Gladioli, Sunflowers + Blue Mormon Butterfly

Annie had an old tattoo on her right upper arm that just didn't come out the way that she had envisioned. So she asked me if I thought we could cover it up with something botanical that would be more to her liking. "I said, "Absolutely! What did you have in mind?" After reading my Cover Up Tattoo page she was thinking maybe gladiolus flowers and sunflowers might work and showed me a couple of images that she liked. And while we were looking at those she said, "Maybe some bees? Or how about a butterfly?"

At first I thought I might be able to get a bee in the upper part but then when she said she'd really rather have a butterfly, we both thought having it landing and unfolding on one of her sunflowers would be a better idea.

Because some of the old tattoo was pretty dark, I had to pump some white in to it first, so it took a little while to complete but now it's ready for summer (when she can slather it with sun block, lol). Also, some of the old tat will still show even when finished, as there is a light layer of shading throughout the whole area-- but the new color dominates = winning!

Here are some photos of the drawing, before, outline, gray shading and very fresh final color stages.