Skeleton tattoo ideas

238 photos and flash · 20% Traditional, 19% Realism · Forearm most common

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Realism style tattoo of a rearing skeletal winged horse with a barbed tail on the forearm, with partial script lettering below.
Skeletal winged horse on forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a skeleton embracing a sugar skull woman with a rose in her hair, covering the back, with sleeves on both arms.
Skeleton and sugar skull couple on full back
A blue glowing skeletal arm and hand tattoo on a forearm, shown under dark ultraviolet-style lighting in a dim room.
Glowing skeleton arm and hand tattoo
Pen sketch of a spine and pelvis in shaded ink on white, with the handwritten caption "that's hip." beneath it.
Spine and pelvis sketch with hip pun
Line drawing design of a woman with wavy hair looking into a hand mirror that shows a skeleton, with poppy flowers below, in a neo-traditional style.
Woman with skull reflection in hand mirror
Two hands held together showing black and grey line tattoos of Jack Skellington and Sally on the fingers.
Jack and Sally finger tattoos
Black and grey dancing skeleton tattoo on a lower leg, with one arm raised and a small bird perched on the raised hand, in a traditional style.
Dancing skeleton on a calf
Flash design of a black skeleton cat holding up a blue butterfly, beside a red and gold rose and green leaves, in a traditional style.
Skeleton cat with rose and butterfly
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a faceless skeletal mermaid with long flowing hair and a crescent moon, placed on the calf.
Skeleton mermaid on a calf
Side-by-side photo: on the left, the bare upper arm shows pale, raised textured skin; on the right, the same arm carries a black and grey realistic sleeve of a skeletal figure with a hooded head.
Black and grey skeletal sleeve on upper arm
Black and grey neo-traditional tattoo of a pin-curled woman kissing a skeleton in a suit, framed by scrolls and a heart keyhole, on a limb.
Kissing skeleton couple in a scrolled frame
Colour tattoo of a skeletal Rosie the Riveter in a red polka dot bandana and blue shirt, flexing one arm above a 'We Can Do It!' banner on the thigh.
Skeleton Rosie the Riveter on the thigh
Black and grey engraving-style tattoo covering the upper arm and shoulder, with a wolf, skeletons, a bird, an eye, a snake and a crescent moon.
Engraved skeleton and beast scene on upper arm
Solid black dinosaur skeleton tattoo running along the inside of a forearm, shown in two stacked photos.
Dinosaur skeleton tattoo on a forearm
Black and grey flash design of a pin-up skeleton woman and a top-hatted skeleton man holding hands, with a banner quote above and below them.
Skeleton couple with banner quote
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of two skeleton hands meeting in a heart shape across the chest, worn by a person in a grey vest top.
Skeleton hands forming a heart on the chest
Painted flash design of a skeletal mermaid with sugar skull face paint, holding a hand mirror, with teal scale flowers on a pink background.
Sugar skull mermaid with mirror
Sketch-style tattoo of Jack Skellington in a striped top hat on the forearm, with black and grey shading and purple watercolour washes.
Jack Skellington on a forearm
Drawing of a skeleton hand making the rock horns gesture, outlined in black with purple, green and yellow watercolour-style washes over the bones.
Skeleton hand in rock horns gesture
Full colour sleeve tattoo themed on The Nightmare Before Christmas, with Jack Skellington and jack-o'-lanterns, covering the upper arm and forearm.
Nightmare Before Christmas full sleeve
Black and grey tattoos cover a person's back, arms and hands, with skull, ribcage and spine imagery against a dark background.
Full back and arms covered in skeletal tattoos
Black and grey drawing of a skeletal figure in a lace veil and floral headpiece, holding a scythe, with candles and roses in the foreground on a black background.
Skeletal bride with scythe and candles
Traditional style flash design of three cartoon characters, a vampire, a grinning skeleton and a witch, above a banner reading Three of a Kind and a red rose.
Three of a Kind witches and skeleton flash
Black and grey tattoo of a skeleton wearing a pith helmet, sunglasses and a striped top, with a cactus and birds in a framed panel on the forearm.
Skeleton in pith helmet and sunglasses on a forearm
Navy line drawing of three skeletons in a row, swimming, cycling and running, as a triathlon-themed design on a cream background.
Skeletons swimming, cycling and running
Painted flash design of two skeletons seated among pink cherry blossom branches and green bamboo leaves on a white background.
Two skeletons among cherry blossoms
Traditional tattoo of a woman embracing a skeleton that holds a red rose, bold black outlines and shading, on the lower leg.
Woman embracing a skeleton with a rose
Hand and forearm with a glowing violet skeleton design on the back of the hand and wrist, shown under ultraviolet light.
Glowing skeleton hand under UV light
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a skeleton hand forming a V sign on the forearm.
Skeleton hand making a V sign
Two small black fine line tattoos: an outlined diamond on the back of a hand and a skeleton with a hanging cord on the inner forearm near the wrist.
Diamond on hand and skeleton on wrist
Black and grey neo-traditional tattoo of a skeleton holding a bird, with a woman's head with a hair bun, on the inner thigh.
Skeleton and woman with a bird on a thigh
Line drawing of two skeletal mermaids with mint green hair and pink shells on a black background, with mirrored lettering reading dead and sea.
Skeleton mermaids with mint hair
Black and grey realism tattoo of two skeletons embracing and touching skulls, placed on the outer thigh.
Embracing skeletons on a thigh
Black and grey dotwork tattoo on the upper arm showing two figures with bird skulls for heads, with the words NEVER TRUST THE LIVING between them.
Two bird-skulled figures with Never Trust the Living
Drawing of a skeleton in profile within an ornate scrolled cameo frame, with pink roses, spider webs and green leaves, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Skeleton cameo with roses in ornate frame
Black and grey ink drawing of a ribcage, spine and pelvis entwined with flowers and leaves inside a dotted circle, labelled Libra, as a tattoo design.
Libra skeleton and flowers design
Pen drawing of a ribcage arranged in the shape of a heart, shaded with black hatching on white paper beside a black Sharpie pen.
Heart-shaped ribcage drawing in black ink
Traditional colour tattoo of a skeleton mermaid with flowers in her hair, her scaled tail wrapped around a red anchor, on a limb.
Skeleton mermaid and anchor on a leg
Black and grey dotwork tattoo across a back showing two skeletons inside a geometric dotted frame, an eye in a triangle above, and botanical flowers and a tooth below.
Twin skeletons and eye on a back piece
Colour neo-traditional tattoo on a calf of a black cat with sugar skull face paint and skeletal ribs, above a red rose with orange flowers.
Sugar skull cat and rose on a calf
Black and grey realism tattoo on an upper arm showing a hand holding a reflective sphere that mirrors a room with a seated skeleton in a suit.
Hand holding a reflective sphere on upper arm
Black and grey realistic hourglass tattoo with a skeletal figure and skull, shown across the back.
Hourglass with skull across the back
Black and grey sketch-style tattoo of a cat with a skeletal ribcage inside angular geometric shapes, on the upper arm.
Sketch-style cat and ribcage on upper arm
Colour tattoo on the outer thigh of a glass dome holding two cartoon skeleton characters in a yellow gown, with a black bat on top and red petals at the base.
Jack and Sally in a glass dome on thigh
Colour tattoo of a yellow skeleton knitting with pink needles and blue yarn on the inner forearm, with a ball of blue yarn beside it.
Knitting skeleton and blue yarn on forearm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a full skeleton with a skull and laurel wreath, on the inner forearm.
Skeleton and laurel wreath on a forearm
Black line drawing flash of a woman with a bun and a skeleton man embracing inside an oval rope frame, with roses and leaves below.
Skeleton couple embracing in a rope frame
Black ink drawing of a sugar skull skeleton woman with a hair bun, hand fan and cigarette, on a parchment-coloured background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Sugar skull skeleton lady with fan