If you pass by Nate Haddad on a nice day, the first things you may notice about him are his colorful forearm tattoos. Donning a classic red rose and cross design on his right arm, and a band of musical notes in a treble clef on his left, it’s clear that Haddad doesn’t wish to hide these specific tattoos from anyone.

Spend more time with the senior English and textual studies major and you’ll learn about his other tattoo, the first one he ever got — a tattoo that has since been covered.

On the side of his left calf, Haddad has what’s commonly known in the tattoo community as a “cover up” piece of art. Carefully hiding what lies underneath, a tattoo artist can craft a new piece of art that either blends or completely conceals the original ink — ink that Haddad didn’t want the world to see.

In 2008, a group of Haddad’s confidantes, armed with an electric toothbrush, guitar string and BIC ink, gave Haddad his first tattoo — a Nirvana smiley logo — while he was willingly stretched down on a bed in a friend’s house in his hometown of Pittsfield, Mass.

“I guess you can chalk it up to immaturity, my love for the band and way too much time on our hands,” Haddad said. “But at least we sterilized the equipment and used lots of rubbing alcohol.”

However, just months after receiving the Nirvana tattoo, Haddad decided he wanted to have a real tattoo artist perform a cover up.

“I couldn’t stand looking at the tattoo any longer. It wasn’t a real tattoo, it wasn’t original and it wasn’t the true tattoo experience,” Haddad said.

Enlisting the hand of his now ex-girlfriend’s father, a seasoned traveling tattoo artist, Haddad asked him to cover up the original work with as much finesse as possible. Providing minimal guidelines, the artist went to work completing the piece in just 90 minutes.

What remained was a colorful, one-of-a-kind, freestyle Japanese ceremonial mask encompassed in a ball of flames.

“I wanted him to do some sort of flaming sun; however, the skull that he created is awesome, original and clearly done by a pro,” Haddad said.

Haddad claims to be completely satisfied with the cover up, but he has bigger plans post graduation.

Said Haddad: “Lately I’ve been thinking about giving the piece more meaning by turning it into an Otto the Orange tattoo after I graduate from Syracuse.”

Published on September 25, 2012 at 12:28 am

Contact Ian: imfeiner@syr.edu