Black and grey realism tattoo of two raptors among tall ferns and trees covering the upper arm and shoulder.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Raptors in a jungle on an upper arm

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows two raptor dinosaurs in a dense jungle setting, with one in profile in the foreground and a second partly hidden behind it. Fine shading and soft gradients build up the scaly skin, foliage and misty background. The image is in black and grey, with the composition wrapping around the upper arm and shoulder.

Realism Upper arm Shoulder Dinosaur Fern Tree

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Teddy, the rain has been coming sideways down Brindle Street since Tuesday and the awning over my stall has given up holding it back. I've moved the atlases into the van and kept the fern cuttings under a tarpaulin. Your box of Dad's drawings is still on the bottom shelf. I haven't opened it since you dropped it off, because the top sheet is the one with two green-backed creatures crouched in the undergrowth, and I don't like how they look at you.

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Mrs Oduya came by at noon for ferns and asked who had painted the forest behind the counter. I said Dad, obviously. She shook her head and pointed at the smaller creature, half hidden in the leaves. Whoever drew that one had watched something hunt, she said. It isn't sleeping, it's waiting. Then she paid, tucked her umbrella under her arm and was gone, and the rain closed over the market like a lid.

So last night I got it out. The drawing is better than I remembered. Dad had layered the pencil so the forest breathes, shadows thick as wet wool at the bottom and the mist going pale at the top. The foreground one has its head turned as if someone just called its name. I sat with my tea going cold and realised the second animal's eye was pressed to a gap in the leaves, looking out at the paper, and at me.

I'm not frightened. I want you to know that. I've pinned it above the till, face out, so the customers can see it, and so I can see it from the stool where I eat my lunch. If the rain stops by Saturday I'll drive up and we can argue about who gets it. Bring your own tea. Mine has gone off.