Black and grey tattoo of an elephant head merged with octopus tentacles on the forearm, drawn in blackwork and stippled dotwork shading.

Elephant and octopus on a forearm

Blackwork · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

The design shows an elephant's head and trunk rising from the body of an octopus, with several tentacles curling down and across the forearm. The linework is bold and the shading is built from dense black ink and stippled dots, giving the skin texture and depth. The tattoo is shown in black and grey only, against a pale textured background, with the forearm filling most of the frame.

Blackwork Dotwork Forearm Elephant Octopus Tentacle Trunk

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom, the men on the quay are still arguing about what came up out of the harbour on Tuesday, and I have decided you are the only one I can tell the truth to. Mr Gale's travelling show had its elephant, Duchess, walked down the slipway at low water to wash the Yarmouth dust off her, and the tide turned faster than her keeper did.

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Nobody saw her go under. What the dredgermen hauled up at first light was not an elephant at all, or not only one. A great octopus had its arms wound round her, its mantle pale as lamp glass, and its head was hers: the grey dome, the ear like a torn sail, the trunk lifted clear of the water as if she were asking for a bun from the stall. Mr Gale swore it was a trick of the fog. The dredgerman swore it was the sea's joke, and then he crossed himself and went home. I only know she was breathing through that trunk, which is more than any of us expected.

They got her onto the dray with two ropes and a lot of swearing. The tentacles slid off the cobbles like wet rigging, and one of them curled round my wrist while I stood watching and stayed there until I had finished my tea. It has loosened now, but the suckers have left small rings on my skin, neat as a row of buttons.

Come home at the end of the season and bring your sea legs with you. Mother keeps asking whether the elephant belongs to us now. I told her yes, because the tide brought her in and the tide keeps what it takes. Your loving sister, Nell.