Fine line black tattoo of a chemical structure with two fused rings and hearts at the ends of its bonds, on a patch of skin.

Chemical structure with hearts on skin

Fine line · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows a line drawing of a chemical structure made of two fused ring shapes joined to chains that end in hearts. The outlines are thin and even, and the hearts are filled with solid black ink and softer grey shading. The design sits centrally in the frame against pinkish skin, with the hearts spread around the edges of the structure.

Fine line Molecule Chemical structure Heart Line drawing Ring

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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

Dear Ruth, The ferry was cancelled again, so I have been sitting in the back room of the chemist's on Quay Street with the shutters half down, trying to draw the molecule Mr Abernethy wants for the new shop sign. Two rings joined at the hip, a chain running off each side. I kept getting the second ring wrong. Every time I drew it, a small heart crept out of the corner of the page, as if the pen had opinions of its own.

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Mrs Penhallow came in for her usual bottle of camphor and saw the sketch on the counter. She said her husband had kept a notebook of diagrams when he cooked on the trawlers, and that he used to call the side chains his little hooks, because they always caught on something. She tapped the last heart at the end of the drawing and asked if the chemist knew what it was for. I said it was for the mood, the way a tide lifts a hull. She said that sounded like a love letter with the postcode missing.

Abernethy laughed so hard he had to sit down on the step, and then he went quiet and asked if I could leave the hearts in. So they are going on the sign, black ones on the ends and grey ones tucked in where the rings meet. The second ring still isn't right, but Mrs Penhallow says that is the point of a sketch.

Come home at Easter. The gulls are being their usual selves and the lighthouse is still painted the wrong shade of blue. Bring the good pencils. Love, Nell