Close photo of a fine line black swirl tattoo with two curled ends and a looped top, placed on the inner side of an ankle.

Black line swirl tattoo on ankle

Fine line · Ankle · Black and grey · Photo

A small black tattoo of a looping symbol with two curled scroll ends and a tapering stem, set on the side of an ankle. The linework is thin and even, with a slight variation in line weight. The ink is solid black against pale skin, and the plain background shows a grey tiled floor and a dark shoe at the bottom of the frame.

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

Gran never let me call it a knot. She called it the mend, and she drew it in the wet sand below the net shed with the heel of her boot before she showed me anything else. One loop at the top, two curls turning back like bracken fronds in April, and a long thin line running down into the wrack where the work was meant to finish.

Keep reading

That summer the Marjorie Ann, which belonged to my cousin and not to me, came in with her nets torn to ribbons on the Skerry rocks. Three of us sat on upturned creels in the drizzle for two days, picking tangles out with bone needles. Nobody spoke much. The gulls did most of the talking, and the radio in the shed played the shipping forecast twice an hour, which Gran said was the only poetry the island needed.

On the third evening I got the last sheet to hold. My hands were raw and I had the wrong twist in the twine, and I was about to cut it out when Gran's old knuckle pressed against mine and turned the loop the right way. She didn't say anything. The curls closed up, the line ran true, and the net lay flat across the floor as if it had never been broken.

Next morning the tide went out further than anyone remembered and left the sand smooth as slate. I walked down before breakfast. Her symbol was still there, half filled with water, its stem stretching towards the sea. A wave came in and took the top curl first, then the loop, and I stood with my boots wet and watched the line hold on longest of all.

More like this

Black fine line tattoo of a vertical line topped with a dot and stacked looping spirals on the ankle.
Fine line spiral symbol on an ankle
Small black butterfly tattoo with looping, calligraphic wings on the inner wrist of a forearm.
Stylised butterfly on a wrist
Bold black stick figure tattoo with wavy hair and two rotated numerals on the top of a foot, shown on a blue paper surface.
Stick figure and numerals on a foot
Black outlined swirl tattoo with pale green shading on the ankle, shown on light skin against a patterned towel.
Green and black swirl motif on ankle
Small black heart tattoo with a curled tail on the ankle, drawn in a fine line style.
Swirled heart on an ankle
Fine line black tattoo of an infinity symbol with a small angel figure, showing a halo and wing, on the inside of an ankle.
Angel and infinity symbol on an ankle
Fine line black infinity symbol tattoo with a small flower and script lettering on the top of a foot.
Infinity symbol with flower on foot
Small tattoo of four playing card suits on the inner wrist, a black spade and black club beside a red diamond and red heart outline.
Four playing card suits on a wrist
Small black fine line butterfly tattoo with looping wings on the ankle, with a cartoon bear figure visible in the background.
Fine line butterfly on an ankle
Small black fine line shamrock outline tattoo with a stem on the inner ankle, shown on pale skin.
Small shamrock outline on an ankle
Small black fine line tattoo of a cross made from leaf-shaped petals with spiral curls, on a pale forearm.
Looped cross tattoo on a forearm
Small black fine line tattoo of a treble clef with two musical notes on the outside of an ankle, with jeans rolled above it.
Treble clef and music notes on an ankle

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