Fine line black origami crane surrounded by small red, green and orange flowers, leaves and dots on the upper back near the shoulder.

Origami crane with flowers on upper back

Fine line · Back · Mixed · Photo

A black outlined origami crane sits on the upper back, with its wings folded in a geometric pattern. Around it, small coloured flowers, leaves, a butterfly and dots in red, green, orange and yellow drift in a loose arc on the left and above. The linework is thin and even, with the colour applied as light accents against the pale skin, and the design is centred on the crane with plenty of open space around it.

Fine line Botanical Back Origami Crane Flower Leaf Butterfly Dot

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 last crane came out of the shortbread tin on the morning we reached Braunston, folded from a seed catalogue, with printed tulips still showing through one wing. My aunt Ida made them every winter she spent at the tiller, one for each lock, and kept them in rows under the bunk until the tin wouldn't shut. She said a thousand cranes would grant a wish. She never got past sixty-one, and she used to say the canal could finish the rest.

Keep reading

I was hauling the boat through the cutting with the rope over my shoulder when a small brown butterfly landed on the tiller. It was the colour of the towpath gravel, and it stayed there while the water chuckled under the bow. I had none of Ida's patience for omens, but I had her habit of talking to the boat, so I told it we were nearly at Stoke Bruerne.

At the top lock I opened the last crane along its old creases. Inside, in her spiky pencil, she had written a list: marigold, sorrel, a red dot for the chimney, a green leaf for the tiller. She'd meant to paint the cabin roof, the one bit of the boat she never let anyone touch. The paint pots were still in the locker, lids welded shut by a decade of damp.

I prised one open with a spoon, dipped a brush, and painted the petals in a loose arc along the cabin side, just as she'd drawn them. Then I folded the crane back up, set it on the roof where the sun could find it, and waited for the lock to fill.