Scale tattoo ideas

469 photos and flash · 24% Japanese, 15% Realism · Upper arm most common

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Japanese style red and orange koi fish tattoo with black swirling waves and white highlights, shown from two angles on a limb.
Red koi fish with black waves
Colour tattoo of blue, purple and teal fish-like scales shown through a torn-skin effect on a person's limb.
Blue and purple scales under torn skin
Japanese style tattoo of a red and grey dragon with open jaws and claws, its head on the chest and its body wrapping over the shoulder and upper arm.
Red and grey dragon across chest and shoulder
Sheet of gold, silver and black metallic temporary tattoo designs showing triangles, chevron bands, scale patterns, bubbles and chain lines on a plain background.
Metallic temporary tattoo sheet in gold and silver
Gold metallic fan-scale pattern in geometric rows across the inner forearm, with a metal watch and bracelets at the wrist.
Gold scale pattern on a forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a winged dragon wrapped in smoke, on the outer upper arm and shoulder.
Black and grey dragon on an upper arm
Black pencil drawing of a snake coiled around a staff, with fine hatching and stippled scales, on white paper beside a mechanical pencil.
Snake coiled around a staff
A realistic green snake tattoo with grey shading wraps around the outer thigh, its head turned to the left.
Green snake on a thigh
Interlaced serpent tattoo in a Norse knotwork style running down the upper arm, with dotwork shading on the scales.
Interlaced serpent on an upper arm
Black and grey photograph of a large snake tattoo coiling around a torso, circling the navel and running down the side onto the ribs.
Snake wrapping around a torso
Black and grey line drawing of an interlaced dragon with shaded scales, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Interlaced dragon design
Black and grey Japanese style dragon tattoo covering a man's back, with swirling clouds and scaled body detail.
Dragon back piece in black and grey
Black and grey pencil drawing of a long serpentine dragon with a feathered head, segmented body plates and scaled sections, shown as a tattoo design.
Serpentine dragon line drawing
Black ink line drawing of a mermaid with scaled tail and curling waves, sketched on paper beside two fineliner pens, a tattoo design for fine line work.
Mermaid with curling wave tail line drawing
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of a red koi fish with a pink lotus flower and turquoise waves on the upper back.
Koi fish and lotus on the upper back
Colour realism tattoo of a green chameleon head with a detailed scaled texture on a lower leg, set against a black plastic backdrop.
Realistic chameleon on a lower leg
Sheet of dragon flash designs in black and grey, including a large central Chinese-style dragon with swirling tribal detailing, shown without a body placement.
Dragon flash sheet in black and grey
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a seated mermaid with flowing hair and a fin tail, on the lower leg.
Seated mermaid on a calf
Full back tattoo of a black and grey Japanese dragon with red flames and swirling clouds, covering the upper and mid back.
Japanese dragon back piece with red flames
Woman seen from behind with long wavy hair and a white crochet top, wearing silver temporary tattoos of scales and a chain motif on her upper arm.
Metallic temporary tattoos on an upper arm
Traditional coloured floral leg sleeve with red roses, leaves and fern fronds running down a bare leg, with a mug held in the hand beside it.
Floral leg sleeve with red roses
Black and grey realistic mermaid tail tattoo with fine scales running up a lower leg, beside black platform shoes.
Mermaid tail tattoo on a lower leg
Black and grey dragon head with Celtic knotwork wrapping across an upper arm and shoulder, with two smaller dragon heads below.
Dragon and Celtic knotwork on an upper arm
Black and grey dotwork snake coiled up the forearm with flowers, leaves and small dotted accents, in blackwork style.
Snake and flowers on a forearm
Black and grey Japanese-style dragon tattoo with its head on the chest and its body wrapping over the shoulder and upper arm.
Dragon across chest and shoulder
Back-angled photo of a green shaded fish scale tattoo on a person's ribs, with a fine black script quote above it.
Green scale pattern and script on ribs
Solid black tribal-style dragon design on a white background, coiling vertically with clawed feet and a spiked back, shown as a standalone stencil-style design.
Black tribal-style dragon design
Small black fine line tattoo of the Libra zodiac symbol on the inner wrist, with a white sleeve cuff above it.
Libra scales symbol on the inner wrist
Black outline tattoo of a police box, two Daleks and cratered planets on a calf, with red stencil lines still visible around the design.
Doctor Who outline tattoo on a calf
Colour tattoo of overlapping teal and cream scales in a diagonal line across the top of a bare foot, with a single scale below, on sand.
Teal scales tattoo on a foot
Black and grey traditional-style tattoo of a bat with spread wings and a crescent moon on a person's stomach, above the waistband of dark trousers.
Bat with crescent moon on the stomach
Black and grey snake tattoo with tribal swirls wrapping over the shoulder and upper arm.
Snake with tribal swirls on upper arm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a blindfolded Lady Justice holding scales, with acanthus leaf ornament, on the side of the torso.
Blindfolded Lady Justice with scales
Black fine line ruler tattoo with numbers from 5 to 35 running down a forearm, held beside a perch fish.
Ruler tattoo on a forearm beside a perch
Traditional style flash drawing of a pin-up mermaid with brown hair, a red hibiscus, a shell top and a teal scaled tail, on a white background.
Pin-up mermaid with a shell top
Painted drawing of a long serpentine dragon with teal and green watercolour washes, grey ink linework and a whiskered head, drawn as a tattoo design.
Teal watercolour serpent dragon design
Realism style tattoo of two 3D jigsaw puzzle pieces on the top of a foot, one shaded grey-beige and one filled with blue scales.
3D puzzle pieces on the top of a foot
Watercolour-style tattoo of a red-haired mermaid with a blue and purple tail on the forearm.
Watercolour mermaid on a forearm
Black and grey dotwork drawing of two snakes forming an infinity symbol inside a circle, shown as a tattoo design on white.
Two snakes forming an infinity symbol in a circle
Black ink flash drawing of a dragon head with densely patterned scales, spiky frills and a red eye, suitable as a design for a tattoo.
Patterned dragon head in pen and ink
Black line drawing of a Japanese-style koi fish swimming among lotus flowers and swirling waves, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Koi fish with lotus flowers and waves
Black linework flash drawing of a Japanese-style dragon coiling among peony, cherry blossom, wave and cloud motifs, with no body placement shown.
Japanese dragon with peonies and cherry blossoms
Pencil sketch of a koi fish swimming upward past two open blossoms and a bud on a thin branch, a Japanese and botanical tattoo design.
Koi fish with blossoms sketch
Teal and cream dragon design with red fins and ornate gold details, drawn on a black background, in a neo-traditional style.
Teal dragon design on black
Painted neo-traditional mermaid design with long flowing black hair, red accents and a scaled tail curling around bubbles, shown as a drawing with no body placement.
Mermaid design with flowing black hair
Japanese style flash drawing of a black and grey snake coiled around two blue peonies, with a small skull in grass at lower left.
Snake and peony flash design
Black and grey realism tattoo of a creature with ridged scales and two gripping hands tearing through skin across the centre of the back.
Creature tearing through skin on back
Traditional colour tattoo of a heart and a brain balanced on scales above a red rose with green leaves, on the upper arm.
Heart and brain scales with rose on upper arm