Photograph of a realistic colour tattoo of a red cardinal perched on the inner forearm, with a quarter coin resting above it.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Realistic red cardinal on a forearm

Realism · Forearm · Colour · Photo

A red cardinal perched side on, shown in a lifelike depiction with a black face mask, orange beak and a long red tail. The feathers are rendered with soft shading and fine detail, using many tones of red and a little black. A silver quarter coin rests on the skin above the bird, which sits centrally on the forearm against a plain background.

Realism Forearm Bird Songbird Coin

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

Sit closer, you'll not hear me over that wind. Forty winters I kept the light at Cape Lusk, and every February a cardinal came up the iron stairs and sat on the gallery rail like a deacon waiting for the collection plate.

Keep reading

The first year, young Albert Teague had one quarter in his pocket, his last, because his mother had sent him over to the mainland for flour and he'd spent the change on a fishing hook. He stood at that rail with the coin in his palm and said, bird, if you bring the boats home through this, you can have the best silver I own. The bird only cocked its head at him, black mask and all, like a man who'd heard better offers.

The storm came down from the north that night. The sea went white to the horizon and the lamp swung through it like a slow red-gold thought. At first light the boats were all there, eleven of them, knocking together in the cove. Albert climbed up with his heart in his mouth and found the quarter sitting on the rail, polished bright by the spray, and no bird anywhere.

Nobody ever did find that cardinal or account for its keeping. I took the coin down myself when I retired, but I left one on that rail every winter after, so a red bird would know where to rest.