The former Miami Ink star was just 14 when she went under the needle for the first time
Kat Von D is blacking out her iconic tattoos after admitting her body art serves as ‘landmarks in dark times’.
The 42-year-old, whose real name is Katherine von Drachenberg, initially rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the TLC reality series Miami Ink and later her own spin-off,LA Ink.
The heavily tattooed artist, who got her first body art when she was just 14 years old, has recently begun to cover up her ink with solid blocks of black.
In an interview with Inked Mag, Von D claimed the decision was influenced by finding faith and converting to Christianity.
“I think I had been fed up with a lot of the tattoos I got over the years for a long time,” she confessed to the publication.
“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.
“I just couldn’t explain how satisfying it was to see all the messes he would clean up with his blackout tattoo work.
“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.”
Since recruiting Philadelphia-based artist Hoode Philly to help erase the reminders of her past, the mother-of-one has been open about her journey on Instagram, sharing various videos of the blackout process.
But how long does it take to ‘black out’ an entire body with tattoo ink?
Previously, the star has admitted to undergoing 17 sessions with Philly.
And the total time of those sessions? Oh, just around 40 hours worth of tattooing.
She took to social media and wrote: “17 sessions, and almost 40 accumulative hours later, we are about 80% done with blacking out my body.
“I’ve been consistently flying out to Philly to get tattooed by the amazing @hoode215 at his lovely tattoo shop @blackvulturegallery.”
Last year, Von D was officially baptized – posting a video of the experience to Instagram.
Wearing a white robe, the ‘I Am Nothing’ hitmaker could be seen wearing a white robe while waiting to be submerged by a Christian priest.
The priest can be heard saying: “Katherine von Drachenberg, upon your profession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in obedience to His Divine command, I baptise you, my sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Speaking about her decision to renounce her previous association with witchcraft and the occult, she said: “I was just searching for answers and meaning in so many of the wrong places like most people do.
“I don’t want these crutches in my life anymore, and that’s what really I saw them as. I just want Jesus, and it’s a very narrow road.
“I feel like all these other, these breathing techniques, or spell work, nature worship, all these things, they’re just crutches. They’re not really my answer.
“And so for me, I would rather eliminate any distractions. And this is just what works for me.”