A portrait tattoo of your mother would be a life-like rendering that more closely resembles a photograph than a drawing. Choose a picture of your mother, either when she was young or more recently, and allow an artist to use it to develop a stencil and as a guide when tattooing. Portraits are highly detailed and often need to be large in order to display adequately. Ideal placements for a portrait are on your upper arms, upper legs, chest or back.
If your mother often read a particular children's book to you when you were young, consider tattooing either an image from that book, a quote or both. Find and take these ideas from any book, provided it has significance to both you and your mother. Choose from a variety of fonts and styles for the script or take time to design it yourself. Designing the font for any "mommy" script tattoo can be a collaborative effort between you and your mother.
A "mommy" scripted tattoo can be anything from your mother's name, a quote with a shared significance between the two of you, or even just the word "mom," "mommy" or "mother." Choose a generic script, design it yourself or ask your mother to design it for you. If you want to use your mother's name for a tattoo, consider tattooing her exact signature to ensure it is personal and unique.
Choose an item either from the past or present that you believe symbolizes your mother. This item can be a particular flower you know she loves, a tree you used to picnic underneath together, a toy fire truck she bought you for your fifth birthday; anything, so long as it reminds you of your mother. Color may be important for this tattoo to make it as specific as possible, such as a yellow rose as opposed to just a generic one.