Hand-drawn design of the word Survivor in dark purple marker on cream paper, with a long swooping flourish rising through the first letter.

Survivor lettering with a long flourish

Lettering · Colour · Flash

A hand-drawn design of the word Survivor in dark purple marker on a plain cream background. The first letter S is extended by a long, tapering flourish that rises above the word and curls down below it, while the remaining letters are written in a slim, even monoline. The composition is centred and simple, with no shading and a single ink colour.

Lettering Lettering Script Flourish Word

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, the scaffold came down on Tuesday and the wall is still standing, which I know will disappoint your mother. The council wanted the north range cleared for a car park, and Galloway wanted a plaque. Nobody asked the stones, which have been leaning since the Covenanter raid and have no intention of falling now.

Keep reading

Above the postern arch there is a carved mark nobody has troubled to read, half hidden under ivy. Dorothy from the parish swears it is a letter S, a long one, with a tail that climbs past the lintel like a bird pulling free of a hedge. Tom and I spent the afternoon with a wire brush and a bucket of cold water, and I held the lamp while the moss came away. Underneath, the rest of the word is worn but legible: u, r, v, i, v, o, r.

I did not tell Galloway. I wrote it in the ledger under the day's wages, the S with its long flourish and the rest in plain capitals, the way the mason must have meant it. Then I climbed down, washed the lime from my hands and walked the rest of the way to the station in the rain, feeling lighter than I have since your gran died. Come up at Easter and I will show you the stone. Bring your sketchbook. Your loving Dad.