Red dragon with black outlines coiled inside a circle, tattooed on the inside of a wrist, in a Japanese-influenced style.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Red dragon in a circle on a wrist

Japanese · Other · Colour · Photo

A red dragon with black outlines is coiled within a circular frame, with flame-like details along its body and head. The solid red fill is bold against the skin, and the black linework defines the dragon's contours and the edge of the circle. The tattoo is photographed straight on, centred on the inner wrist, with a patterned surface visible at the edges of the frame.

Japanese Other Dragon Circle Flame

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell, the big wheel went up at Hexham on Tuesday and the bolt sheared on the third lift, so Mr Pardoe has me repainting the gondolas until my fingers are the colour of pillar boxes. I've done the dragon for the centre medallion. You'll laugh: I copied the old design from the cracked disc in the cart, red as a fire engine with black edging, coiled round inside its ring as though it means to bite its own tail and has thought better of it.

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Pardoe says the crowds want fire, so I gave it flame along the back and the head, little tongues that lick out past the circle. The trick was the black line. Lay it on too thick and the beast looks like a tar stain; too thin and it vanishes under the lamps. I worked it at night under the generator, with Dolly's cat asleep on my coat, and by the third night the outline sat as clean as a stencil.

Last night a lad came up to the stall, nine or so, wanting his name done in gold. I told him we only do dragons. He asked if the dragon was real, and I said only as real as the paint, which is more than most things in this business. He nodded as if that settled it and walked off with his fist closed round the ticket stub. I stood there a long while thinking of Dad, who painted the first one on this ride in 1961.

The wheel goes round again Friday. If you come, bring the good sable brushes in the tin with the blue lid, and I'll save you the seat under the dragon. Love, Tom.