Black fine line script tattoo reading Meraki, with a swirling flourish above and a leaf sprig below, on the thigh.

Meraki script with leaf sprig on thigh

Lettering · Thigh · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows the word Meraki in a flowing, hand-lettered script, with a delicate swirl and small leafy stem above the letters. A row of small leaves forms a sprig curving beneath the word. The design is in black ink only, with a clean, even line on pale skin against a plain light background.

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

Your nan would have laughed at me for writing a letter when the telephone sits right there on the hall table, but I have started this three times now and the ink keeps drying on the nib before I reach the end of a line. The sign for Pearce's fishmonger went up on Tuesday. You'll remember Mr Pearce, the one who always smelled of brine and wanted everything in capitals. He asked for his name and the word OPEN and nothing else, so naturally I gave him a sprig of bay leaves curling underneath, seven of them, painted one at a time with the small round brush.

Keep reading

When I showed your nan the sketch she tapped the word at the top and said, what's that, Alfie? I told her it was meraki, the Greek word the old potter in Rye taught me years back. It means doing a thing with your whole soul, leaving a bit of yourself in the work so the work can't be mistaken for anyone else's. She said I'd been leaving bits of myself all over this town for fifty years, mostly on the pavements, and went back to her crossword. I thought about that all afternoon, up the ladder with the sun going round the front of the shop.

So the sable mop is yours now. It's the one in the grey tin, wrapped in oilcloth, not for show. The ferrule is bent where I dropped it off the ladder in 1979, and you'll have to mind that the hair doesn't catch on it. My hand shakes on the gold leaf these days, but it doesn't shake on a leaf sprig, so I'll let you judge that.

Paint something badly first, on a board you don't care about. Then paint something you would want to keep. Love, Grandad.

More like this

Small black fine line Scorpio zodiac symbol tattooed on the inside of a wrist, with dark painted nails visible above it.
Scorpio zodiac symbol on the wrist
Fine line black tattoo of a city skyline with a tower, a Ferris wheel, a palm tree and a heart, placed on the ribs.
City skyline outline on the ribs
Fine line black tattoo of a city skyline with a spire, a dotted ferris wheel, a clock tower and a small heart, on the inside of a wrist.
City skyline line tattoo on a wrist
Two matching fine line tattoos of hands linking little fingers, one on each upper arm, shown with the arms pressed together.
Matching pinky promise hands on two upper arms
Black ornate script lettering tattoo on the ankle, photographed in black and white with a stylised flourish above the letters.
Ornate black script tattoo on ankle
Black fine line tattoo on the forearm of a heartbeat line with a small heart, a spotted dog's head and a paw print.
Heartbeat line with dog and paw print
Close-up of a fine-line black script tattoo reading love is enough in cursive on a forearm.
Love is enough script on an arm
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a feathered arrow with a script word along the shaft, on the inner forearm.
Feathered arrow with script word on a forearm
Fine line black cross tattoo on the inner wrist of a hand with red nail polish, above a cream lace sleeve.
Small cross tattoo on the inner wrist
Black and grey photograph of a Virgo zodiac symbol tattoo on the back of a neck, with hair pulled over one shoulder.
Virgo zodiac symbol on the back of a neck
Black and white photo of a small fine line sprig with leaves tattooed on the inner forearm near the wrist, below a knitted sleeve.
Small sprig tattoo on the inner wrist
Black and grey photograph of a fine line botanical tattoo of two flowers with curling vines on the inner forearm near the wrist.
Two flowers and vines on a wrist

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