Black linework floral spine tattoo running down the centre of a bare back, with a teal-filled medallion at its midpoint.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Ornate floral spine tattoo on a back

Fine line · Back · Mixed · Photo

A vertical column of ornamental floral and lotus-like motifs runs down the centre of a bare back, from the nape to the lower spine, ending in a pendant shape. The linework is fine and dark, with stippled shading in places, and the design is symmetrical along its length. A teal-filled medallion sits near the middle of the column, the only area of colour against the black ink and skin.

Fine line Botanical Back Spine Floral Lotus Medallion Ornament Mandala

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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

Brother Anselm to his sister Maud, from the scriptorium at Wenlow, the first week of Lent.

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You will laugh at me, but the abbot has finally let me stop copying psalters and start on the vellum for the new reredos panel. He wants a column of blossoms climbing the wall behind the altar, one above the other like a stair, each bloom opening out of the last. I have spent three days ruling the lines with a hard point and a straightedge, and my hand still shakes when I come to the centre. Every motif must mirror the one below it, or the eye will catch the error before the heart does.

The middle bloom I have left for last. Brother Osric ground the verdigris for me yesterday from the old copper bowl, and it is the colour of the pond below the mill in summer. I have set a small round medallion there and filled it so thinly that the green seems to sit on the skin of the parchment rather than in it. When the candles are lit it will catch the light the way the water did when we were children and threw stones at the reflection of the bell tower.

The pendant at the foot I drew last, a teardrop hanging on a single thread of ink. I wanted it to look as though it might still be swinging. I have decided not to tell the abbot that I drew it on the feast of Saint Brigid, when Father Hugh died in the infirmary and I could not bear to stay in the cloister. If he asks, I will say the line ran long and I simply needed somewhere to end it.

Write to me of the mill and the pond. I am tired of the stone walls and would like to hear about something that moves.