Two lowered-view legs in satin pointe shoes show black and grey tattoos on the calves, including a raven, a lightbulb and a cluster of roses in traditional and dotwork style.

Raven, roses and lightbulb on legs in pointe shoes

Traditional · Calf · Black and grey · Photo

Two bare legs in satin pointe shoes are raised against a plain wall. The left calf carries a raven, a lightbulb and a short line of small script, drawn with bold outlines and solid grey shading. The right calf shows a cluster of roses with fine dotwork rays and a lightning bolt, all in black and grey ink.

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

The generator coughs twice, then the bare bulb in the great hall catches and swings on its flex, and you are standing in the ruin of Harrowgate Keep with a sack of rose cuttings and a raven on the broken sill that has been watching you since the van pulled in. The roof went in the winter of 1931. Nobody in the village has climbed the east stair since, except, apparently, the bird.

Keep reading

Mrs Pell at the shop swore the old garden still came up under the north wall, so you kneel in the nettles with a trowel and work the soil loose around a stub of root. Something rattles above you. The raven drops a pale button onto the stone beside your knee, then another, then a length of copper wire, each set down with the care of a clerk filing papers. Its nest, you realise, is wedged in the window arch, and it has been lighting it with fittings stolen from every cottage on the valley road.

The storm comes over the ridge at dusk. Lightning splits the sky above the tower, and for one white instant the whole garden shows itself: a dozen dark red roses open in the rain, their petals fine as dotwork against the stone. The bulb in the hall flickers and dies. You sit in the wet with the cuttings in your lap and wait for the flash to come again.

When it does, the raven is gone and so is the copper wire. You plant the roses anyway, wire the bulb back on at the generator, and leave it burning on the sill, a small clean light for a bird who has never once asked you to stay.

More like this

Two legs in black canvas trainers covered in colourful traditional style tattoos of roses, birds and flowers on the calves and lower legs.
Traditional leg sleeve with roses and birds
Two lower legs in black boots show traditional tattoos on the calves, including a swallow, a black heart with an eye, a ship's wheel with roses and a small line of script.
Traditional leg tattoos with swallow and ship's wheel
Black and grey dotwork and traditional tattoos on a forearm and hand, including a large bee, planets, a dotted constellation and crystals.
Bee, planets and crystals on forearm and hand
Two raised legs in red Converse trainers show bold traditional tattoos on the calves, including a butterfly, a rose, a spider and a ship's wheel.
Traditional leg tattoos with red Converse trainers
Two bare legs resting on white sheets, covered in colourful traditional tattoos of roses, a dagger and a lantern on the calves and thighs.
Traditional tattoos on legs against white bedding
Two bare lower legs raised in burgundy boots, showing traditional tattoos of a bow, camera, rose, ship's wheel, playing card and small script on the calves.
Traditional tattoos on both calves
Two black and grey fern frond tattoos, one on each forearm, shown against a background of green ferns.
Fern tattoos on both forearms
Black and grey fine line floral and lace-style tattoos with feathers and dotted chains on both thighs.
Floral lace thigh tattoos with feathers
Two raised legs in black platform sandals show traditional tattoos of red roses, a skull and a sun on the thighs and calves, against floral wallpaper.
Traditional tattoos across both legs
Three views of a full arm sleeve with black linework lilies, a sun-like circle and pink watercolour washes, on the upper arm and forearm.
Watercolour flower sleeve on arm
Two legs covered in black and grey tattoos including roses, a crown and script lettering, with the thigh and calf visible.
Multiple black and grey tattoos on both legs
Two legs raised against a pale wall, covered in traditional tattoos of daggers, a rose, an eye, a pocket watch and a whale, with a black and grey flower on one knee.
Full traditional leg sleeves with white high-tops

From the plentytattoo archive, uploaded by a user. Is this your work? Ask for credit or removal.