Calligraphy tattoo ideas

108 photos and flash · 70% Lettering, 10% Japanese · Back most common

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Japanese-style flash of an orange lion dog among gold clouds and grey waves, with a pink peony and a small butterfly, intended for a back or sleeve tattoo.
Lion dog and peony flash design
Black flourished script alphabet on a white background, showing upper and lower case letters A to Z in rows of five.
Script alphabet chart in upper and lower case
Black ink flash design of a cartoon mouse figure built from calligraphic loops and flourishes, shown on a white background with no body placement.
Calligraphic flourish mouse design
Tattoo design of two bold black Chinese characters above the words Best Friend in script, set on a tan kraft-paper background.
Chinese characters and Best Friend lettering
Black calligraphic lettering on white reading Improvidus, Asto, quod Victum, with the English line Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome beneath, shown as a lettering design without a body placement.
Latin motto in calligraphic script
Black brush-style lettering reading I'm fine on a plain white background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
I'm fine lettering design
A flash sheet of black brush-style Chinese characters in four rows, each with a small English translation beneath it, shown without any body placement.
Chinese character flash sheet in black ink
Black and white chart of stylised rune symbols, each paired with a handwritten label such as Agility, Heal, Love and Strength.
Chart of labelled rune designs
Two black brush-style kanji characters stacked vertically, with the English labels True and Love beneath them, shown as a flash design in Japanese style.
Kanji for true and love
Black lettering design of the word grace in flowing hand-drawn script on a plain white background, with no body placement shown.
Grace in flowing script lettering
Black ink calligraphic treble clef design with looping strokes and a curled tail on a white background, shown as a flash drawing rather than on skin.
Calligraphic treble clef design
Flash sheet of six black lettering designs reading the rest is still unwritten, each in a different script or ornamental lettering style, intended as tattoo lettering.
The rest is still unwritten lettering options
Black ink line drawing of an abstract calligraphic symbol with five dots and the words I am free from social anxiety and depression beneath it.
Calligraphic affirmation design with dots
Black ink drawing of an abstract swirling symbol with a spiral top and curled tail on a white background, captioned Hakuna Matata in serif type.
Black swirl symbol with Hakuna Matata caption
Flash sheet of black kanji characters in a brush script style, each labelled with its English meaning such as beauty, courage, love and star, with no body placement shown.
Kanji flash sheet with English meanings
Black ink script lettering flash sheet with ornate words including Ginger, Beautifully and Fish Stories, plus a lowercase alphabet, with no body part shown.
Script lettering flash sheet
Five black brush lettering designs on a white background, reading Visualize and Believe, Faith, Different, Can you sense and Take action, in a lettering style.
Five lettering designs on a white background
Black ink script letter S with large curling swirls at top and bottom, drawn as a bold single-line design on a white background.
Flowing script letter S design
Black ink calligraphic script in a Tengwar-style alphabet, with grey shaded vine flourishes, drawn as a tattoo design on a pale background.
Tengwar-style script with vine flourish
Flash sheet of flourished script numerals from 1 to 20 in black linework, with looping tails, shown as tattoo design options.
Flourished script numerals 1 to 20
Black ink design of an owl perched on a stylised calligraphic branch with dots, drawn on a white background, with no body placement shown.
Owl perched on a stylised calligraphic branch
Vertical black brush calligraphy of stacked Japanese-style characters on a white background, shown as a tattoo design with no body visible.
Vertical brush calligraphy design