Black and grey traditional roses with leaves tattooed on the side of a man's neck, with a partly visible banner tattoo on his upper chest.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Black and grey roses on the neck

Traditional · Neck · Black and grey · Photo

Two large roses with shaded petals and dark leaves run down the side of the neck and onto the upper shoulder. The linework is bold, with heavy black outlines and soft grey shading that gives the petals depth. The photograph is black and white and cropped to show the neck and upper back, with a partial banner design visible at the bottom left edge.

Traditional Botanical Neck Rose Leaves Banner

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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 florist had cut the roses the night before, which was her first mistake, because by the time the vicar reached the readings the white ones had gone the colour of weak tea and the red ones were drooping over the lectern as if they'd heard bad news. Aunt Maureen said it was the damp. I said it was the stems, nobody had put them in water deep enough, and we argued about it in the vestry while the bride's brother hunted for his shoes.

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The bride's mother had asked me to hold the rings, which is a job for someone steady, and I had spent the drive over reciting their location to myself like a password. Left inside pocket. Button it. The pocket had a hole in it. I found this out at the altar rail when the groom turned with his hand out and my fingers came up empty, then found the ring caught in the lining, wedged against a folded order of service.

Nobody noticed except Dan, who had been my brother-in-law for eleven minutes and already knew how I operated. He leaned in, said nothing, and ran a thumb along the lining until the ring dropped into my palm as though it had been waiting for permission.

Afterwards, at the reception, the roses on the tables had been rearranged by somebody who knew what they were doing, the stems standing in jam jars wrapped in brown paper. I took one home. It is still on my windowsill, dry as a digestive, and I have decided it is the most honest thing anyone brought to that wedding.