Black and grey realism tattoo of a blossom branch with flowers and buds across the upper back.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Grey blossom branch on upper back

Realism · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A branch of blossom flowers climbs up the centre of the upper back, with open five-petalled flowers, closed buds and thin twigs. The linework is soft and the petals are shaded with smooth grey gradients and fine dark stamens, giving a three-dimensional effect. The ink is entirely black and grey against lightly tanned skin, and the branch runs vertically from the nape of the neck down towards the shoulder blades.

Realism Botanical Back Blossom Flower Branch Petal Bud Twig

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 Ruth, the plum stock you sent up on the Tuesday train came through the rain in a sorry state, bark split at two of the joints and the roots gone soft in their sacking. I have potted the three worst in the shed where the paraffin heater keeps the frost off, and I am not promising anything. The rest I have grafted onto the young rootstock behind the glasshouse, cutting the scion on the slant the way your father showed us, and binding it with the raffia that smells of tar.

Keep reading

Mr Okafor from the stall by the fish market came round on Thursday asking after the blossom branches for his window. He wanted the grey ones, the kind that look like they were drawn in pencil and then breathed on. I told him we had none to spare until spring, and he laughed and said the rain would wash the colour out of anything. He bought two pots of quince instead and paid in coppers, counting them twice on the bench while the water ran off his hat.

I found the last of the cut twigs this morning, tucked in the drawer where you keep the string. Nine buds, all closed tight, the grey still on them like dust on a windowsill. I have set them in a jar on the sill above the bench so the light gets at them. If one opens before you get back on Sunday, I will leave it where you can see it from the door, and you can tell me I was wrong to think it would hold.