Black and grey geometric tattoo on a calf showing a shaded circle with harlequin diamonds, scrolls, a spiral and a hanging beaded chandelier.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Harlequin moon and chandelier on a calf

Geometric · Calf · Black and grey · Photo

A shaded circle sits at the top of the design, with a harlequin diamond pattern in its upper left and a large spiral below it. Ornate scrollwork and a dark curled motif rise from the centre of the circle, and a chain of beads and dotted links descends to a small chandelier at the lower end. The work uses black ink and grey shading on a light skin tone, with the composition running vertically along the leg against a patterned rug.

Geometric Calf Diamond pattern Moon Spiral Scroll Bead Chain

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

The moon came down to Marazion the winter the sea wall cracked, and nobody in the boarding house thought it strange, because the harlequin had been living in the attic since September and the moon was only his lodger's brother. Mrs Penhallow kept the chandelier lit on the landing so the guests could find their way to the bath, and the harlequin would stand under it each night counting the glass drops, one for every guest who had ever complained about the damp.

Keep reading

The moon grew restless. It was round and grey and tired of being looked at, and it said so one evening at the kitchen table, rolling itself back and forth on the oilcloth until the teaspoons jumped. The harlequin told it to stop, and when it would not, he took a length of silver chain from the dresser drawer and tied it to the moon's bottom edge, then passed the other end up through the hook where the chandelier hung. Beads ran down the links like rain on a window. The moon stopped rolling. It only spun, slowly, the way a child spins when it has been told off and is pretending not to mind.

They stayed that way for years. Guests came and went. The sea wall was mended. In spring the harlequin climbed out onto the roof and let the moon drift just above the chimneys, and the whole village came out to look up, and Mrs Penhallow said it was the finest lodger she had ever kept, though the rent was still two months behind.