Scale tattoo ideas

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

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Neo-traditional colour tattoo of a woman in profile with closed eyes and a pearl headband, beside a horned pink creature, on the upper thigh.
Woman in profile with horned creature on thigh
Close photograph of a thigh tattoo of overlapping blue and green fish scales, shaded from teal to green, on a person lying on a white bed.
Teal fish scale pattern on a thigh
Black and grey realism tattoo of a mermaid sitting on a rock with long hair blowing, placed on the outer thigh.
Mermaid sitting on a rock on the thigh
Black and grey dragon tattoo with a detailed head and scaled body wrapping from the hip down the outer thigh.
Dragon tattoo across hip and thigh
Neo-traditional colour tattoo of an owl with pink flower eyes, purple and teal scale feathers and orange accents on a thigh.
Colourful owl tattoo on a thigh
Black and grey traditional style tattoo of a mermaid sitting in a clawfoot bathtub inside an ornate oval frame, on the thigh.
Mermaid in a bathtub inside an ornate frame
A realistic green snake tattoo with grey shading wraps around the outer thigh, its head turned to the left.
Green snake on a thigh
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
Dotwork tattoo of intertwined snakes shading from blue at the top to pink and red at the bottom, across the thigh.
Intertwined snakes in blue and pink dotwork
Red goldfish tattoo with soft shading and flowing fins on the upper thigh.
Red goldfish on a thigh
Full leg tattoo of a red, gold and black Japanese-style dragon running from the thigh down to the ankle.
Red and gold dragon tattoo down a leg
Japanese style dragon leg sleeve with red cherry blossoms running from the thigh down to the ankle, shown on a leg resting on a tattooist's paper.
Japanese dragon leg sleeve with cherry blossoms
Full body Japanese style tattoo with koi, dragon and lotus motifs across the arms, chest and legs of a seated person against a black background.
Japanese bodysuit with koi and dragon
Woman seen from behind with a colourful Japanese-style phoenix and flower sleeve on her arm and a large tattoo across her thigh.
Japanese phoenix and flower sleeve with thigh tattoo
Colour tattoo of blue, green and yellow fish scales in a repeating pattern on the thigh, shown in two photographs.
Blue and green fish scale pattern on thigh
Japanese style dragon tattoo in red, orange and cream over dark green-black scale ground, across a hip and thigh with a white cloth wrapped around the waist.
Red and green dragon on hip and thigh
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
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
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
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
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
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
Japanese-style dragon tattoo with red clouds and black scales wrapping down a leg from the thigh to the calf.
Japanese dragon leg tattoo
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 fine line mermaid tattoo with flowing hair, bubbles and skulls in her tail, on the outer thigh.
Mermaid with skulls on a thigh
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
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
Colour tattoo of blue, yellow and orange fish scales showing through a torn skin effect on the outer thigh.
Fish scales revealed through torn skin on thigh
Black and grey Japanese style dragon tattoo with peony flowers wrapping around the side of a thigh and hip.
Dragon and peonies on a thigh
Black and grey dragon tattoo wrapping from the upper arm across the ribs, with a smaller flaming dragon on the thigh against a warm gold background.
Black and grey dragon across ribs and arm
Black and grey Japanese-style dragon tattoo wrapping around the outer thigh and hip, with its head and open jaws at the top.
Black and grey dragon wrapped around a thigh
Black and grey Japanese dragon tattoo wrapping from the hip down the outer thigh, with its head and open jaws near the hip.
Japanese dragon wrapping hip and thigh
Two patches of teal and purple fish scale tattoos with shaded highlights on the outer thigh.
Teal and purple fish scale tattoos on a thigh
Realistic colour tattoo of a purple dragon head with a teal eye and spiked scales, placed on the outer thigh.
Purple dragon head on a thigh
Three clusters of teal, purple and pink mermaid scale tattoos on the outer thigh of a person lying on a white surface.
Teal and purple mermaid scales on a thigh
Traditional colour tattoo of a pin-up mermaid with dark hair, a polka-dot flower and a red shell top, with a red-to-green tail, on the thigh.
Pin-up mermaid with shell top
Green shaded beetle above a fan of overlapping green scales tattooed on a thigh, with the wearer lying on a white bed.
Green beetle and scales on a thigh
Black and grey merlion tattoo with a fish tail on the thigh, with a partly visible coloured design at the left edge.
Merlion tattoo on the thigh
Black and grey coiled dragon tattoo on the outer thigh of a woman in a black mesh-panel swimsuit, with the head near the hip.
Coiled dragon on an outer thigh
Colourful rainbow scale pattern tattoo on the upper thigh, with soft pastel shading in pink, orange, yellow, green and blue.
Rainbow scale pattern on a thigh
Gold metallic temporary tattoo of a scallop pattern on the upper thigh, seen through a rip in light blue jeans.
Gold metallic scallop motif on a thigh
Black linework tattoo of a naga serpent, lotus flowers and swirling waves covering a leg from thigh to calf.
Naga serpent and lotus leg tattoo
Light blue scale tattoo on the outer thigh of a person lying on a carpet, with a drawn wave design on paper beside them.
Blue scales tattoo on thigh
Teal scale-like tattoo with soft grey shading on the upper thigh of a person lying in denim shorts and a woven belt.
Teal scale tattoo on a thigh
Colour realism tattoo of blue-green scales showing through torn skin on the outer thigh.
Blue scales under torn skin on a thigh
Teal and green shaded scale tattoo on the outer thigh of a person in denim shorts, lying down.
Teal scale tattoo on a thigh