Black and grey realistic tattoo of a woman with wavy hair and eyes closed, with a small rose outline beside her, on a person's upper back.

Black and grey portrait of a woman on the back

Realism · Back · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows a woman with wavy hair and her eyes closed, with one hand raised near a small outlined rose. The portrait is rendered in soft grey shading with smooth gradients across the face and hair. The design sits on the upper back and is partly crossed by black straps of a top.

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

Hold the rose up by your ear, Nell, and don't look at the lamp. That's it. Shut your eyes if you like. A sleeping woman sells better than a waking one, and Mr Pruitt knows it. He had the flash tin open on the trestle and half of Calder's Travelling Fair pressed against the canvas flap, the dodgems idle and the goat tethered to the candyfloss stall, all of them wanting to see whether Nell Garrity could sit still for once in her life.

Keep reading

She sat still. The bulb went off with a crack and a bloom of white smoke that hung under the roof like a ghost with nowhere to go. Pruitt wrapped the plate in black cloth and told the crowd the portraits would be ready by Thursday. Nell didn't wait for them. She went out past the big wheel with a carpet bag and a borrowed coat, and the rose she'd been holding stayed on the trestle, its stem bent where her fingers had gripped it too hard.

Thursday came, and the van with it, and Pruitt handed the finished print up the step of the wagon in a card envelope. There she was, hand lifted to her hair, the rose drawn in fine outline beside her as if she had only just let it go. Her eyes were closed, the way they always are in a photograph of someone who has decided not to look back.

The rose was still on the trestle when the tent came down. Somebody must have picked it up. Somebody always does.

More like this

Woman seen from behind with a black fine line script tattoo running vertically down the side of her back, placed beside her shoulder blade.
Fine script lettering down the back
Close-up of a wrist and hand with tiny black fine line tattoos, including a small cross-like mark on the wrist and a small symbol on a finger.
Small fine line marks on wrist and finger
Realistic black and grey lion head tattoo on the middle finger of a hand, with a silver ring and a black lace sleeve nearby.
Lion head tattoo on a finger
Black and grey botanical tree branches and birds in a night sky across a realistic arm sleeve, covering the upper arm and forearm.
Tree and birds sleeve on an arm
Fine line black script tattoo of a short phrase running down the side of a woman's back, shown from behind in a backless black dress.
Script phrase along a back
Black and grey floral sleeve tattoo on a forearm, with a wing, a swirling shape, large letters and a triangular geometric motif, worn beside a metal wristwatch.
Floral sleeve with wing on a forearm
Black and grey shaded rose tattoo on an upper arm below a white short-sleeved blouse, with partial script and a key motif visible nearby.
Black and grey rose on an upper arm
Black and grey feather tattoo on the upper arm beside a small solid black arrow tattoo on the back, with a white dress visible.
Feather and arrow tattoos on arm and back
Black script lettering reading Vivere senza rimpianti runs vertically down the side of a person's back, above a black open-back dress.
Vertical Italian script quote on a back
Close-up of a small black Roman numeral III lettering tattoo on the inner wrist, worn beside stacked gold and silver bracelets.
Small Roman numeral III tattoo on the wrist
Black and grey dotwork lotus mandala tattoo with fine line detail on the inner upper arm, near the armpit.
Lotus mandala tattoo on upper arm
Close-up of a woman's inner forearm with a small black fine-line script tattoo of a few words, placed near the wrist.
Small script tattoo on a forearm

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