Sketch tattoo ideas

480 photos and flash · 22% Botanical, 14% Fine line · Forearm most common

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Black and white photo of a floral and geometric tattoo design drawn in a sketchbook, beside a dotwork mandala tattoo on a forearm.
Floral and geometric sketch with forearm mandala
Pencil drawing of a five-pointed star with a circle, a crescent and a sharp diagonal line cut into its outline, shown in grey shading on white paper.
Pencil sketch of a star with inset shapes
Hand-drawn compass rose design in brown ink on pale paper, with a central star, concentric circles and stylised letters at the four points.
Compass rose design drawing
Pencil sketch of a cartoon octopus with a bow and eyelashes, its tentacles shaded with suckers, drawn as a tattoo design on sketchbook paper.
Cartoon octopus with bow design
Pencil sketch of an octopus with curling tentacles and suckers, drawn on a sketchbook page beside a pen and a spiral notebook.
Octopus design in pencil on a sketchbook
Pencil sketch of a snarling wolf head over a skull, drawn on paper as a tattoo design with the note Right Arm written at the top.
Wolf and skull pencil design
Pencil sketch of Jack and Sally dancing across two curling banners, with the words We can live like Jack and Sally if we want, as a tattoo design.
Jack and Sally design with banners
Red pencil sketch of an ankh with an Eye of Horus across its crossbar, drawn on pale green paper as a tattoo design.
Ankh and Eye of Horus design sketch
Pencil sketch of the word Faith in flowing script lettering with decorative swirls, drawn as a tattoo design on textured paper.
Faith script lettering with flourishes
Pencil sketch on lined notebook paper of a heart inside a loose circle with radiating lines and a small dot, above the handwritten words Love comes to me.
Pencil sketch of a heart within a circle
Pencil sketch of a circle with a horizontal line, a small inner circle, a swirl above and rays either side, with the quote I am flowing with creativity beneath, drawn on lined paper.
Circle with swirl and rays sketch
Flash sheet of twelve loose black ink sketches of cats in sitting, sleeping and stretching poses on a white background.
Sketched cats flash sheet
Two pen sketches of tattoo designs: a left panel with a skull, roses and geometric lines, and a right panel with a bull skull, moths and dotwork shading.
Skull and rose designs in pen sketches
Black and grey pen drawing of a hamsa hand with a lotus flower and dotted shading, sketched on grid paper with a hand holding the pen.
Hamsa hand and lotus design sketch on grid paper
Two black linework snail designs on pale paper, each with an ornate patterned shell, set over faint lotus outlines in a botanical flash style.
Two ornamental snail designs with lotus outlines
Ink drawing of an ornate lettering design with curling leaf flourishes and dot shading, drawn on cream paper beside a fine liner pen.
Ornate lettering sketch with flourishes
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing a woman's face framed by flowing hair and feathers above a wolf or lion head, with a butterfly below, drawn on translucent paper.
Woman, wolf and butterfly design sketch
Black and grey pencil drawing of a sunflower with shaded petals and a dark centre, suitable as a botanical tattoo design.
Sunflower pencil sketch
Black and grey pencil sketch of a dragonfly with spread wings and the words embrace imperfection in cursive script above it, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Dragonfly sketch with 'embrace imperfection'
Pencil sketch of the words Family First in flowing script lettering on pale paper, shown on a wooden table beside an eraser and a pen.
Family First script lettering sketch
Black ink drawing of an anatomical heart with a faceted geometric lower half and dotwork shading on the right side, drawn on white paper beside a pen.
Geometric anatomical heart sketch
Pencil sketch on paper of a sun with a face and radiating rays beside a crescent moon, both with hanging dangles, shown as tattoo design drawings.
Sun and crescent moon tattoo sketches
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing a butterfly with lotus flowers and swirling vines, shown as a drawing rather than on skin.
Butterfly and lotus flower design sketch
Pencil sketch of an hourglass with bold black outlines and blue and purple watercolour-style splashes around it, drawn as a tattoo design.
Hourglass with blue and purple splashes
Pencil sketch of a big-eyed, round cat-like creature hanging by its paws from two ropes, with a fluffy tail, drawn on cream paper beside a pencil.
Big-eyed cat creature hanging from ropes sketch
Black and grey flash collage of Totoro-style creatures in ink sketches, with plants, mushrooms, a pair of Chinese characters and an Art Nouveau reclining figure.
Totoro sketches, botanicals and Art Nouveau figures
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing a pocket watch, a swallow, a flower and a banner with script lettering, in a traditional style.
Pocket watch, swallow and banner sketch
Pencil and red-accented sketch of a woman with an updo and an ornate lace-style collar, drawn in a neo-traditional portrait style as a tattoo design.
Portrait of a woman with an ornate collar sketch
Black ink mandala design drawn on pale paper, with a geometric star-like centre surrounded by ornate petal and scroll patterns, beside three red piping bags.
Radial mandala design drawn in black ink
Black pen sketch of a curved, scalloped arc design with dotted lines and small circles, drawn on white paper; no body placement is shown.
Scalloped arc design sketch in black pen
Pencil and ink flash sheet showing rat silhouettes with ornate key tails and Mind the Gap lettering, drawn without any body placement shown.
Rat and key designs with Mind the Gap script
Red pencil drawing on tracing paper of a figure wearing a tall ornate headdress and tinted sunglasses, with one hand raised near the mouth, shown as a possible tattoo design.
Red pencil sketch of a headdressed figure in sunglasses
Pencil sketch of an arrow with a looped infinity symbol on its shaft, drawn on a cream background as a tattoo design.
Arrow with infinity symbol sketch
Pencil and ink sketch of a botanical floral design with blossoms, leaves and a trailing vine on white paper, with a thumb at the left edge.
Floral sketch with blossoms and vine
Pencil sketch of a fox head in profile, with geometric triangles, dotwork and hatched patterning over the eye and cheek, drawn on a spiral notebook page.
Geometric fox head pencil sketch
Pencil sketch of a geisha with cherry blossom, clouds and a koi fish in Japanese style, drawn on pink paper as a tattoo design.
Geisha with koi and cherry blossom sketch
Black ink flash drawing of a sun with a sleeping face and moon phases above, with dotwork shading and hanging drops, on a sketchbook page.
Sun face with moon phases design
Pencil sketch of an ornamental wolf head design with a hamsa hand, geometric triangles and filigree patterns across the face, drawn on paper.
Ornamental wolf head design sketch with hamsa hand
Pencil sketches of peony clusters with leaves on tracing paper, drawn as designs for a tattoo in a fine line botanical style.
Peony cluster tattoo sketches on tracing paper
Black line drawing of a tribal-style tattoo design across the shoulder blade and upper back of a sketched male figure seen from behind, with a katana hilt at the waist.
Tribal shoulder and back design sketch
Pen and ink drawing of an ornate, flourished letter with scroll details on paper, with a faint pencil sketch of another letter behind it.
Ornate lettering sketch of a flourished letter
Three pencil sketches of the word Vegan in script lettering, decorated with leaves, a small heart and swirls, drawn on torn paper.
Vegan script lettering sketches with leaves
Black ink dotwork sketch of two roses with shaded leaves, drawn on white paper in a spiral sketchbook as a tattoo design.
Two roses dotwork flash sketch
Black and grey pencil-style drawing of a koi fish with a faceted geometric lower body, sketched on a tablet with a stylus.
Geometric koi fish design sketch
Pencil sketch design of a feather with small birds lifting off from its tip and a line of script beneath reading take those broken wings and learn to fly.
Feather with birds taking flight sketch
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
Pencil drawing of a dagger with a flower-shaped guard and an ornamental pommel, shown as a design sheet, in a fine line style.
Dagger with flower and ornate hilt drawing
Pencil sketch of a symmetrical lotus flower with layered petals and dotted lines above and below, drawn as a possible botanical tattoo design.
Lotus flower pencil sketch