Scale tattoo ideas

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

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Side of a torso showing a script quote with purple and green floral accents along the ribs, and a green and orange scale pattern tattoo on the hip.
Ribs script and green scale tattoo
Colour Japanese-style dragon tattoo with green scales and white whiskers, set among red clouds, on a forearm.
Green dragon with red clouds on an arm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of two hands clasping, one plain and one covered in scales with an eye, with a dotted arc and three drips below, on the outer arm.
Clasped hands with a scaled arm in dotwork
Ink drawing of an ornate owl with swirling patterned feathers and a long curled tail on cream paper, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Ornate owl tattoo design
Two patches of blue, teal and purple scale tattoos with dark outlines and soft, watercolour-like shading on a thigh.
Two mermaid scale patches on a thigh
Black and grey realism design of a mermaid with long flowing hair, her scaled tail curling into a circle around her, surrounded by smoke-like swirls.
Mermaid curled within a scaled tail
Illustrated tattoo-style design of a woman's face framed by zodiac animals, a set of scales, twin faces and a water jar inside a circular star chart, in pink and blue gradient linework.
Zodiac wheel with woman and star signs
Black line drawing of a snarling cat with a scaled body, clawed paws and blossom flowers, in a Japanese style tattoo design.
Snarling cat with scales and flowers
Black line drawing of a dragon coiled in a circle, with raised wings and a hexagonal scaled body, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Coiled dragon with raised wings
Full-colour tattoo of a mermaid with blue-green scales and a flowing purple tail, arm raised, on the outer thigh.
Mermaid with raised arm on a thigh
Black ink ruler tattoo marked 1 to 10 running along a person's forearm towards the wrist, with the hand clenched in a fist.
Ruler tattoo on a wrist
Realism-style black and grey tattoo of blindfolded Lady Justice holding a pair of scales on a calf, shown in two side-by-side photos.
Lady Justice with scales on a calf
Black linework drawing of a coiled dragon with a long, spiked body and a sweeping wing shaded with a grey splatter effect, on a white background.
Coiled dragon design with a grey wash wing
Three photographs of small fine line tattoos in black ink: a wrapped snake on a finger, a crescent moon with a small animal beneath rays on the chest, and a set of scales with crosses and stars on the
Fine line snake, moon and scales tattoos
Neo-traditional tattoo of a mermaid with flowing golden hair and a teal and pink scaled tail on the side of a thigh.
Mermaid with golden hair on a thigh
Black and grey realism tattoo of a reclining mermaid with a scaled tail curling above her, across the side ribs of a torso.
Reclining mermaid tattoo on the side ribs
Teal scale tattoo on the sole of a bare foot, with black painted toenails and a treatment couch in the background.
Teal scale pattern on a foot
Japanese style fish tattoo with red scales and black linework on a calf, with a black paisley sneaker resting on a metal rail.
Fish tattoo on a calf
Black ink line drawing of a koi fish swimming upward, with detailed scale pattern and fins, in Japanese tattoo flash style, with no body placement shown.
Koi fish line drawing design
Two matching black and grey tattoos of balance scales with yin yang symbols, placed side by side on the inner wrists.
Matching scales and yin yang wrist tattoos
Colour traditional tattoo of a mermaid with red roses and yellow flowers on the outer leg, with a bird at the top left.
Traditional mermaid with roses on a leg
Black line drawing of a coiling Eastern dragon with swirling clouds, in a Japanese-influenced style, shown on a white background.
Eastern dragon with swirling clouds
Pencil sketch of a woman with eyes closed and a bonsai pine tattoo design across her shoulder and upper arm, drawn in a Japanese-inspired style.
Woman with bonsai pine tattoo design, pencil sketch
Back of a person's neck and shoulder showing a blue fish-scale tattoo that runs up the side of the neck, with the head turned away from the camera.
Blue scale tattoo on the neck
Close photo of a teal shaded scale-like tattoo on the upper thigh of a person wearing denim shorts.
Teal scale design on a thigh
Full body suit design of a red Japanese dragon with yellow claws, chrysanthemums and clouds across the back, arms and thighs.
Red dragon full body suit design
Coloured Japanese-style dragon tattoo with red cherry blossoms across the upper back, with a small set of symbols to the right.
Dragon and cherry blossoms across a back
Black and grey Japanese style leg sleeve on a seated person, with a hannya mask on the calf and a scaled creature with fangs across the thigh.
Hannya mask and clouds leg sleeve
Woman with long blonde hair in an orange top, wearing gold metallic tattoos of scales and geometric patterns on her shoulder, upper arm and forearm.
Gold metallic tattoos on shoulder and arm
Black line drawing of a winged dragon with curling smoke above its head, in a bold tribal-style outline, shown as a tattoo design on a plain white background.
Winged dragon with smoke curls design
Realistic brown snake tattoo being worked on a forearm, with the artist's gloved hands and tattoo machine visible.
Realistic snake tattoo on a forearm
Realistic blue and green fish scale tattoo across a person's shoulder and upper arm, with small water droplets on the scales.
Blue fish scale tattoo on upper arm
Two black and grey realistic goldfish tattoos sit either side of the upper chest, with shaded scales and flowing fins.
Twin black and grey goldfish on the chest
Two black and grey pineapple tattoos on a forearm, one in fine line shading with dotwork scales and one in bold blackwork with a solid black crown.
Two pineapple tattoos on forearms
Black and grey blackwork skull tattoo with dotted and mandala-like patterns on the upper arm, with the jaw open.
Ornate skull with mandala patterns on upper arm
Black line drawing of a Japanese-style dragon with scaled body, clawed feet and swirling flames and clouds, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Japanese dragon with flames line drawing
Japanese-style dragon tattoo with red clouds and black scales wrapping down a leg from the thigh to the calf.
Japanese dragon leg tattoo
Realistic colour tattoo of a dragon eye with an orange slit pupil and dark scaled skin on an arm.
Dragon eye on an arm
Black and coloured flash sheet showing a city skyline, birds in flight, circular emblems of a flame, hand, scales, eye and tree, and two ferris wheels, with the word divergent in script.
Flash sheet of skyline, birds, emblems and ferris wheels
Black and grey Capricorn sea goat tattoo with curled horns and a scaled fish tail, covering most of the upper back.
Capricorn sea goat across a back
Colour Japanese-style dragon tattoo with green scales and red flames wrapping around a person's upper thigh, with legs resting on a cream fluffy blanket.
Green and red dragon on a thigh
Black and grey koi fish tattoo with dotwork scale shading and fine line sprigs of foliage on a forearm.
Koi fish and fine line foliage on a forearm
Black and grey fine line mermaid tattoo with flowing hair, bubbles and skulls in her tail, on the outer thigh.
Mermaid with skulls on a thigh
Gold, silver and black geometric temporary tattoos, including pineapples and a braid pattern, on a forearm and the back of a hand.
Gold and silver metallic temporary tattoos on arm
Black and grey tattoo of a snarling wolf head with pine trees above and Winter is Coming lettering curved beneath it, on the upper thigh.
Wolf head and pines with Winter is Coming lettering
Neo-traditional seahorse tattoo in purple, lavender and grey with black outlines, sitting on the calf.
Ornamental seahorse on a calf
Colour Japanese style tattoo of two koi fish and pink blossoms with swirling linework across the upper thigh and hip.
Koi fish and blossoms on a thigh
Large Japanese-style dragon tattoo in grey shading with red flowers and falling petals, across a person's thigh.
Dragon and red blossoms on a thigh