Black and grey tattoo of a ribbon bow filled with musical staves and notes, shaded on the outer upper thigh.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Sheet music bow on the upper thigh

Thigh · Black and grey · Photo

A bow tied from ribbon printed with musical staves and notes sits on the outer thigh. The ribbon loops and tails are shaded in greys with soft highlights, and the notes and staff lines are drawn in black. The design is centred on the thigh against plain skin, with dark clothing at the top edge 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

Dear Nell,

Keep reading

The ribbon came off the back of the hymn book the Reverend left in the wheelhouse, the one with the staves printed under the psalms. Skipper says I'm to pay for the book out of my share, so I'm writing this on the back of the same page to make it worth the stamp. The hymn went to the bottom of the locker with the spare twine, but the ribbon held. I tied it round the tin Jack keeps his tobacco in, and he laughed until he coughed up half of Tuesday's tea.

Forty-one hours out of Lowestoft and the sea has been flat as a plate. Wee Davie dropped his tin whistle over the side on the first night, and we all stood there like mourners while the gulls went quiet. Nobody's sung a note since, which is worse than any wind. So when the net came up Thursday with nothing but a boot and a rotten crab, I started humming the tune from the Sunday you danced me round the fish market, and Davie joined in, flat as the water.

I keep thinking about the bow. You said you'd tie one on the end of every letter so I'd know which were yours before I opened them. I like that. Send me a proper one next time, not a bit of string, and tell me the notes you were singing the night before I sailed, so I can work out the tune on the rail where nobody can hear me getting it wrong.

Hauling again at dawn. Keep the lamp lit on the harbour wall.

Yours, with salt in every crease, Tom

More like this

Black and grey realism tattoo of a lace bow with shaded folds, on the side of a person's ribs.
Lace bow tattoo on the side ribs
Grey shaded butterfly tattoo with soft gradient wings on the side of a person's ribcage, with the arm raised above.
Shaded butterfly on the side of the ribs
Black and grey realism tattoo of a lace bow with shaded ribbon tails on the outer thigh, with denim shorts visible above it.
Lace bow tattoo on the thigh
Black and grey tattoo of a bow made from sheet music with musical notes, shown on the outer arm.
Sheet music bow on an arm
Colour tattoo of two orange butterflies with black outlines and swirling black linework on the outer thigh.
Two orange butterflies with swirls on a thigh
Traditional style tattoo of a glossy red bow on a grey lace garter band wrapped around the thigh, with a red stripe along the band.
Red bow garter tattoo on a thigh
Black and grey dragonfly tattoo with swirled wing veins and curling ornament on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Dragonfly with swirls on upper back
Black and grey tattoo of skull-winged butterflies with smaller faded butterflies across a person's upper back near the shoulder blade.
Skull and butterfly wings on a shoulder blade
Shaded butterflies in purple, blue and green with black swirling vines and leaves across a person's upper back.
Three butterflies and vines on upper back
Colour tattoo of a butterfly with pink and red wings outlined in black, trailing black swirls, on the side of the hip above denim jeans.
Butterfly and swirls on the hip
Black and grey tattoo of a bow with lace-like floral filigree and shaded ribbon tails, placed on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Lace-patterned bow on upper back
Black and grey realistic moth tattoo with lace-patterned lower wings on the upper back.
Lace-winged moth on upper back

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