Black and grey Polynesian-style tribal tattoo covering the upper arm and shoulder, shown from three angles.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Polynesian-style sleeve on upper arm and shoulder

Blackwork · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A large tribal design covers the shoulder and upper arm, built from bold bands, spirals and triangular motifs. The work uses solid black fills with fine grey shading and crisp, heavy outlines. Three side-by-side photographs show the arm from different angles against a dark background, with the wearer in a blue sleeveless top and the face not shown.

Blackwork Geometric Upper arm Shoulder Tribal Spiral Chevron Sleeve

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

Nell had been tracing the spiral for two hours before Harold looked up from his tea and told her she had lifted the pen twice. "Once is a mistake," he said. "Twice and the sea gets in."

Keep reading

The sheet on the bench was the shoulder piece for the Trewin lad's order, bands of chevrons stacked like slate roofs, and at its heart a spiral the width of a saucer. Harold had drawn the first one himself in 1979 on the back of a pit captain who swore he would never sit still for it, then sat for six hours without complaint. The original sketch was pinned above the sink, curled and yellow from the steam.

She tried again, the pen never leaving the paper, the line running inward until her wrist ached and the kettle clicked off unheard. When she finished, the spiral was close and tidy. Harold made her unpick the last turn with a scalpel, cutting a small gap where the line should have stopped. "Leave it open," he said. "Nobody finishes their own shoulder. The gap is where the rest of the story walks in."

Nell looked at the notch in the paper, then past it to the window, where the old engine house stood black against the rain. She left the gap as it was, and when the pen went down into the first chevron her hand did not hesitate.