Lettering tattoo ideas

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

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Black and white photo of two people embracing, with LOVE tattooed across the knuckles and black-and-grey lettering and a portrait tattoo on the forearms.
Embracing couple with knuckle lettering
Traditional-style tattoos cover the back of a hand, including a shield and an eight ball, while the hand holds a small ginger kitten.
Traditional hand tattoos holding a kitten
Upper arm sleeve tattoo in black and grey shading with a ship wheel, waves and a banner reading of the Sea, with pink flowers and a compass star.
Ship wheel sleeve with banner and flowers
Black ink quote in a serif-style font running down a forearm, with a circular tree of life design near the wrist, in black and grey ink.
Tree of life and quote on a forearm
Black and grey script lettering reading Dum Spiro Spero on an upper arm, with a dotwork stipple shading halo around the letters.
Dum Spiro Spero script lettering on upper arm
Black line drawing of hand-drawn lettering reading Look for Beauty, Listen with Love, Live to Inspire, with a swirled butterfly, hearts and flourish dividers, shown as a tattoo design.
Look for Beauty lettering with butterfly
Traditional style tattoo on an upper arm of a pink sprinkled donut wrapped in brown banners reading AS THROUGH THIS LIFE WE ROLL, with green leaves and red berries.
Sprinkled donut with banner on upper arm
Person in a car driving with a traditional-style arm sleeve featuring swallows and banners, with a geometric tattoo on a passenger's thigh in the foreground.
Traditional sleeve and thigh tattoos in a car
Colour realism tattoo on the side of the torso showing a fanned hand of playing cards with a red heart, red dice and the words Roll With It on blue water.
Playing cards and dice with Roll With It lettering
Black and grey realistic rose with swirling scrollwork and stylised lettering on a person's upper back.
Shaded rose with scrollwork on upper back
Pencil drawing of an owl in flight, with wings and body filled with swirls, dots and stylised lettering, shown as a tattoo design.
Ornate owl in flight design
Black fine line script tattoo across the lower back reading 'The pain you feel today... is the strength you feel tomorrow', worn above a grey garment waistband.
Script quote across the lower back
Black and grey shaded rose above flowing script lettering running down the calf, with scrolled line details beside it.
Rose and script lettering on a calf
Black crown design filled with white mountain and pine tree linework, with the lettering you my are king and PSALM 44:4, shown as a flat drawing with no body placement.
Crown with mountains and lettering
Traditional colour tattoo of a woman in profile with a rose-red cheek and a scroll banner reading YOUR MY ONLY HOPE on the upper arm.
Woman in profile with banner on upper arm
Black and grey realistic lily tattoo on an upper thigh, with script lettering reading Learn from yesterday, Live for today and Hope for tomorrow.
Lily cluster with quote on thigh
Close view of a black fine line script tattoo reading wholehearted across the stomach above the waistband, with a hand resting on the hip.
Wholehearted script tattoo on the stomach
Black and grey traditional tattoo of a scroll banner reading I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, with footprints, on the upper thigh.
Footprints and scroll banner on a thigh
Flash sheet showing a colour floral skull with butterflies and ribbon, a black and grey skull with a spiked crown, and JANE lettering beside a deer silhouette.
Floral skull, misfit skull and deer flash sheet
Colour traditional-style tattoo on the side of the torso showing a palm tree, a wave, an orange sun, a red flower and a surfboard-shaped panel with script lettering.
Palm tree, wave and surfboard tattoo on the side
Inner forearm with the word WILDERNESS in serif capitals, a long thin diagonal line with a small circle, and a small fine line mark near the top.
Wilderness lettering and fine line on forearm
Black line flash design of a stitched spellbook with an eye on its cover, a banner reading It's all just a bunch of, and purple Hocus Pocus lettering.
Stitched spellbook with eye and banner flash
Four arms show temporary tattoos: a black shutter aperture on a forearm, a teal digital watch on a wrist, the word PLAY HARD across the knuckles, and a rainbow colour wheel on a hand.
Temporary tattoos of a shutter, watch and colour wheel
Pale fine line script lettering on an inner wrist and forearm, photographed against a car steering wheel and dashboard.
Fine line script lettering on an inner wrist
Four views of a black and grey full arm sleeve with red sunburst rays, a profile portrait, the words Easy Rider and a road ends sign, and a motorcyclist, placed on the upper arm and forearm.
Full sleeve with Easy Rider motif and red sunburst
Black ink script lettering design with stippled shading, dots and swirling flourishes, drawn on white paper.
Script lettering design with dotwork shading
Black blackletter-style lettering reading SHIT HAPPENS, tattooed on the inner upper arm in black ink.
Shit Happens lettering on an upper arm
Fine line black script lettering reading geronimo on the upper arm, photographed close up against a floral fabric.
Geronimo script on upper arm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a bearded face with long hair, labelled Jesus, on the inner forearm.
Jesus portrait on forearm
Colour tattoo of a kokeshi-style doll in a blue kimono with cherry blossom branches and a banner reading FOR YOU ANYTHING, on a person's upper back.
Kokeshi doll and cherry blossom on a shoulder blade
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a pin-up woman with curly dark hair and two cats, with an orange banner reading EAT LADY, on the upper arm.
Pin-up woman with cats on upper arm
Black and grey realism tattoo on an upper arm showing a face merged with a city skyline, barbed wire and birds, with bold lettering below on the forearm.
City skyline and face double exposure on upper arm
Fine line black script reading Beloved on the heel and ankle side of a foot, against a black and white chequered floor.
Beloved script tattoo on an ankle
Clasped hands with black block letters tattooed across the knuckles spelling BOOKWORM, with small icons on the fingers.
Bookworm knuckle lettering
Close-up of a small black fine line script lettering tattoo on the forearm of a woman with long blonde hair and silver rings.
Small script lettering on a forearm
Black and grey traditional compass rose with two curling banners reading a line about ships and harbour, tattooed on a person's lower abdomen.
Compass rose with banner quote on torso
Black and grey realism full arm sleeve tattoo showing praying hands, a rosary, haloed figures, clouds and a scroll of text, shown from three angles on an upper arm and forearm.
Religious full sleeve with praying hands
Hand-drawn tattoo design of two lungs and a trachea with stippled dotwork and watercolour-style washes, with the words Need you like water in my lungs above and below.
Lungs with lettering design
Black lettering tattoo of Greek script running diagonally across the back of a hand, shown in a close photo.
Greek script lettering on the back of a hand
Diptych of a shaded horseshoe tattoo with turquoise beads, 'EST 1994' lettering and two feathers tied with cord, placed on a shoulder.
Horseshoe and feathers on a shoulder
Black script lettering tattoo reading A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, with small stars and a wand line, on the side of the ribs.
Quote lettering with stars on the ribs
Traditional-style flash sheet of hearts with banners, flowers and lettering such as no scrubs, go away and drop dead, drawn on paper with no placement on the body.
Heart and banner flash sheet
Black and grey pencil drawing of a Dalek above a banner reading EXTERMINATE, shown as a tattoo design on a spiral sketchbook page.
Dalek with EXTERMINATE banner design
Black and grey realism tattoo of a rhino facing forward, with Against the Wind script above and below it, on an upper arm.
Realism rhino with Against the Wind script
Black and grey tattoo of a skull above a star-marked banner with a lettered phrase ending in unafraid, on the upper arm.
Skull and banner on upper arm
Line drawing flash of a pizza slice with pepperoni and mushrooms, with banners reading I WILL NEVER and BREAK YOUR HEART, in a traditional style.
Pizza slice with banner lettering
Close-up of black handwritten lettering reading GRL on one finger and PWR on another, tattooed on the fingers of a hand with red nail polish.
GRL and PWR lettering on fingers
Close-up of simple black lettering reading Mt 19:6 tattooed along a finger, with a silver ring on the finger beside it.
Mt 19:6 lettering on a finger