Woman seen from behind with a black script lettering tattoo running vertically down her back, beside a long braid.

Script tattoo down the spine

Lettering · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A woman is photographed from behind, holding a phone up in a mirror selfie, with a long fishtail braid falling over her right shoulder. A fine black script tattoo runs vertically down the left side of her spine, with its words set in a single flowing line. The skin tone is warm and the setting is a bright, plain room, with the white backless top framing the composition.

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

Dear Ida,

Keep reading

You asked how I managed the long line on the Kessock boat without lifting the brush, and I have been turning it over since your letter came. Mr Pell wanted the whole sentence run in one pass from bow to stern, because he said a sentence that stops halfway tells the sea it is unsure of itself. I practised on newspaper until my wrist ached, then on the back of the chandlery ledgers, until Mrs Dunn started calling me the ink monkey.

The trouble was the curve. Every letter wants to lean into the next, and if you think about the shape of the whole thing you go stiff. So I stopped looking at the words and watched the place where the bristle met the board, how it bent and sprang back. By the third day the sentence was simply something my hand already knew.

The boat went out on Thursday with the words running down her side in that single unbroken stroke, and Captain Rowe read them aloud from the quay, slowly, one breath either side of every comma. He had to stop twice. Ask me what it said and I will not tell you, because it was never mine to tell. The line is what matters, and the way it keeps going past the place where the paint runs out.

Yours in ink, Nell

More like this

Black fine line script lettering running down the middle of a woman's back, shown from behind with a long blonde braid over one shoulder.
Script lettering down the spine
Black script lettering running vertically down a woman's spine on her back, with a long braid falling over one shoulder.
Script quote down the spine
Back view of a woman with a long fishtail braid showing a black fine script lettering tattoo running vertically down the spine, placed on the upper back.
Vertical script tattoo along the spine
Black and grey feather tattoo with shaded detail on the lower back of a woman with a long fishtail braid, seen from behind.
Feather tattoo on a lower back
Back view of a woman with a platinum blonde fishtail braid and a small dark crescent moon tattoo on her upper back, placed beside a white crochet top.
Fishtail braid with small crescent tattoo on the back
Woman seen from behind with a long grey braid, showing a pale grey snowflake tattoo on her shoulder blade.
Snowflakes on a shoulder
Black script lettering tattoo running vertically down the centre of a woman's back, photographed from behind in an open-back dress.
Script lettering down the spine
Small fine line black crescent moon tattoo with a simple face on the upper arm of a woman with a long braid, seen from behind.
Crescent moon tattoo on upper arm
Woman seen from behind in a hat and grey open-back vest top, with a traditional-style red rose tattoo with black outlines on her upper arm.
Red rose tattoo on upper arm
Small black fine line tattoo of a crescent moon with a face on the upper arm of a woman seen from behind, with a long braid and a black sleeveless top.
Small crescent moon with a face on upper arm
Black feather-shaped tattoo on the upper back of a person seen from behind, with a platinum blonde braid and a patterned wrap over one shoulder.
Small dark feather tattoo on upper back
Back view of a woman in an olive green open-back romper, showing a black script tattoo running vertically down her spine.
Vertical script tattoo down the back

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