Black ink drawing of an ornate feather with swirls, dots and paisley shapes, a tattoo flash design on cream paper with no placement shown.

Ornate feather design in ink

Fine line · Black and grey · Flash

A hand-drawn feather runs diagonally from the lower left to the upper right of a cream sheet of paper. Its vane is filled with swirls, scrolls, dotted lines, paisley-like teardrops, scalloped sections and a small circular medallion, all drawn in black ink with a fine, even line. The design is entirely black on a pale background, with no shading, and is centred with generous margins.

Fine line Geometric Feather Swirl Paisley Dot Ornament

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

Dear Nell,

Keep reading

The ink finally arrived at Dover on Tuesday, four bottles of it wrapped in a stocking because the customs man at the foot of the ramp wanted to see what sort of trouble a woman carries in her luggage. I told him it was only blackberry-black, the sort you grind yourself, and he laughed and waved me through. You'll be pleased to hear the stocking came back to me with a hole in the heel and a sixpence sewn into the toe, which I am choosing to regard as a blessing.

I have been copying the feather you sent me, the one with the paisley drops and the little wheel of dots at its belly. It is harder than it looks. Every curl wants to run on, and the fine nib keeps catching the grain of the paper, so the scrolls come out lopsided. The old lettering master in Lille watched me for an hour yesterday and said nothing at all, then took the pen from my hand, drew one tear-shaped drop in three strokes and gave it back. I have spent the night trying to do it his way.

The last thing I drew was the spine of the feather, running corner to corner across the page like a road with no traffic on it. I think I finally understand why you wanted it so precise. A feather is only ever a line that has decided to be generous to the air. Tomorrow I cross to Calais with the bottles, the drawing folded inside my notebook, and a train ticket for the morning after. I will write again from wherever the ink dries.

Yours in black and patience,

Marguerite