Close-up of a fine line grey swallow flock tattoo running from the ankle across the top of a foot.

Flock of swallows on an ankle and foot

Fine line · Ankle · Black and grey · Photo

A bare foot shows a flock of swallows in black and grey ink, with the largest bird near the ankle and smaller birds trailing toward the toes. The linework is fine and the wings are softly shaded to give a sense of depth. The tattoo is the only colour detail against warm skin and a dark background, and the pink toenails are the only other colour in 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

Dear Nell, the tide was out when the swallows came over the harbour wall this morning, a dozen of them skimming low above the mudflats as if they had somewhere urgent to be and were late for it. I thought of you at once, because you always said swallows were the only honest thing a sailor could look at, that they never pretended to be anything but hungry and going somewhere. I wrote the name of the boat on the back of a fish crate so I would not forget it: the Marigold Hart, out of Whitby, bound for the Baltic with a cargo of coal we will be glad to be rid of.

Keep reading

The second mate, a Geordie called Tully, swore the birds were a sign of fair weather. I told him swallows came in before a storm as often as after one, and he laughed and called me a hard old stick, which I am. But I watched them climb the sky over the masts and then drop again to skim the water, and I thought about the way you used to flick your hand at the sparrows on the pier to make them scatter, how you said they were nothing but rats with feathers.

We ship out on the evening ebb. If the weather holds I will be back by the first of the month, and I expect a proper supper, not that tinned mutton you once tried to pass off as a stew. Keep the lamp lit in the front window. I will know the house by it, even from the sea.

Your loving husband, Walter

More like this

Black and grey swallow tattoos flying from the ankle across the top of a foot, with pink toenail polish visible.
Swallows flying across an ankle and foot
Black and grey fine line swallow tattoos flying up the top of a foot towards the ankle, with pink painted toenails.
Flying swallows across a foot
Four small solid black bird silhouettes in flight across the top of a bare foot, with a beaded anklet above them.
Four flying birds across a foot
Small solid black silhouettes of birds scattered across the top of a foot, in a sepia-toned photo against a patterned cloth.
Flock of birds on a foot
Black and white photo of a small fine line tattoo of three birds in flight on the inner wrist and forearm.
Three small birds on an inner wrist
Black and grey realism tattoo of five swallows in flight, running from the toes up to the ankle across the top of a foot.
Five swallows flying across a foot
Two matching forearms show black silhouette bird tattoos, with two birds perched on a thin wire and flying birds nearby, in soft black ink.
Black bird silhouettes on two forearms
Fine line black tattoo of three birds in flight above cursive script on the inner wrist and forearm.
Three birds and script quote on a wrist
Black silhouette tattoo of five birds flying in a line across the top of a bare foot, placed near the ankle.
Five birds in flight across a foot
Black and grey traditional style tattoo of two swallows in flight on the upper back, near the shoulder blade.
Two swallows on the upper back
Solid black silhouette tattoo of two birds perched on a leafy branch, placed on the ankle of a bare foot.
Two birds on a branch on the ankle
Black and grey photograph of two forearms with tattoos of birds flying up towards the wrists, where they become shaded feathers, on a person wearing a black top.
Bird flock and feather tattoos on both forearms

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