Realistic colour tattoo of a pink lily with yellow stamens and two dragonflies on the upper back.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Pink lily and dragonflies on the upper back

Realism · Back · Colour · Photo

A large pink lily with shaded magenta petals and yellow-tipped stamens sits in the centre, with a bud at its left. Two dragonflies, one teal and one green, hover around the flower, with smooth blended shading and soft highlights. Bright greens, teals and pinks fade into a loose watercolour-style background wash across the skin.

Realism Botanical Back Lily Flower Dragonfly Stamen Bud

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom,

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The lilies came up the morning after the boats went out, all at once, as if they had been waiting for the quiet. Mam would have said that was the sea's doing, but I think it was only the sun on the wall behind the shed, where you left the bulbs in a biscuit tin with your name written on the lid.

Mr Ferris from the fish market came by with his cart and stood gawping at the pink heads over the wall. He said the trawlers were coming in light this month, two of them laid up at Brixham with nets torn to ribbons, and I should not be planting frippery when there were mouths to feed. I told him the lilies were for the harbour, not the table. He didn't like that much, but he took a bunch for his wife anyway.

Two dragonflies have been stitching about the flowers since Tuesday, one blue-green and one bright as new paint, landing on the stamens as if they had paid for a seat. I know they are only hunting midges over the water butts, but I have started to count them the way you counted gulls on the slipway, one for the boat and one for the hope.

The Mary Ann is due round the point by Thursday's tide. If you see the green flag on the mast, you will know I have been out on the wall with the watering can, and the orange stamens are still standing. Come home and tell me how many fish you lost and how many birds found you. Bring me one of the wild flowers from the cliff, if there are any left.

Love, Nell