Lettering tattoo reading RECKLESS in black ink on the lower lip, shown with the mouth open and a hand resting near the chin.

Reckless lettering on lower lip

Lettering · Other · Black and grey · Photo

A close-up of a mouth held open, with the word RECKLESS tattooed in dark ink across the lower lip. The letters are in a plain, upright lettering style and sit between the teeth and chin. A hand with skull rings rests beneath the mouth, and a grey patterned scarf fills the background, all in a soft, warm-toned photograph.

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 down, you lot, and mind the nets. You want the tale of the Reckless, the smack that went out of Brightwater Quay in the November of the great blow, and you'll get it straight, not dressed up like the fishmonger tells it.

Keep reading

Her skipper was Abel Crane, who wore three skull rings carved from a whale tooth and swore they kept him alive. Every man aboard thought him a fool for it. The mate, young Silas Warne, bet a shilling he could haul the trawl single-handed past the Cutter Bank, and Abel, who never refused a wager in his life, painted the word RECKLESS across the wheelhouse board so the whole harbour would know what they were about.

They hauled. The sea came up grey as slate and stripped the mate's oilskins off him the way a drunk loses his cap. Abel lashed himself to the wheel with a length of tarred line and steered her home by the bell of St Edmund's, and when they grounded on the mud at dawn, every ring on his hand was still catching the light.

Silas paid the shilling the next Sunday, and it's still in the chapel poor box. Abel never would say whether the rings saved him or the bet did. The board hangs above the bar at the Anchor now, the paint gone pale and the edges curled, but stand where the lamp hits it and you can still read the word.

More like this

Close-up of a hand near a mouth showing small fine line tattoos on the fingers, including a crescent moon, an outlined star and dotted bands, in black ink.
Small finger tattoos of a moon, star and dotted bands
Black and grey fine line skull tattoo on the back of a hand near the thumb, with a small crown tattoo on the other hand.
Small skull and crown on the hands
Small solid black fork tattoo on the neck behind an ear, with reddish-brown hair falling beside it.
Fork tattoo behind the ear
Close-up of a fine line black arrow tattoo running along a finger on a hand resting on a bare forearm.
Small arrow tattoo on a finger
Small black peace sign tattoo on the inner lower lip, with two fingers with red nail polish holding the lip open.
Peace sign tattoo inside lower lip
Two small traditional-style Tudor rose tattoos in red and blue on the side fingers of two hands pressed together, with black script lettering tattooed on the thighs behind.
Matching Tudor roses on two fingers
Small solid black giraffe tattoo on the inner forearm, worn beside a beaded bracelet below a rolled green jacket sleeve.
Small giraffe tattoo on forearm
Side of a torso with traditional tattoos: a colour ship in an oval with a banner, and a black outline dagger wrapped in ribbon with red lettering on the ribs.
Traditional ship, dagger and lettering on ribs
Black and grey botanical tattoo of a crescent moon and roses with dotwork accents, placed on the chest below the bust.
Crescent moon and roses below the bust
Close-up of a fine line tattoo of two small elephants facing each other on a woman's shoulder, with fingers touching the design.
Two elephants on a shoulder
Black fine line tattoo of a feather on the upper chest dissolving into a flock of birds rising over the shoulder.
Feather and flying birds on the shoulder
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a row of seven moon phases arcing across the left ribs, photographed in black and white.
Moon phases along the ribs

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