Black and grey realism tattoo of a bearded man's face wearing a crown of thorns, on the upper arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Realistic crown of thorns portrait on upper arm

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A large realistic portrait of a bearded man with long hair and a crown of thorns, gazing upward. The face is rendered with soft grey shading, fine hair detail and bright highlights in the eyes and on the crown. The tattoo fills the frame against a plain, lightly lit background, with the dark crown of thorns framing the head.

Realism Upper arm Portrait Face Beard Long hair Man

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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

Dear Maud, the blackthorn along the south wall has come into flower earlier than anyone expected, and Mr Pryce has been out with his secateurs every morning this week, swearing at the stems. I told him the hedge would bite back if he hurried. He laughed, but he wore the thick gloves Eleanor sent him at Christmas, so I think he knows.

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The thing I wanted to tell you is about the portrait. Since the spring the men from the chapel have been carrying a painting up from the cellar, a copy of a face someone once made from memory, and hanging it in the potting shed where the light is best. It is the same face as the one on the postcard you sent from Lisbon, eyes lifted past the roof as if waiting on weather. Pryce says it makes the seedlings nervous. I say it is only that the thorns frame it so well, dark and tangled, like the ring of brambles round the old well.

On Thursday a boy came asking for work and I gave him the barrow and a row of onions. He stopped halfway down the path and stared at the painting with his mouth open, then went back to his onions without a word. He has come every day since. I think the face has done what faces do, which is to make a person look up.

I have kept the shed key on my own string since you left, and I'll send it along with this letter, so you can come and see for yourself. Bring your good boots. The paths are soft.