Small black fine line tattoo of a row of birds in flight on a forearm, with a silver bracelet on the wrist and water behind.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Row of small birds on a forearm

Fine line · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A tattoo of seven or so small black shapes in a horizontal row, resembling birds in flight, sits on a forearm. The linework is thin and solid black with no shading, and the ink is set against tanned skin. A hand holding a rail and a silver bracelet appear at the wrist, with dark water filling the background.

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

Mum counted the gulls off the stern every crossing, lips moving, as if the sea owed her an exact tally. By the time the ferry cleared the Sound of Mull she had reached seven, and she would start again from one, and the cook would shout up the stairwell that the tea was stewing. I was twelve and thought it was a game about luck.

Keep reading

The winter the Harbour Lass went down off Lismore, nobody could say how many had been aboard, only that the gulls kept wheeling over one grey patch of water until dark. Mum stood at the rail with the wind pulling her hair loose and did not count them. She only watched them rise and settle, rise and settle, in a line that bent and straightened like thread through a needle.

After that she had the wheelhouse painted with seven small black birds along the top of the window frame, where the helmsman would see them whatever the weather. The signwriter from Oban charged her a pound a bird and wanted to know what they were for. She told him they were for keeping count. Three years later she taught me the number, and I taught it to my own daughter on the pier at Tobermory, the two of us tallying wings as the boat came in.

Seven, she'd say, and never more. Then she would lift one hand off the rail, the way you would to a neighbour on a single-track road, and the nearest gull would dip a wing back at her.

More like this

Close-up of a thin black fine line tattoo of a curling wave across the wrist, with the hand visible on the right.
Fine line curling wave on a wrist
Two arms crossed at the wrists against a white wall, each with a small solid black triangle tattoo on the forearm in a minimal geometric style.
Small triangle tattoos on two forearms
Fine line white ink lettering reading expecto patronum in cursive script across the inner forearm.
Expecto patronum script on forearm
Raised hand against a black background showing a small, fine line arrow tattoo on the inner wrist in dark ink.
Small arrow tattoo on the inner wrist
Small black fine line tattoo on a hand showing a paper plane, a simple stick figure and the words LET GO.
Paper plane and LET GO on a hand
Small black fine line symbol tattooed on the side of a finger, with gold nail polish visible on the hand.
Small symbol tattoo on a finger
Close view of a small black fine line curled motif tattoo on the wrist of a hand with the index finger extended.
Small black curl tattoo on the wrist
Close-up of a small fine line script tattoo reading Let it be in black ink on the side of the ribs.
Let it be script on the side ribs
Fine line tattoo of a dotted line with arrowheads at both ends, in black ink on the side of a person's ribs.
Dotted arrow line on the side ribs
Small black silhouette tattoo of three birds in flight on the inner wrist of a hand held palm up against a dark background.
Three birds in flight on a wrist
Black fine line tattoo of a vertical column of stick figure yoga poses running along the forearm.
Vertical stick figure yoga poses on forearm
Black and grey outline of a world map tattooed on the forearm of a person with the arm extended against a red wall.
World map tattoo on a forearm

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