Like The Storyteller, Tattoos and Shadows uses posed figures to create a visual link with great paintings of the past, such as works by Manet and Gauguin. The poses of the three figures do not suggest a narrative; indeed, their lack of communication is striking. Instead, as his title suggests, Wall seems to be focusing on the visual possibilities of the scene: the patterns on tattooed arms; the stripes created by the sun shining through the fence; and the dappling of shadow on grass.