Colour neo-trad style tattoo of a cartoon owl perched on an open book in front of an orange moon, on the upper arm.

Cartoon owl on an open book with a moon

Neo-trad · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

A cartoon owl with large dark eyes and fluffed orange and pink feathers perches on an open book, with a large orange moon behind it. Letter fragments sit around the moon and the book's pages, and the design is partly blended into a blue and pale background. Soft shading gives the feathers and moon volume, and the palette is mostly warm colour with some blue.

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

The owl had claimed the recipe book again. He sat on the open page with his feathers puffed against the draught from the back door, orange as the ovens, and every time I reached for the sourdough ledger he turned those big dark eyes on me as if I had interrupted a sermon. Nell had left him behind the year she quarrelled with the landlord, and he had never once gone looking for another roost.

Keep reading

Half past four is the hour the bakery belongs to the moon. Through the skylight it hangs over the car park, big and slightly furred at the edges, and I scrape down the bench and pretend the letters on the back wall are just the old sign, half-painted and lost to damp. The owl watches the moon too. He ruffles, clicks his beak, and I know that look. It means the second batch is catching.

I pull the tray out ahead of him. The loaves come out dark on the base, the way Nell taught me, and the crust cracks like a struck match. When I look back, the owl has shuffled to the edge of the book, one talon resting on a line about cooling times, and the moon has slipped behind the chimney stack.

I turn the page for him. He stays a moment longer, then closes his eyes and waits for the first van to pull into the yard. "Bread's up," I tell him, and for once he doesn't argue.

More like this

Black and grey traditional tattoo of an owl wearing cat-eye glasses and perched on a stack of books, on a forearm.
Owl in cat-eye glasses on stacked books
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a grey cartoon cat with large green eyes and round glasses, sitting on a stack of orange and red books, with starburst motifs on a limb.
Cartoon cat with glasses on a stack of books
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a brown owl holding a red heart, framed by black scrollwork on the upper arm.
Owl and red heart on upper arm
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a round-eyed owl perched on a branch with pink blossom, placed on the shoulder and upper arm.
Owl and blossom branch on a shoulder
Traditional colour tattoo of a red and grey owl holding two yellow skull-topped keys, with a crescent moon inside a red triangle, on the upper leg.
Owl holding skull keys beside a crescent moon
Black and grey realistic tattoo of an owl perched on stacked books with a wand and a sparkling smoke trail on skin.
Owl perched on books with a wand
Black fine line tattoo of an owl with swirling tendrils and a small mushroom motif, placed on the side of the torso.
Line owl with swirls on the side of the torso
Black and grey traditional style tattoo of a wide-eyed owl perched on a stack of books with a ribbon bookmark, on the side of a leg.
Owl perched on a stack of books
Colourful traditional-style owl tattoo with yellow-tipped feathers, red-rimmed eyes and blue-grey scales, sitting on the top of a foot with small leaves and dots around it.
Traditional owl tattoo on the top of a foot
Black and grey owl tattoo on the side of the thigh, perched on a branch in front of a pale moon and clouds.
Owl on a branch with moon
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a pink and orange owl with large round eyes, green scrolling vines and small flowers, on the calf.
Owl with green vines on a calf
Neo-traditional owl tattoo in blue, purple and yellow with a black outline, spread across a person's upper back.
Blue and purple owl on upper back

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