Lettering tattoo ideas

3,720 photos and flash · 59% Lettering, 22% Traditional · Forearm most common

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Three traditional style flash designs on a pale surface: a ship wheel with a banner, a carousel horse with a banner, and a hand holding a microphone with a banner.
Ship wheel, carousel horse and microphone flash
Hand-drawn pencil sketch of the words Once upon a time in ornate script with swirling flourishes, a lettering design for a tattoo.
Once upon a time lettering sketch
Black ink drawing of a stylised calligraphic script design with curling flourishes on a plain grey background, shown as a tattoo design rather than on skin.
Black ink calligraphic swirl design
Black line drawing of a hand holding a letter envelope with a red heart, leaves and the words I'll love you forever, in a traditional flash style on torn paper.
Envelope, heart and leaves flash design
Two pencil sketches of ornate lettering designs, one reading HOPE and one reading FAITH, with flourishes around each word.
Hope and Faith lettering sketches
Black linework flash sheet of Irish-themed tattoo designs, including a shamrock, harp, pipe, horseshoe, pot of gold and banner lettering, shown on a flat, unmarked white sheet.
Irish-themed traditional flash sheet
Black and grey pencil design of symmetrical blackletter-style lettering with four wolf heads and flowing ornamental lines, drawn as a flash design for a tattoo.
Symmetrical blackletter lettering with four wolf heads
Black tribal-style lettering design with curling swirls and tapering spikes, shown as a standalone flash design on a white background.
Tribal swirl lettering design
Black line drawing of a weeping willow tree with a ribbon banner reading BEND DON'T BREAK wrapped around its trunk, in a tattoo flash style.
Willow tree with Bend Don't Break banner
Black and grey pencil drawing of a tattoo design with a skull, city skylines and partial lettering, shown without any body placement.
Skull and cityscape tattoo design in grey pencil
Neo-traditional flash design of a pin-up woman with a red rose in her hair, half of her face a skull, with the quote I got a beautiful heart but a twisted mind around her.
Pin-up woman with half skull face and red rose
Black line drawing of the word King with a crown and the word Queen with a crown, both in flowing script, presented as a pair of flash designs.
King and Queen script with crowns
Pen sketch of a head and shoulders in profile outline, with the words We're all stories in the end, Just make it a good one, eh? lettered inside the shape in a hand-drawn script.
Profile outline with lettered quote
Black fine line design of an ECG heartbeat trace that spikes once then runs flat, with the words SLEEP FOREVER in serif capitals below, on a plain grey background.
Flatline heartbeat with SLEEP FOREVER lettering
Black ink flash drawing of an anchor wrapped in rope with the word SAILORS in ornate lettering across it, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Anchor and SAILORS lettering design
Papercut traditional-style flash design of a compass, roses, dice, a butterfly and a banner reading Not all who wander are lost, shown as white cut paper on grey card.
Compass, roses and dice flash design
Flash-style cartoon design of a wild-haired character in a lab coat under a curved banner reading My new catchphrase is, with a crude phrase in a puddle below, in colour.
Cartoon character with catchphrase banner
Traditional flash design of two swallows, five-point stars, red roses and a cream flower on a scroll banner reading LIVE LOVE SOCIAL WORK, with no body placement shown.
Swallows, roses and a banner reading Live Love Social Work
Black ink drawing of decorative script lettering with shaded capitals, swirling flourishes and a leaf motif, drawn on paper beside a black fineliner pen.
Script lettering with flourishes
Black line drawing flash design of a banner reading Death before decaf, flanked by roses, with a teacup bearing a skull and crossbones, in a traditional style.
Death before decaf banner with roses and teacup
Purple line drawing of a barn owl, a long-haired face, a banner and ornate script lettering, shown as a tattoo flash design with no body placement.
Owl, portrait and lettering flash design
Black and grey pencil drawing of a woman in a cap with script lettering, a hand raised to her mouth and a rosary, a tattoo flash design with no placement on the body.
Pencil portrait of a woman in a script-embroidered cap
Black line drawing of overlapping circles of varying sizes above the words You are Loved by so Many and so Much and By no One more than ME, on a white background.
Overlapping circles with quote lettering
Black ink line drawing of a pine tree, a deer and hatched hillside with a banner reading Prone to Wander, on aged paper.
Prone to Wander pine and deer design
Colour flash design of a steel anchor wrapped in banners reading Just Keep Swimming, surrounded by cartoon sea creatures on a blue background.
Anchor with Just Keep Swimming banners
Coloured pencil sketch of a neo-traditional style woman's face with curly hair, pearl necklace, drop earring and a spider, drawn as a tattoo design with script lettering below.
Woman portrait with spider and pearls sketch
Hand-drawn ink design of a winged sheep across three banners reading A teenage vow in a parking lot, til tonight do us part, with grey shading and brown and yellow wash accents.
Winged sheep with lyric banners
Red script lettering reading Trust No One, arranged in a heart shape on a plain light grey background, shown as a tattoo design rather than on skin.
Trust no one script in a heart shape
Traditional-style flash design of red and purple scissors wrapped in banners reading DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY and SWEET HEART, over white line flowers on a mint background.
Scissors and banners with flowers design
Black and white flash design of a coffin with a central skull, flourishes and a block of lettering on a speckled background, in a lettering style.
Coffin with skull and lettering
Black line lettering design arranged in a circle reading 'What goes around comes around', shown on a plain white background with no body placement visible.
Circular 'What goes around' lettering design
Black flowing script lettering reading Veni Vidi Vici on a white background, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Veni Vidi Vici in flowing script
Black line drawing of a lettering design reading The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go, with three peaks above and a ribbon banner below, in a lettering style.
The mountains are calling lettering design
Black ink script lettering reading Blue Neighbourhood, drawn by a hand holding a pen on white paper, shown as a lettering design rather than a tattoo on skin.
Blue Neighbourhood script lettering design
Black hand-drawn uppercase alphabet lettering design in a playful, bouncy script, shown twice on a white background, with no body placement.
Uppercase alphabet in playful hand-drawn script
Black and grey realistic drawing of an eye with the words Don't Blink in block lettering above, and a screaming face reflected in the pupil.
Don't Blink eye design with screaming face
Traditional style flash design of a teapot pouring into a teacup, with a red rose, green leaves and banners reading WHEN IN DOUBT DRINK TEA.
Teapot pouring tea beside a rose
Black line drawing of a razor blade beside hand-lettered text reading "If I were you, I'd put that away" and "Darling, you'll be okay" on a white background.
Razor blade with hand-lettered quote
Pencil drawing of a compass rose with a ring of lettering reading before you ask which way to go and remember where you have been, shown on graph paper.
Compass rose with lettered ring
Traditional flash sheet of six Star Wars characters, including a Hutt, an Ewok and a hooded Jawa, with banners and rose accents.
Star Wars characters traditional flash sheet
Brown blackletter lettering design reading Old School on a white background, with swashed capitals and fine trailing strokes, shown as a flash design rather than on skin.
Old School blackletter lettering design
Black fine-line script lettering of the word Pause on a plain white background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Pause script lettering design
Traditional style flash drawing of a red heart pierced by a green dagger, with a drop of blood and the word BOSS in black script above.
Dagger through a heart with BOSS lettering
Pencil sketch of a compass rose with N, E, S and W labels and the words Psalms 32:8 beneath, shown as a possible tattoo design in black and grey.
Compass rose sketch with Psalms 32:8
Black and grey stippled dotwork design of an anchor wrapped in a rope and a banner reading I Refuse To Sink, shown as a drawing with no body placement visible.
Anchor with I Refuse To Sink banner
Black and grey pen drawing of an ornate lettered banner design with flourished scrollwork, shown on paper beside two drawing pens.
Lettered banner design with flourishes
Black script lettering reading inspired, with swirling flourishes and small sparkle stars on a white background, in the style of a tattoo lettering design.
Inspired script lettering design
Traditional-style flash design of a gold key and lock with teal roses, green leaves and pale banners reading Darling You'll be okay.
Key and lock with roses and banners