Mom Gets Tattoo of 7-Year-Old Son's Drawing, Then Sees What Artist Did

Newsweek

14-06-2025

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A mom's tattoo of her young son's artwork has gone viral as people were left in awe at the tattoo artist's changes to the piece.
Tabitha, 36, an X-ray tech living in North Carolina, is mom to a 7-year-old son, Cannon, and proudly describes them both as being "a little odd" in the best way.
"He's got a great imagination, like most kids," Tabitha told Newsweek, and has a "charming" special place in his heart for pirates—in particular, the Disney movies Pirates of the Caribbean, the first of which was released in 2003.
Now, Tabitha has a permanent reminder of her young son's love for the pirates and for art, as she has got one of his drawings tattooed on her.
"He draws some pretty wild stuff, so I've been intending on getting all of my favorites [tattooed] on my legs," she explained. "I like them. They're interesting and weird and no one else will have them!
"His imagination will always be with me; it feels a little like I'm capturing and keeping this little bit of his childhood forever without having to keep boxes of papers and notebooks."
As of 2021, 12 percent of millennials in the United States reported having one tattoo, while 29 percent had multiple tattoos, according to data from Statista.
After Cannon drew an exciting battle scene with pirates on a ship, being rocked by waves and fighting off the tentacles of a giant sea monster, she took the piece to local tattoo artist Zach Crisp at Golden Spiral Tattoos in Greensboro, as she had always admired his color work, and asked for his help.
Seven-year-old Cannon drew pirates on the sea fighting a large tentacled creature.
Seven-year-old Cannon drew pirates on the sea fighting a large tentacled creature.
Reddit u/yonderposerbreaks
"Originally, I wanted the drawing to stay exactly the same, but just [to] have Zach's color work instead of Cannon's," she explained. "When we talked during the consult, Zach threw forward the idea [of] really letting the two styles contrast each other.
"I'm very flexible and not at all picky, so I told him that as long as we kept the same basic bones of it all, I'd be happy with whatever interpretation he could come up with, and I don't regret that; he did it beautifully."
Tabitha shared the final product to Reddit's Tattoos sub via her account u/yonderposerbreaks on June 10. And while the pirates and ship remained the exact same way the 7-year-old had drawn them, Crisp had transformed the tentacles and waves into something more professional, giving the piece a unique contrasting look.
Reddit users were impressed, awarding the post more than 15,000 upvotes, as one commenter wrote: "That's killer. Bravo to the artist for tweaking the right parts, and keeping the right parts."
"Amazing juxtaposition and blending of the child's drawing style vs the more 'polished' details," another agreed, as one said the artist "took the water and tentacles and made them pop, and seems to have kept all the rest very close to the original. Great job."
Tattoo artist Crisp told Newsweek: "I never copy designs, I always do my own interpretation. I just looked at this piece as a collaboration, [and] thought the contrast between the two would be cool. I draw with my children a lot so this was a fun piece for me!"
The finished product kept Cannon's drawings while polishing the waves and tentacles.
The finished product kept Cannon's drawings while polishing the waves and tentacles.
Reddit u/yonderposerbreaks
Young artist Cannon, too, was happy with the result, Tabitha told Newsweek. "He says that it's 'the best, and I'm super happy about it.'"
She admitted she was surprised by how popular her piece was on the Reddit sub, as many tattoo submissions appear to lean towards "artistic perfection" and "realistic" portraits.
"I figured mine would be ignored or that people would find it lame because 'kid drawing,' [but] it was surprising to see how many folks were digging the contrast of artistic styles," she said.
"Tattoos of kid stuff doesn't have to be boring. It's a collaborative effort between the minds of a burgeoning artist and a seasoned one; I'm just the lucky broad who gets to wear the result for the rest of my life!"
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