Japanese style tattoo of a black and grey koi with a pink lotus, cherry blossoms and waves, on the side of the thigh.

Koi and lotus with waves on the thigh

Japanese · Thigh · Mixed · Photo

A large black and grey koi fish swims upwards through stylised waves, with a pink lotus flower in bloom over its body and small pink cherry blossoms scattered around the design. The koi is shaded with fine scale detail and smooth grey gradients, while the lotus and blossoms are rendered in soft pink with light blue highlights. The design wraps across the side of the hip and upper thigh, filling most of the frame against dark clothing.

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 carp came up the stairwell of Harrow Point in the second week of June, which was when the council turned the water off. Nobody on the ninth floor could say whose it was. Mrs Pell said it had lived in her bath since before the blocks were painted, and that a fish with that much black on its back had earned its keep.

Keep reading

Her son Dev wanted it moved to the pond behind the car park, where the ducks had given up on the water. Mrs Pell said fish did not care to be carried and that the pond had a rat in it. So Dev carried the bath up instead, one landing at a time, because the lift had been broken since March. By the top floor the carp had gone quiet and the water had turned the colour of weak tea.

On the roof the wind came off the estate like a sea. Mrs Pell had planted a lotus in an old paint tin that spring, and it had opened pink against the parapet. Three cherry petals blew across the gravel and settled on the rim of the bath. The carp put its head over the edge, slow and grey, then rose into the air as if the air were a river and it had always known the way. Dev said afterwards he never saw it go, only the petals turning on the empty water.

Mrs Pell kept the bath on the roof for the rest of the summer. She said the fish had gone where it was wanted, which was up. In July the council fixed the lift, and nobody took the stairs again.

More like this

Colour Japanese style half sleeve tattoo of red koi fish and pink cherry blossoms over a grey swirl, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Koi and cherry blossom half sleeve
Colour Japanese style tattoo of an orange koi fish with a pink lotus, pink cherry blossoms and blue waves across the upper back.
Orange koi with lotus and cherry blossom on a back
Full back tattoo of a red koi fish swimming among pink cherry blossoms and water swirls in Japanese style, across the upper and middle back.
Koi fish and cherry blossom on a back
Black ink tattoo of ornate flowers, paisley swirls and two hummingbirds across a person's upper back and shoulder blade.
Floral paisley and hummingbirds on upper back
Colour tattoo of a red and green octopus with seaweed above it, in neo-traditional style, across the side of a torso and hip.
Octopus wrapping the side and hip
Realistic colour tattoo of a white water lily, green lily pads and an orange koi with ripples, across a person's upper back.
Water lily and koi on upper back
Large colour tattoo across a person's back showing a woman's portrait, teal peacock feathers, purple peonies, a bird and a ladybird, in a realistic style.
Woman portrait with peonies and feathers on a back
Colour neo-traditional full sleeve of flowers and swirls running from the shoulder to the wrist of an arm.
Full sleeve of colourful flowers on an arm
Colour and black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a large bird with red flames and maple leaves across a shoulder and upper arm.
Japanese bird and maple leaves on upper arm
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a red octopus with grey shading and a yellow eye, wrapping across the upper arm of a man in a blue vest top.
Red octopus tattoo on upper arm
Colour Japanese style tattoo on an upper arm showing a crane in flight, a red sun, grey clouds, waves and orange and red maple leaves.
Crane, red sun and clouds on an upper arm
Upper arm tattoo of paisley and floral ornament in grey dotwork shading with red and pink flower accents.
Paisley and floral sleeve on upper arm

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