Black lace-pattern armband tattoo wrapping around the upper arm of a woman in a grey sleeveless top, in blackwork style.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Lace armband tattoo on upper arm

Blackwork · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A solid black lace-pattern band wraps fully around the upper arm, with a straight top edge and a scalloped lower edge. Fine, dense linework builds fan-like arches and open motifs, with some areas filled in solid black for contrast. The ink is black on a plain black background, with the arm photographed in side profile and the subject's face cropped out of frame.

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 Tom,

Keep reading

The lace frame has been humming since Tuesday, and I have finished the border you asked for, the band that goes round the arm the way Mum's gloves used to go round her wrists. Mrs Ferris says the scallops are too deep for a bobbin pattern, but I have counted every pin and they hold. Fan after fan, each one opening out from the last, the way the boats came round the breakwater on Saturday with the gulls trailing behind them like wash on a line.

You will laugh that I spent three evenings on one arch. Your boat's name was pencilled in the margin of my pattern book, FLORENCE ROSE, and I could not stop making the open motifs look like the nets you described, knotted and dark where the pilchards pile up in the bag. I filled the heavy places solid so they would hold their shape against the others, the way you keep one hand on the rail when the swell comes in.

The Harbour Office sent word that the fleet will be back by the Thursday tide, if the wind lays off. I have put the finished band in tissue paper in the drawer with your letters, and on Thursday I will bring it down to the quay and wind it round your arm myself before the men carry the crates up. You can tell me then if the scallops are too deep.

Love, Ellen

More like this

Black and grey geometric mandala tattoo covering the forearm, shown from the front and side in a two-panel photo.
Black and grey mandala on a forearm
Black ornamental mandala tattoo with dotwork edging on a woman's shoulder and upper back, with a bracelet and necklace visible.
Mandala design on a shoulder
Black geometric mandala armband tattoo with dotted borders on an upper arm, worn beneath a white top and gold pendant necklace.
Mandala armband tattoo on an upper arm
Black geometric armband tattoo with bands of chevrons, triangles and swirling motifs wrapped around an upper arm.
Tribal armband tattoo on upper arm
Black linework lace-style tattoo across the underbust and ribs, with a central ornate panel and small dotted drops below.
Ornate lace-style underbust tattoo
Black and grey botanical bouquet tattoo of pansies and sprigs on the upper chest, below the collarbone, in fine line shading.
Botanical bouquet on upper chest
Black and grey dotwork mandala sleeve tattoo covering the upper arm and forearm, with a dark tank top visible.
Mandala sleeve on an arm
Black ornamental mandala tattoo in a geometric and dotwork style on a woman's upper thigh, with white fabric draped beside it.
Black mandala tattoo on the thigh
Black and grey ornate floral mandala tattoo covering the upper arm and shoulder, with fine linework and dotted shading.
Ornate floral mandala on upper arm and shoulder
Dark ornamental design with a heart motif, lattice panel and dangling dots on the upper arm and shoulder, in a geometric henna-inspired style.
Ornate mehndi-style design on upper arm
Black ornamental mandala tattoo wrapping around a forearm and wrist in a blackwork and dotwork style, with a solid black band across the middle.
Mandala wrist cuff tattoo
Black dotwork mandala tattoo on the inner wrist and forearm, shown from the side and from the palm side.
Black mandala tattoo on the inner wrist

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