Black swirling scroll tattoo with small black and teal star shapes on the back of a neck, below the hairline.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Swirls and stars on the back of the neck

Neck · Mixed · Photo

A pair of bold black curling scroll lines forms a symmetrical swirl design across the back of the neck. Small five-pointed stars are scattered around the swirls, most filled in teal and a few in black. The photograph is taken straight on, with the design centred and dark hair visible 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

The name board for the wedding launch had been waiting in the harbour shed since Tuesday, and Maggie still hadn't decided where the flourish should go. Her grandfather had taught her to start a swirl from the centre and let the brush decide the rest, both hands moving together, never steering. Her own hands kept steering. The boat was the Marigold, a flat-bottomed Whitby cobble her brother Tom had bought with two years of overtime, and it was going to carry him and his bride up the river to the hall where the tables were already set.

Keep reading

Tom came in at eleven wearing a borrowed suit, the collar still creased from its packet, and leaned on the bench to watch. He didn't say anything about the scrolls. He just picked up the old mahl stick from the hook and held it steady for her, the way their grandfather used to, and that was enough to loosen her wrist. The black went on in two long curls that swung out towards the edges of the board and then back in, tight as the coil of a rope. She dipped the smallest brush in the teal paint they'd been keeping for the lifeboat trim and dotted in the stars, five points each, some of them crooked, all of them stubborn.

By the time the bride arrived with her veil folded over one arm, the paint was tacky and the shed smelled of turps and salt. They carried the board down the slipway between them and fixed it to the stern. From the quay, with the dusk coming up off the water, the scrolls looked like two waves turning back to look at the land. The stars caught the harbour lamps one after another, and Maggie, who had been so afraid they were too bright, watched them shine as the Marigold pulled away.

More like this

Forearm tattoo of five blue-shaded stars linked by black and grey swirling ribbons that wrap up the arm.
Blue stars and swirling ribbons on a forearm
Black and grey tattoo of a female silhouette with flowing swirled hair and a small flower, with curling linework, on the side of the torso.
Swirling silhouette figure with flower
Black tribal-style sea turtle tattoo with a pink plumeria flower at its centre, placed on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Tribal sea turtle on upper back
Black and grey Celtic knotwork star tattoo on the chest, with interlaced knots filling the star shape.
Celtic knotwork star on the chest
Black fine line triskele tattoo with ornamental scrollwork on the upper back below the neck, in a black and grey photograph.
Triskele tattoo on upper back
Shaded grey horseshoes with blue flowers, green leaves and black vines tattooed on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Horseshoes and blue flowers on a shoulder blade
Blue and black tribal symbol with a grey Libra scroll banner and blue stars, tattooed on the arm.
Libra scroll and stars on an arm
Colour tattoo of pink, blue and purple stars with black swirling linework on the inner wrist.
Coloured stars and swirls on a wrist
Black tribal-style tattoo of curling swirls and a small dot on the forearm, in a bold blackwork style.
Tribal swirl tattoo on a forearm
Fine line black tattoo of a looping swirl symbol with a small numeral beside it, on the inner ankle above a pink sock.
Swirl symbol with small numeral on ankle
Black fine line tattoo of a stretching cat with a curled tail and four paw prints above it, on the upper back of a person seen from behind.
Cat and paw prints on upper back
Bold black abstract tattoo on skin of a stylised bird with a curved neck, tapering body and a pointed head at the top.
Abstract bird outline tattoo in black ink

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