Colour Japanese style tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with a lotus flower and cherry blossoms on the upper arm and shoulder.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Maneki-neko cat and lotus on upper arm

Japanese · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

A large tattoo covers the upper arm and shoulder, showing a white maneki-neko cat with green eyes, a green collar and a bell, raising one paw. A pink and yellow lotus flower sits behind the cat, with red cherry blossoms and grey, cream and yellow swirling clouds filling the lower part of the design. The two side-by-side photographs show the same tattoo from different angles, with bold outlines, soft shading and bright colour throughout.

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

You find the cat at twenty past four, lying on its side between the sherry trifle and the seating plan. Its raised paw has snapped at the wrist, and the little brass bell has rolled under the tablecloth, so you crouch on one knee in your good trousers to fish it out. The marquee smells of cut grass and sea salt. Beyond the flaps a string quartet is tuning badly to the same note.

Keep reading

Gwen will want it back before the speeches. She brought the cat from a shop in Osaka in 1961, wrapped in a tea towel inside her handbag, and she has told every bride in the family that it calls luck through the door. You find the superglue in the bar drawer, under the corkscrews, and hold the paw in place while the seconds tick over. Your hands are steadier than you expect. Gwen watches from a folding chair with her hat pinned straight and one eyebrow raised.

"It's had a long day," she says, which is the kindest thing anyone will say to you all afternoon. "Bells don't like being dropped."

By nine the marquee is hot and loud, the quartet has given up and the DJ has started on Motown. You see the cat on the cake table with its mended paw held high over the crowd, the bell swinging a little each time someone brushes past. Gwen is dancing with the best man, too fast, and nobody has told her to slow down. Every time the bell rings, you think someone else has just been asked in.

More like this

Neo-traditional colour tattoo of a multi-eyed grey cat holding a goldfish bowl above a pink rose, placed on a limb.
Cat with goldfish bowl and rose
Japanese-style tattoo of a cat face with yellow eyes, black and grey markings and a red rope beneath it, on the outer thigh.
Cat mask with rope on thigh
Neo-traditional colour tattoo of a calico cat face with purple and pink flowers below, on an arm or leg.
Calico cat and flowers on a limb
Diptych of a Japanese style colour tattoo on a lower leg, showing a black and grey cat with teal eyes wrapped around a blue and orange dragon with swirling cloud motifs.
Cat and dragon tattoo on a lower leg
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with a red lotus and cherry blossoms on an upper arm.
Maneki-neko cat with lotus on upper arm
Large colour neo-traditional tattoo on a person's upper back showing a cupcake with a skull, a cartoon cat with a pink bow, pansies, a lollipop and broken hearts.
Cupcake, cartoon cat and pansies on the back
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a black cat with yellow eyes, red roses and green leaves on the outer thigh, framed by gold scrollwork and a teal banner.
Black cat portrait with roses on a thigh
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of a sleeping cat with a red peony on its back and green leaves, placed on the top of a foot.
Sleeping cat and peony on a foot
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with a red sun, cherry blossom, lotus flowers and sushi across the upper arm.
Maneki-neko lucky cat with blossom on upper arm
Traditional-style tattoo on a forearm of a tabby kitten with blue eyes inside a gold ornate frame, with a red rose and orange flowers below.
Kitten in ornate frame with rose on forearm
Colour neo-traditional tattoo of a cat face with sugar skull eye markings, framed by red roses and flowers, on the outer thigh.
Sugar skull cat with roses on a thigh
Colour tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat with red ears, orange patches and a green bell collar on the upper arm, in a traditional style.
Maneki-neko lucky cat on upper arm

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