Black line tattoo of a crowned lion head inside a geometric mandala circle, with dotwork shading on the face, on the forearm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Crowned lion in geometric mandala on forearm

Geometric · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A lion's head wearing a crown sits inside a circular mandala of fine radiating lines, with a mane drawn in long flowing strokes and diamond shapes hanging below. The face is shaded with stippled dotwork, while the mane and mandala use clean single lines. The design is in black ink only and is centred on a pale section of arm against a plain light background.

Geometric Dotwork Forearm Lion Crown Mandala Mane Diamond Circle

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell, don't tell Mam, but the lion has got himself a crown. Not a real one, obviously. Ruby Tanner made it from a tin of gold paint and the lid of a biscuit tin, and it sits on the old fellow's head as if it was made for him. Last night at Hartlepool he wouldn't go up the ramp into the van until somebody had put it on him, so Dougie fetched the crown from the wardrobe trunk and Ruby fixed it with two hairpins. He stood there looking at the crowd like a bishop at a wedding, and the kiddies went quiet.

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I've been sitting up nights painting the big wheel's lamps, which is why this letter is late and smells of turpentine. There's a circle of fine lines I've been doing on the side of Marion's booth, all spokes and diamonds, the sort of thing you need a steady hand for. She says the pattern is for luck. I told her luck is a thing you make with a steady hand and a good sleep, and she laughed and said I'd be a poor fortune teller.

Here's the bit I wanted to write down. Last week a little girl asked the lion why he looked so sad, and Ruby said he wasn't sad, he was waiting for the fair to end so he could sleep in a proper bed. Then the girl asked whether lions get tired of being looked at. Nobody had an answer. Ruby gave her a diamond cut from stiff card off the ticket box, and the girl held it up to the lamps like a jeweller.

Write back soon. Tell me if the sea's still grey at Scarborough and whether you've kept the letters.

Love, Tom