In Progress shots of a Nordic Fenrir Coverup sleeve

by Jon Poulson

Published October 27, 2026

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Jon Poulson

192 pieces

Jon Poulson Page

Ryan here is family, and when he asked me for a Nordic Tattoo to Cover his existing arm tattoo, I was more than happy to step up to the challenge.

We talked and he wanted to incorporate Fenrir the monstrous wolf in Norse mythology, along with huginn and muninn, Huginn and Muninn … a pair of ravens that serve the god Odin, flying around the world to bringing him information and gossip each morning. Their names roughly translated into "Thought / mind" and “Memory / mind/desire”. Powerful symbols that will take center stage, and play a key role in this coverup.

Coverups are particularly tricky… In tattooing we cant just put an image over something thats already there; While that may work temporarily, the inks we use will mingle in the skin and dark pigments from old tattoo will show through give enough time. I’ve learned over the years to use a combination of Darker Colors, paterns and distraction to create effective coverups. Eyes moving up above, and down below to more interesting areas in the new design.

You can clearly see where the coverup has been started on Ryan’s tattoo. Fenrir bears the brunt of the old tattoo, and isn’t quite finished yet. I designed the tattoo to draw your eye up to his head, and down his Tail, which incorporates nordic style knot work with the ravens taking prominite positions to draw the eye. The plan is to add more to the wolf, including Colored patterns, and Colored nordic decorative patterns throughout the knot work to ensure the eye flows to the areas we want to be of interest, and away from the area we’re covering.

This takes quite a Bit more work than on fresh skin, and is not always possible. But after 3 days drawing the elements on, getting them all in place, and thickening lines, we were also able to add patterns to hide some of the old tattoo, which will eventually fade into the background and be of little interest when viewing this tattoo from any angle.

Making progress, but stay tuned for more; we have sessions planned early spring to finish this piece, and bring it to full Glory.

A big thank you to Ryan, and his wife Jenn. Also the rest of the family for continued support.

Ryan is family, and when he asked me for a Nordic Tattoo to Cover an existing arm tattoo, I was more than happy to step up to the challenge. . He wanted to incorporate Fenrir the monstrous wolf in Norse mythology, along with Huginn and Muninn … a pair of ravens that serve the god Odin, flying around the world to bringing him information and gossip each morning. Their names roughly translate into “Thought / mind” and “Memory / mind/desire”. Powerful symbols that will take center stage, and play a key role in this coverup. . Cover-ups are particularly tricky… In tattooing we cant just put an image over something thats already there; While that may look good temporarily, the inks will combine in the skin and dark pigments from an old tattoo will show through given enough time. I’ve learned over the years to use a combination of Darker Colors, paterns and distraction to create an effective, lasting coverup. Eyes moving up above, and down below to more interesting areas in the new design. . You can clearly see where the coverup has been started on Ryan’s tattoo. Fenrir bears the brunt of the old tattoo, and isn’t quite finished. I drew this sleeve to coax your eyes up to his head, and down his Tail, which incorporates nordic style knot work down into the 2 ravens taking prominite positions to draw the eye lower. The plan is to add more to the wolf, including Colored patterns, and Colored nordic decorative designs throughout the knot-work to ensure the eye flows to the areas we want, and away from the area we’re covering. . We have made substantial progress, but stay tuned for more; we have sessions planned early spring to finish this piece, and bring it to full Glory. . A big thank you to Ryan for hanging in there, and his wife Jenn for the support. Thank you to the rest of the family for continued support.