Black and grey realism tattoo of the Seattle skyline, with the Space Needle and a mountain, on a person's side ribs.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Seattle skyline on the side ribs

Realism · Ribs · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows a city skyline dominated by the Space Needle, with a large mountain rising behind the buildings on the left. The work uses soft grey shading and dark, heavy blacks to give depth, with a slight greenish tone in the mountain. It sits along the side of the torso, with a black top and a plain indoor background framing the image.

Realism Ribs Skyline Mountain City

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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

Your cousin has been hiding behind the coat check since the vows, and you know exactly where to find him. The terrace of the hall looks straight across Elliott Bay, and the mountain is out tonight, pale and enormous behind the rooftops, the way it only shows after a week of rain. Declan is leaning on the rail with his tie undone, pretending the view is the reason he's out here.

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Your uncle used to draw this on the backs of ferry tickets. Every crossing to Bainbridge he'd sketch the Needle with its saucer perched on top like a hat on a stick that was too thin, then smudge the mountain in with his thumb until it looked like weather. He never got the proportions right. Declan always said that was the charm of it, and he kept every ticket in a biscuit tin in the hall cupboard, labelled by route and month.

When Declan finally turns round, he has the tin under one arm and a crumpled ticket in his hand. He doesn't say anything. He just holds it out, and you see the ink has bled where the thumb went over the mountain, and the Needle is still a little too tall. Someone has written DO NOT LOSE THIS across the back in capitals, and you know it was him, aged nine, on a boat that smelt of diesel.

You take it, fold it once, and slide it into the inside pocket of his jacket, over his heart, where he'll find it the next time the mountain comes out.