Black and grey lettering tattoo of a four-line quote across the lower back of a woman in a navy cut-out top.

Four-line quote tattoo on lower back

Lettering · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A woman is seen from behind, showing a small four-line block of text tattooed across her lower back. The letters are fine black linework in a blackletter-style typeface, with some lines softer and harder to read at this size. The ink is set against a plain skin tone, with a navy outfit, a cut-out back and a monogrammed bag framing the tattoo in a street setting.

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 Anselm, forgive the blots. The master has docked my wages again for the ink I spilled on the Lenten gospels, and the candle is down to a stub, so my hand wanders more than it should. I have news I cannot tell him, so I am telling you.

Keep reading

The commission was a small book of household sayings for a cloth merchant's wife in Bruges, four lines to the final leaf, and the master gave that leaf to me because my textura is the tidiest in the workshop. He wanted every stroke upright and every serif sharp, as if the words were law itself. I copied the lines as he set them out, each letter tall and narrow, each one stern. Then, at the end of the last line, I let the pen rest a breath too long and drew the hairlines so faint they nearly vanish into the vellum.

The master found it at vespers. He held the leaf to the window for a long time, turning it, and I waited for the rule across my knuckles. Instead he set it down, blew out the lamp and said only that the lady was paying for a book, not for a sermon. In the morning the sheet went into the binding unchanged, and the merchant's wife will read those faint letters over her breakfast without knowing that anyone meant them.

I have kept the spoiled offcut in my sleeve, the one with the first attempt, and tonight I held it to the moon to see whether the words still said what I meant. They do, just about. Pray for me, and burn this letter once you have read it.

More like this

Back view of a model in a striped backless dress, showing a fine line black script tattoo on her upper arm and a small solid triangle tattoo at the nape of her neck.
Script lettering on upper arm and small triangle at nape
Woman seen from behind in a black backless bodysuit and blue jeans, showing a black and grey ornamental tattoo on her forearm.
Ornamental forearm tattoo, seen from behind
Woman seen from behind with a small black fine line script tattoo between her shoulder blades, near the neckline of a white halter top.
Small script tattoo between the shoulder blades
Small black Chinese characters tattooed in a vertical column between the shoulder blades on a woman's upper back, in a lettering style.
Vertical Chinese characters across upper back
Small black bird silhouette tattoo on a woman's bare back, with silver chains draped over a pale backless dress.
Small bird tattoo on the back
Woman seen from behind with a black and grey realism feather tattoo on the upper arm, below the shoulder.
Feather tattoo on the upper arm
Close-up of a fine dotted line tattoo ending in a small star on a forearm, in black ink, placed near the wrist.
Small dotted line and star on a forearm
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a dandelion with drifting seeds on the upper back, near the shoulder blade, of a woman in a dark strappy dress.
Dandelion seeds tattoo on upper back
Small black fine-line tattoo of the word LOVE with zigzag lines above it, on the upper arm of a woman in a white vest holding a green clutch.
Word LOVE with zigzag lines on upper arm
Woman in a pink t-shirt and black leather skirt showing a traditional-style pin-up tattoo of a dark-haired woman in a red dress on her forearm.
Pin-up woman tattoo on a forearm
Black and grey botanical tattoo of roses and swirling vines with Chinese characters above, across a woman's back, seen from behind.
Rose and vine tattoo on a woman's back
Small black bird tattoo on the forearm of a person wearing a black knotted top and white high-waisted jeans against a grey wall.
Small bird tattoo on a forearm

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