Man seen from behind with a large black and grey realism tattoo of lions and flowing script across his upper back and shoulder.

Lion and script tattoo across a back

Realism · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A man is photographed from behind, facing away from the camera, with a large black and grey tattoo covering his upper back. The design shows two lion heads with detailed fur shading, framed by scrolling script lettering across the shoulder blades. The background is a dark punching bag on the left and a blurred red interior on the right.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell, The snow shut the Ashgrove pass on Tuesday and the coach has not come through since, so I am stuck at the Two Lions with nothing but ink, Mrs Hallam's weak tea and the old tin pattern for the taproom board. Mr Hallam wants it hung over the hearth so travellers can read the name from the door. He has given me two lions to paint from the pattern, and I have spent three days staring at their manes until my eyes ache.

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The trouble is the lettering scrolled across the top. Hallam wants it written in a hand that looks dashed off in a hurry, though it must be perfect. I have done it four times, and each time the strokes swell where I press too hard on the downstroke and go thin on the turn. One lion faces the door with its jaw set. The other looks back over its shoulder towards the kitchen, as if it has heard someone calling it in for supper.

Last night a drover came in with frost in his beard and stood under the bare wall where the old board used to hang. He looked at the pattern for a long while and said the lions were the wrong way round, that the one looking back had been painted by someone who had been left behind. Hallam laughed and called him a fool. I did not laugh. I have kept the pattern exactly as it was, and I have folded my sketch of the lettering inside this letter so you can see it.

The snow stopped at dusk. Through the window the pass is white to the top, and the lamp is lit on its hook above the bench where the board lies drying. Tell Father the ink is nearly set. Your loving brother, Tom

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