Black and grey realism tattoo on a shoulder and upper back showing torn skin revealing buckled armour straps and a Celtic knot disc.

Torn skin with Celtic knot armour on shoulder

Realism · Shoulder · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows a torn-skin effect revealing leather armour straps with rivets and buckles, with a woven Celtic knot disc on the upper shoulder. The shading is smooth and detailed, with strong highlights and dark shadows that give the straps and torn edges depth. The design wraps from the shoulder blade across the upper back, with the stitched tear edges creating a strong diagonal across the frame.

Realism Shoulder Back Armour Celtic knot Rivet Torn skin Stitches

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Your mother says I am not to write to you on the day itself, so I am writing on the eve, which she will say is the same thing. The cuirass is finished. I stitched the last of the straps this afternoon with the good waxed thread, two rivets to each, the way my father taught me, and I set the Celtic knot on the shoulder plate where the morning light from the window will catch the raised cords. Wear it under the grey wool, not over. Nobody in the church needs to know there is anything beneath your shirt but a nervous man.

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The tear was your idea, and I still think it was foolish. You wanted the leather to look as if it had burst through the lining, as though a stray blade had caught you on the way up the aisle and the armour beneath had decided to show itself. I cut the edges with a hot knife and stitched them back with a crooked running stitch, and I will admit the effect is rather fine. Aunt Maud cried when she saw it on the dummy and said it looked like something dragged out of a bog.

The buckle at the flank is the one from your grandfather's harness, the one he would never sell even when we had nothing to eat. I polished it on Sunday. It no longer fastens properly, so you will have to ask your bride to hold the strap while you shrug the coat on. I suspect she will enjoy the job more than you will.

Come by the shop before the service. I will be at the bench with the kettle on, and I will show you how to lift the coat so the rivets do not clink. Bring the ring. We will both pretend I did not cry at the knot.