“I thought I would just black out an arm, but shortly after, I knew I would end up tattooing my whole body,” said the former reality star, who first revealed her decision to cover up most of her tattoos with solid black ink in October.
Kat Von D is sharing an update on her tattoo cover up transformation.
In a new photoshoot for Inked Magazine’s latest cover story, the former reality star revealed how her blackout process is going since she first spoke about the major transformation last fall.
In the photo, below, Kat posed facing away from the camera, showing her arms, and her back of her body from the lower waist up. The shot revealed that the 42-year-old’s body appears to almost be completely covered with blackout tattoos, in which solid, black ink was used to cover her old tattoos.
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In an interview with the magazine, Kat opened up about her decision to blackout her body and her trademark ink, admitting that she’s somewhat into the fact that it’s slightly controversial.
“I think I had been fed up with a lot of the tattoos I got over the years for a long time,” former LA Ink star explained.
She said she began the process by contacting Philadelphia-based tattoo artist Hoode — who seems to specialize in blackout tatooing — and asking him to come to her studio.
“I just couldn’t explain how satisfying it was to see all the messes he would clean up with his blackout tattoo work,” Kat recalled. “I think at that time I thought I would just black out an arm, but shortly after, I knew I would end up tattooing my whole body.”
The singer first revealed her decision to cover up all of her tattoos in October 2023.
At the time, Kat shared a video of her blackout process on Instagram, explaining why she decided to paint over pieces covering her ribcage and back, and revealed that after 17 sessions and nearly 40 hours of work, she’s “about 80% done with blacking out my body.”
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The tattoo artist explained she had been flying to Philadelphia from Indiana to get the work done, before answering a number of frequently asked questions about the process. She also added, “Maybe before commenting any negativity, just remind yourself: What you consider ugly, might be beautiful to someone else.”
As for why she’s decided to cover up all her tattoos, she explained that many of them “represented a part of my life that no longer aligns with who I am today.”
“Some people are fine with keeping these types of landmarks in time on them — I personally grew tired of waking up to them, and seeing those constant reminders every time I looked in a mirror,” she added. “Also, I really love the esthetic. I know it’s not for everyone but it is very satisfying to me to see a clean slate when I look down onto my arms.”
When she first blacked out her arms — leaving only the portrait of her father on her forearm — she explained it felt good “to finally cover up so many of the tattoos I got back when I used to drink.” At the time, she said they “meant nothing to me but landmarks in dark times” and liked how “nice and clean” they looked after the blackout process.
The tattoo coverup came following her decision to get baptized in the Christian church, after she previously renounced the occult and witchcraft.
