Watercolour-style sketch tattoo of a lion cub sitting on a lying lion on the upper arm, with orange, yellow and purple splashes of colour.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Lion cub sketch on upper arm

Upper arm · Colour · Photo

A lion cub sits on top of a second, larger lion drawn in loose black linework. The outlines are sketchy and broken, and the figures are filled with orange, yellow and red washes that bleed into splashes of purple, green and blue across the skin. The composition runs diagonally across the upper arm, with a faint feather-like sketch behind the figures.

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 grass had gone the colour of old brass by the time Nuru decided she was big enough to ride. Her father did not stop walking when she scrambled up his shoulder and settled behind his mane, claws hooked in the coarse gold hair, her tail flicking at the flies. He only lowered his head a little, the way he did when the herd crossed the dry riverbed and he wanted her to see the stones before she trod on them.

Keep reading

Ahead, a secretary bird stalked the edge of the track, its grey feathers lifting in the wind like loose pages. Nuru watched it and forgot the flies. Her father's pace did not change, but she felt the old muscle under her belly tighten the way it did before a lunge, and she held her breath until the bird lifted its wings and rose over the thorn trees, trailing one long feather that spun down into the dust beside them.

They reached the waterhole as the sky bled orange over the escarpment. Other lions were already lying in the reeds with their eyes half shut, and nobody moved to make room. Her father sat down at the water's edge and looked at her sideways, waiting. Nuru drew in a great breath, filled herself up the way the old ones did, and opened her mouth.

What came out was a squeak, thin and embarrassing. Across the pool, one of the elders lifted his head. Her father laughed, a low rumble she felt through his ribs, and bent to drink, and for a while the only sound was the water and the wind combing the grass.

More like this

Colour tattoo of a cartoon fawn, rabbit and skunk among flowers, with a ribbon scroll, on an upper arm.
Cartoon forest animals and ribbon on upper arm
A small watercolour-style unicorn tattoo in pink and purple tones on the inner forearm, with a thin dark outline and a spiralling mane.
Watercolour unicorn on a forearm
Colourful watercolour-style tattoo of a stretching orange tabby cat with flowers and a butterfly on the top of a foot.
Stretching cat with watercolour splashes on a foot
Colour realism tattoo of three red and orange maple leaves with water droplets and black stems, sitting on the upper arm.
Autumn maple leaves on an upper arm
Colour Japanese style tiger tattoo with clouds and waves covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Tiger and waves on an upper arm sleeve
Colour tattoo of a seated fox filled with orange swirling linework and purple shading at the tail, on the inner forearm.
Ornamental fox on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a cartoon boy riding a red wagon with a striped tiger behind him, over an orange flame trail, on the upper arm.
Cartoon boy and tiger on a red wagon
Realistic colour tattoo of a red cardinal perched on a dark branch, with grey flowers, across a person's upper back and shoulder blade.
Cardinal on a branch across a back and shoulder
Colour tattoo of a grey cat beside a bowl of oranges and leaves on a thigh, in a neo-traditional style.
Grey cat and oranges on a thigh
Colour tattoo of a stretching cat with a soft watercolour wash and black outline on the lower leg, with a small pink heart on a thin line.
Stretching cat with watercolour wash
Black and grey linework tattoo of a curled creature with long ears, surrounded by swirling foliage and mushrooms, on a limb.
Creature curled among swirling foliage and mushrooms
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a blue bird in a brown leather jacket smoking a cigarette, on the upper arm, with an owl tattoo partly visible at the edge.
Smoking blue bird in a leather jacket on an upper arm

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