What Kat Von D’s tattoos looked like before deciding to ‘black out’ entire body
Before dousing her skin in black ink, Kat Von D's body was adorned in various artwork.
But she decided to cover the majority of them up in favour of getting a 'blackout bodysuit' - and the former LA Ink star previously announced that it's 'almost' complete.
So, seen as though we're pretty much at the finish line, there's no better time to delve into what she used to look like before she underwent her dramatic makeover.
The conclusion to her mammoth tattoo cover-up has been a long time coming, as Von D initially began the lengthy process back in 2020.
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She sat for 17 sessions - accumulating to nearly 40 hours - to conceal the 'landmarks in time' which decorated her body.
She previously told fans she also 'really loves the aesthetic' of blackout tattoos and intended to cover the majority of her body in them. By this point in time, she'd already managed to get 80 percent of herself covered.
"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," the ex-tattoo artist said.
Von D, who previously severed ties with her makeup brand KVD Beauty, previously revealed she had sought out a blackout specialist to help with her physical transformation.
She found an artist named Hoode to get the job done, initially intending to only get the inkings on her forearm covered up - but admitted that shortly after, she 'knew she would end up tattooing her whole body'.
In November last year, she shared a video to Instagram showing Hoode stencilling and filling in some flowers on her shoulder, collarbone, and neck.
The mother-of-one, who shares a son with husband Rafael Reyes, captioned the post: "Can’t believe @hoode215 is almost done with my blackout bodysuit. What a journey it’s been!"
What a journey it's been indeed - as Von D actually first felt the buzz of a tattoo gun on her skin when she was just 14-years-old.
She went on to cover a lot of her skin in various designs - such as inkings of her mum Sylvia Galeano, the phrase ‘Mi Vida Loca’ and a cartoon of Broadway actor and samba singer Carmen Miranda, that lined her back.
The music star has still clung onto the infamous stars that line her temple, which she previously described as some of her favourite inkings - although they appear to be quite faded these days.
Over the years, Von D got various tattoos across the entirety of her body - including a caricature of David Letterman, a skull, the numbers 666 and the word repiola, which is an Argentinian expression that loosely translates to 'really cool'. As well as this, she had a portrait of her former husband Oliver peck on the top of her left thigh and a J close to her ankle in dedication to her teenage boyfriend.
An 'Angel of Death' design feature across the left side of her abdomen, while other notable inkings include the array of roses on her arms, and a lightning bolt across her neck.
Von D said goodbye to the majority of these, as well as some other eccentric pieces, when she began the blackout process.
However, she did purposely avoid covering up certain designs - such as the portrait of her father which she sports on her right arm.
She believes that blacking out the ones accompanying this poignant tribute to her parent actually makes the portrait 'stand out even more', too.
Olivia Burke