Black ink script tattoo running vertically along the inner forearm of a hand holding a silver clutch bag.

Vertical script tattoo on a forearm

Lettering · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A close crop shows a hand holding a polished silver clutch against a dark background, with a vertical line of black script-like characters on the inner forearm. The strokes look fine and even, with solid black ink and no visible colour. A metal ring and a grey lace dress sit at the edges 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 boat only came to Hallan on Thursdays, so the letters piled up in the tin on my windowsill like unpaid bills. My mother kept the post office here for forty years before her knees gave out and I took the key, and in all that time nobody had written to the island in a hand I could not read. Then the parcel came in March, wrapped in brown paper gone soft at the corners. Inside was a single sheet with a column of characters running down it, each one drawn fine and even, the ink as black as wet slate.

Keep reading

I took it to Ruaridh at the shop, who had been to Glasgow once and thought himself a scholar. He turned the sheet sideways, then upside down, then held it close to the stove. He said it looked like someone practising their needlework. There was no return address, only a postmark from Lerwick and a date that had not happened yet.

I copied each mark into my ledger over three nights, counting them the way you count sheep through a gate. On the fourth night the lamp at the point blew out in the wind, so I read the column by the glow of the stove, from the bottom up, the way you read a tide table. It was not a message at all. It was a list of names, and every one of them was mine, the childhood ones my mother used to call me when the weather turned.

I put the kettle on and sat with the sheet until the window greyed. Then I folded it into the tin with the others and waited for the Thursday boat.

More like this

Black and white photograph of a hand with a fine diamond lattice tattoo across the back, in a geometric style, with a chunky silver ring on one finger.
Lattice tattoo on the back of a hand
Two hands resting on a denim knee, with small fine line star tattoos on the fingers, one beside a gold ring.
Small star tattoos on fingers
A realistic green eye tattoo with detailed lashes and brow lines on the upper arm of a person holding a metallic clutch.
Green eye tattoo on upper arm
Black and grey mandala tattoo covering the back of a hand and forearm, with thin stripes across the fingers.
Mandala tattoo across hand and forearm
Black and white photograph of a fine scale pattern tattoo across the back of a hand and fingers, with chunky rings and a cigarette in view.
Scale pattern tattoo on the back of a hand
Seated person with a black ink traditional-style heart banner reading MOTHER and a draped figure on the inner forearm, with TAKE CARE lettering on the back of the hand.
Mother banner and take care lettering on forearm
Black lettering tattoo reading ELATION, ELEGANCE, EXALTATION and I LOVE SUPREME on a forearm, with a person in zebra-print shorts holding a cigarette in front of a brick wall.
Four-line text tattoo on a forearm
Blackwork tattoo of two solid black bands on the inner forearm, each with a key silhouette knocked out in skin tone.
Two key bands on a forearm
Close view of a small black cactus tattoo on the inner wrist of a person wearing a checked shirt and holding a metallic copper clutch.
Small cactus tattoo on a wrist
Two clasped hands resting on a wooden ledge, with black and grey finger lettering and geometric patterns on the knuckles and back of the hands.
Hands with finger lettering and geometric knuckle tattoos
Close view of two hands resting on a knee, with fine line black tattoos of an arrow and sprig on the back of one hand and small stars and a crescent moon on the fingers.
Fine line hand tattoos with arrow and stars
Fine line black and grey tattoo of a winged butterfly motif with a dotted trail, on the side of a finger.
Small winged motif with dotted trail on finger

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