Black and grey rosary tattoo with a cross and heart-shaped centrepiece running down a forearm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Rosary and cross on a forearm

Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A rosary is drawn across the forearm, with small shaded beads forming a curved chain that ends in a heart-shaped centrepiece and a dark cross. The beads and cross have soft grey shading and rendered highlights, giving them a slightly three-dimensional look. The tattoo is shown against a dark cabinet and a patterned rug, with the hand raised at the top of the frame.

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

Her husband took the lock at Hartwell with the bow rope across his shoulder, and Nell stood at the tiller of the Mary Ann counting beads through her fingers the way her mother had taught her. Ten Aves for every lock, one Pater at the head. The river was brown and quick that spring, and it cared nothing for either.

Keep reading

The barge had carried coal from Bilston to the Trent for eleven years, and in that time the cut had taken two men and a mule. Folk on the towpath said the water wanted a price. Nell thought it wanted attention, the way a dog does, so she gave it hers, bead by bead, past the heron at Sowerby and the weir where the cows drank.

At the last lock, the one with the iron heart bolted to the gate where some boatman had once hung a lantern, the string of beads caught on the sluice paddle. Her husband swore, the gate groaned, and the Mary Ann slewed sideways toward the still water below. Nell did not let go of the tiller. She went on counting, and the cross at the end of the string knocked against the gunwale and held.

They came through by evening. Her husband never learned why she would not stop her prayers to shout at him, and she never told him the beads had given her something to hold while the rest of the world slid. The heart, she said, was for the lock. The cross was only for the rope.

More like this

Black and grey rosary anklet tattoo on an ankle, with a double strand of beads, a central medallion and a cross hanging down onto the top of the foot.
Rosary anklet tattoo with cross
Black fine line ornamental cross tattoo with scrollwork and small dots on the inner wrist and forearm.
Ornate cross on the wrist
Black and grey realism style tattoo of a rosary wrapped around an ankle, with a cross hanging down across the top of the foot.
Rosary and cross anklet tattoo
Black and grey ornate cross tattoo with filigree detailing on the inner wrist, beside a metal chain bracelet.
Ornate cross tattoo on a wrist
Small dark cross tattoo on the inner wrist of a hand held palm up, with a mint green wristband and red painted nails.
Small cross tattoo on the inner wrist
Fine line cross tattoo on the inner wrist, with the hand curled above it against a red background.
Small cross on a wrist
Realistic rosary tattoo with red beads, a shaded grey cross and a medallion wrapping around a person's ankle and foot.
Rosary tattoo around an ankle
Small solid black cross tattoo on the heel of a foot, photographed close up against a teal and white tiled floor.
Small black cross on a heel
Small fine-line black cross tattoo on the inner wrist, photographed against a pale fabric background.
Small cross on an inner wrist
Fine line black cross tattoo with a small heart shape at its centre, on the inner wrist and forearm.
Small cross tattoo on the inner wrist
Colour traditional tattoo of a blue anchor wrapped in a yellow rope with red roses and green leaves, placed on the shoulder.
Anchor and rope with roses on a shoulder
Large black ornamental cross tattoo on a forearm, with gold and black beaded bracelets worn above the wrist.
Ornate cross tattoo on forearm

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