Full colour sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm showing hummingbirds, orange tiger lilies, a praying mantis and a frog among flowers on a turquoise background.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Full sleeve of hummingbirds, lilies and frog

Botanical · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

Three views of a full arm sleeve show hummingbirds, orange tiger lilies, pink and purple orchid-like flowers, a praying mantis, a frog and a bee. The shading is smooth and detailed, with soft gradients on the petals and the birds' feathers. Turquoise and lilac wash tones fill the background behind the motifs, which climb from the wrist up to the shoulder.

Botanical Realism Upper arm Forearm Hummingbird Lily Orchid Flower Frog Bee

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom, the tiger lilies came up three weeks early this year, which Mum says is the wet March's fault and I say is pure spite. Every orange bloom along the south wall has its freckled throat turned to the glass, and the whole glasshouse smells like pepper and rain. I'm writing this on the upturned bucket by the potting bench, because the kettle's gone and I've given up on it.

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The hummingbird came in through the roof vent on Tuesday. Nobody saw it arrive. It just appeared one morning, hanging over the pink orchids like a thing somebody had forgotten to switch off, its wings going so fast they blurred into a little grey mist. Mr Okafor from the Coldwell estate says they're shipped in from Ecuador in the cargo of rare orchids, and sometimes one gets out at the docks and rides the lorries north. I've decided it's ours now. I left the vent open. The praying mantis has taken up residence on the orchid stem nearest the door, and the frog has moved from the water tray into the lily bed, which I'm told is bad for the seedlings and good for the slugs, so I'm not complaining.

Last night I sat in the shed with the lamp on and painted the wall behind the seed trays the colour of the glass in the afternoon, a turquoise going lilac at the edges. Dad would have said it looked like a swimming bath. I think it looks like the sky when you've been awake too long. The bee was asleep in the lily beside me when I locked up, its wings folded tight, and I didn't have the heart to move it. Come home at Easter if you can. There's a space on the bench with your name on it, and the hummingbird keeps asking after you.