Hand-drawn black ink script lettering reading "be you", shown as a tattoo design on plain white paper with no body placement visible.

Be you script lettering design

Lettering · Black and grey · Flash

A hand-drawn script lettering design reading "be you", with the words set in flowing, joined black strokes. The "b" and "y" have long looped ascenders and descenders, and the "y" tail sweeps down and curls into a large open loop beneath the word. The design is drawn in black ink on white paper with no shading or colour.

Lettering Word Script

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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

The kettle has boiled twice while I've been trying to write this, so forgive the smudge. Your boots are still by the back door, the left one with the split heel that Mr Tully said he'd stitch and never did. The boat leaves Penhallow Quay at six, and the tide will have turned by the time you reach the breakwater, so mind the line when you cast off.

Keep reading

I know what you're going to say. You'll tell me the coast road is quicker and the city has work for a welder who can read a drawing. You're right about both. But I watched you at eleven, sat on the bollard with a length of old rope, tying it into a loop and then undoing it, over and over, as if the knot had to be coaxed out of you. Your father never could make anything lie flat either.

Pack the blue jumper with the darned elbow. It's in the bottom drawer under the charts, and I've put a tin of ginger biscuits in the side pocket where the cold won't reach them. Don't let the ferryman tell you the crossing is calm. He says that every morning, whatever the glass reads.

When the rope goes slack and the harbour lights start to thin behind you, remember the loop is still there even after the line runs out. Write when you land. Be you, love. It's the only thing I ever asked of you, and the only thing I was ever sure you would manage.