Neo-traditional colour tattoo of an art deco flapper woman in profile wearing a beaded headpiece, on the upper arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Art deco flapper in profile on an arm

Neo-trad · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

A woman in profile wears a beaded, cloche-style headpiece with curled hair framing her face, set against a fan of angular art deco rays. The linework is bold and black with solid fills, and shading is soft and blended on the skin tones, with a red flush on the cheek. Olive gold, sage green and cream dominate the palette, with black geometric panels and dotted chain details below; the collage shows the full design and close-up detail views.

Find an artist for this

Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Win,

Keep reading

The beading frame came up from the depot on Tuesday, and I have been bent over it since, threading pearls onto silk by the lamp because the light in the back room is no good after four. Mr Abernathy wants forty cloches for the Palomar dance hall by the first of the month, each with a fan of gold stripes at the crown. He says the city has gone sharp and angular since the Paris exhibition, that women want rays and steps in their hats the way buildings have them now. I told him the rays were his idea and the pearls were mine, and he laughed and paid me for the pearls.

Do not tell Mother I am taking the Sunday train to Barstow. I need the sand and the long straight road more than I need church. There is a motel out past the dry lake where the owner keeps a radio and a lemon tree, and the desert at dusk turns the sage the colour of old brass. I sketched it on the back of a receipt. You would laugh at how I drew the hills: stepped like the chevrons on the hatbox.

Here is the news I meant to lead with. Abernathy's girl, the one with the cream-coloured bob, asked me to make her a headpiece for her wedding, and I said yes before I thought about what it would mean to sew a thing so grand for someone else's day. Forty cloches are easy. One bride is a different matter. I keep picturing her turning in profile in the window of the church, the gold catching the light, and wondering whether anyone will look at the hat or at her.

Write back, and send the good scissors if you can spare them. Mine have gone blunt on the wire.

Love, Edie

More like this

Neo-traditional tattoo of a woman's profile in a beaded headpiece within an art deco fan and checkerboard design, on the forearm.
Art deco woman profile on a forearm
Black and grey neo-traditional tattoo of a woman holding a moon, with a rose below, on the thigh, shown in a three-panel close-up collage.
Woman with moon and rose on thigh
Traditional colour tattoo of a woman's face framed by a flower crown and dark curled hair, placed on the thigh.
Woman with a flower crown on the thigh
Neo-traditional tattoo of an Art Deco woman in profile wearing a pearl-trimmed headpiece, in green, gold and black on a forearm.
Art Deco woman profile on a forearm
Traditional style tattoo of a woman in profile with a red rose in her hair and gold beaded jewellery, on the forearm.
Woman in profile with rose on a forearm
Traditional style tattoo of a woman in a patterned headband with a rose in her hair and large roses below, on the upper arm.
Traditional woman portrait with roses on upper arm
Colour traditional tattoo of a woman's face framed by flowers and a red rose, with gold hoop earrings and a fringed shawl, on a forearm.
Traditional woman portrait with roses on a forearm
Colour traditional tattoo of a woman with peacock feathers and a rose in her hair, wearing beaded necklaces, on the lower leg.
Traditional woman with peacock feathers on a calf
Traditional style tattoo of a sailor woman in a rope frame with red roses and small birds, placed on the calf.
Sailor woman in a rope frame on a calf
Neo-traditional colour tattoo of a 1920s flapper in profile wearing a jewelled headband and feather, with geometric beaded necklace, on a forearm.
Art deco flapper profile on a forearm
Colour traditional tattoo of a woman in profile wearing a feathered headdress, with red roses and a yellow flower, on the upper arm and shoulder.
Woman in feathered headdress with roses on upper arm
Colour traditional style tattoo of a woman in a patterned headband with pink and yellow flowers and a red rose, on the outer thigh.
Traditional woman portrait and rose on thigh

From the plentytattoo archive, uploaded by a user. Is this your work? Ask for credit or removal.