Colour tattoo of a red-haired mermaid sitting on a rock inside an ornate grey oval frame with shells and a starfish, on the thigh.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Mermaid in a shell-framed oval mirror on a thigh

Traditional · Thigh · Mixed · Photo

A mermaid with flowing red hair and a green tail sits on a rock in the centre of an oval frame, with a calm sea and horizon behind her in soft grey shading. The grey frame is decorated with scrolls, a scallop shell at the top, beaded edging, a starfish, and side shells. Bold black outlines and smooth grey shading contrast with the saturated red and green accents, and the design fills the frame of the photo against plain skin.

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

Right, sit down, the lot of you, and mind the crisps. You want the one about the mirror in the lift lobby of Harbour House, the one nobody could ever get the dust off. Mrs Vera Pell from the launderette swore the glass showed the sea even when the window behind you looked out at the car park. Shell at the top, starfish down the side, little silver beads running round the edge like a rosary somebody gave up on. And in the middle, a girl with hair the colour of a pillar box, sat on her rock with her green tail tucked under her, looking out at the water like she was waiting for a bus that was never going to come.

Keep reading

Nobody paid her much mind until the winter the lift broke for six weeks and the lobby filled with the smell of wet coats. Vera went up with a bucket and a cloth, and she told the girl in the glass she was a disgrace, letting herself get so grubby. The girl didn't say a word. But when Vera came back down the next morning, the glass was clean, and there was a single drop of salt water sitting on the rock beside her, and it hadn't dried.

So Vera did what any sensible woman does. She asked the girl what she wanted. Turned out it was only a comb, lost off the harbour wall years back, now lying in a gull's nest on the roof of the Co-op. Vera fetched it. Kept fetching things for the next twenty years, bits of sea glass and a silver spoon and a ring off a fishmonger's finger. And when Vera died, they found that mirror hanging in the launderette, still spotless, and the sink under it had never once run dry.

If you wash your hands there, mind, don't pull the plug till you've counted to three. Go on. Count it.

More like this

Neo-traditional tattoo of a red-haired mermaid with a green tail sitting on a rock inside an ornate beaded frame with shells and a starfish, on the thigh.
Mermaid cameo on thigh
Black and grey tattoo of a couple under an umbrella inside an ornate scrolled frame, with small red accents, on the side of the body.
Umbrella couple in an ornate frame
Colour traditional tattoo on a thigh of a red-haired mermaid with a green tail seated on a rope-wrapped anchor, framed by red, purple and dark roses.
Mermaid on an anchor with roses on a thigh
Neo-trad tattoo on a thigh showing a black handprint, a dagger, a red rose, a cloth sack and a rolled scroll with drips of blood.
Handprint, dagger and rose on a thigh
Black and grey cameo tattoo on the forearm showing a skeletal woman with a pink rose in her hair, set in an ornate scrolled frame.
Skeleton cameo with rose on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a silver teapot, teacup and red roses with green leaves and gold scrollwork on the upper arm, in a neo-traditional style.
Teapot, teacup and red roses on upper arm
Traditional style tattoo of a grey shaded anchor wrapped in rope with two red roses on the outer thigh.
Anchor and roses on a thigh
Neo-traditional tattoo of a black silhouette profile inside an ornate oval cameo frame with scalloped edges, on the side of the ribs.
Cameo silhouette in ornate frame
Realistic red rose with green leaves and shading tattooed on an upper arm, in full colour.
Realistic red rose on an upper arm
Colour tattoo of a red-haired mermaid with a teal tail and surrounding bubbles, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Red-haired mermaid on upper arm
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a cartoon mermaid with flowing red hair, a yellow and blue fish and a red crab among bubbles and seaweed, on an upper thigh.
Cartoon mermaid with fish and crab on a thigh
Colour realism tattoo of an anchor wrapped in rope and pink and peach roses with blue flowers, on the outer thigh of a person in denim shorts.
Anchor and roses on a thigh

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