Portrait tattoo ideas

1,209 photos and flash · 56% Realism, 18% Neo-trad · Upper arm most common

What will it cost? Try the tattoo cost calculator

Blue ink drawing of a woman's face framed by curled hair and two large roses, in a neo-traditional style, shown as a tattoo design on paper.

Woman portrait with roses in curled hair

Singer silhouette in a black diamond

Lower back tattoo of three oval-framed portraits inside an ornate black scrollwork frame, with a coloured central portrait of a girl with a red flower in her hair.

Three framed portraits on lower back

Black and grey realism tattoo of a banknote with a bearded man's portrait and ornate border on the upper arm.

Banknote portrait tattoo on upper arm

Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a pug's face with a diamond pattern across the forehead, placed on the calf.

Pug face tattoo on a lower leg

Colour traditional-style tattoo of a terrier in a suit and red bow tie, set in an ornate gold frame with flowers, on the outer thigh.

Terrier in a gilded frame on a thigh

Woman in denim overalls with a black and red fine line tattoo of a face on her upper arm and a coloured portrait tattoo on her forearm.

Fine line face on upper arm, portrait on forearm

Black and grey pencil drawing of a tattoo design showing a woman with sugar skull style face make-up, peonies in her hair and a jewelled necklace, in a neo-traditional style.

Woman with peonies and sugar skull make-up design

Pencil and coloured pencil tattoo design of a woman wearing a wolf over her head, with flowers and red berries in her hair, in a neo-traditional style.

Woman with wolf headdress and flowers

Large back tattoo with Air Jordan lettering, winged emblem, the number 23 and a red bull head, shaded in red and grey ink alongside a grey portrait.

Air Jordan 23 and bull back piece

Black geometric tattoo of a woman's face with curly hair, built from triangular facets, on the outer thigh.

Geometric faceted portrait on a thigh

Black and grey realistic tattoo of a lion's head with a full mane on the upper back near the shoulder blade.

Realistic lion head on upper back

Black and grey tattoo of a rolled 100 banknote with a shaded face on the upper arm.

Banknote face portrait on upper arm

Realistic black and grey tattoo on a forearm showing a domed government building above a portrait banknote and a stack of notes marked 100.

Capitol dome and banknotes on a forearm

Black and grey realism sleeve on a woman's arm, showing a scaled snake, a camera and a portrait tattooed on the forearm and upper arm.

Black and grey sleeve with snake and camera

Black and grey realism tattoo of a bearded man with long hair and a crown of thorns, looking upward, on the upper arm.

Crowned bearded portrait on upper arm

Black and grey realism drawing of a snarling tiger merged with a woman's face, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.

Tiger and woman portrait design

Realistic colour tattoo of a fox head on the side of a finger, with grey painted nails and a light blue knitted background.

Fox head tattoo on a finger

Realism colour tattoo of a bald man wearing glasses and a goatee, in an orange hoodie, on the forearm against a dark background.

Realistic colour portrait of a bald man in glasses

Sketchy black and red linework tattoo of three faces on a man's upper back, with vertical lettering running down the left side of the spine.

Three faces and vertical lettering on a back

Traditional-style tattoo on the outer forearm of a person, showing a yellow crescent moon, a small star and a woman's face beside a skull.

Crescent moon, skull and woman on forearm

Black line drawing of a woman's face in sugar skull style, with a rose at the upper left, a spiderweb over the forehead and long flowing hair, shown as a tattoo design on cream paper.

Sugar skull portrait with rose and spiderweb

Bearded profile portrait on an upper arm

A black and grey bear head flash design with detailed fur linework and shading, shown on a sepia watercolour background.

Bear head design in sepia tones

Two realistic black and grey cat head tattoos, one on the inner forearm and one on the wrist, with two hands clasped together.

Two cat head tattoos on forearm and wrist

Howling wolf merged with a profile portrait

Black and grey realism tattoo of a man with curly hair above the quote 'This is the strangest life I've ever known' on a lower leg.

Portrait and quote on a lower leg

Black ink fine line drawing of a woman's face framed by feathers and a curling tentacle, shown as a tattoo design on white paper with no body visible.

Woman portrait with tentacle and feathers

Black and grey realism tattoo portrait of a man with slicked-back hair and a moustache, holding a cigarette, shown on skin.

Black and grey realism portrait holding a cigarette

Black and grey realism tattoo of a woman with sugar skull face make-up and filigree scrollwork on the upper arm, with one hand raised to her chin.

Sugar skull woman portrait on arm

Realistic colour tattoo of a doll face with large blue eyes and freckles across the back of a hand.

Doll face tattoo on the back of a hand

Neo-trad style colour tattoo of a grinning clown with a striped top hat and red bow tie on the upper arm.

Clown portrait with top hat on upper arm

Drawing of a woman with long dark hair, shaded in grey, with purple, yellow and teal flowers woven through her hair, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.

Woman with flowers in long hair

Neo-traditional tattoo of a woman's face with teal hair wrap and scalloped collar on the inner forearm.

Stylised woman portrait on a forearm

Black ink line drawing of a weeping woman with curled hair, pearl beads and a cameo, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.

Weeping woman with cameo and pearls

Black and grey realism tattoo of a classical bearded head, resembling a marble sculpture, on the forearm, shown from two angles.

Classical bearded head on forearm

Black and grey dotwork tattoo of two stylised figures embracing, with a large flower and leafy sprigs, on the upper thigh.

Two figures embracing with flowers on a thigh

Pencil and ink sketch of Medusa, a woman with snakes for hair, drawn on paper as a tattoo design.

Medusa sketch with snake hair

Black and grey realism lion head tattoo across a person's upper back, photographed from behind with the neck and short hair visible.

Lion head tattoo across upper back

Realistic coloured tattoo of an Egyptian queen in a striped headdress with an ankh and pyramids, with an Eye of Horus below, on the inner forearm, shown beside its pencil sketch.

Egyptian queen and Eye of Horus forearm

Black and grey portrait of a woman with red lips and red splashes, a neo-trad style tattoo on a forearm.

Woman's face and red splashes on a forearm

Black and grey realistic portrait tattoo of a woman with curled hair and a cigarette, with ornamental sleeve designs on her arms, on a person's left side ribs.

Realistic black and grey portrait on ribs

Neo-traditional colour tattoo of a smiling woman with an updo and purple headband, beside a blue rose and green leaves on an arm.

Woman portrait with blue rose on arm

Black and grey realism full sleeve on an upper arm and forearm, showing a helicopter, two faces and lightning, with small red accents.

Realistic sleeve with helicopter and faces

Pencil drawing of a tattoo design showing a woman's face split down the middle, with one side as a realistic eye and the other as a decorated sugar skull with scrollwork.

Half woman, half sugar skull portrait

Colour realism tattoo on a thigh of a red-haired child with green eyes and an open-mouthed shout, wearing a floral shirt and plaid shorts against a blue background.

Realistic child portrait on a thigh

Black and grey sketch-style tattoo of a bearded man in a flat cap with three crows, on the calf.

Man in a flat cap with crows

Neo-trad tattoo on a woman's upper back showing a woman's face in an ornate gold frame with a red heart.

Woman portrait with heart in ornate frame on back