Sketch tattoo ideas

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

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Pencil sketch of an outlined heart pierced diagonally by a dagger, drawn on a page of a spiral sketchbook.
Heart pierced by a dagger sketch
Pencil sketch of a treble clef with a heart and peace sign inside it, drawn on plain white paper as a tattoo design.
Treble clef with heart and peace sign sketch
Black line drawing of a ribcage with a bow and arrow, flanked by flowers and a sunburst above, captioned Sagittarius, in a botanical illustration style.
Sagittarius ribcage, bow and flowers
Fine line pen drawing of a tattoo design with an Om symbol above a stippled, looping ornamental knot, shown on plain white paper with no body placement.
Om symbol above a looping ornament
Pencil sketch of a compass rose with ripple lines and several birds in flight, a tattoo design shaded in black and grey.
Compass rose with birds in flight
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design with swirling scrolls and five-pointed stars trailing diagonally across a white background.
Swirling stars in pencil sketch
Pen and ink sketch of a sailing ship whose hull forms a dripping skull, drawn on an open sketchbook page.
Skull ship pen sketch
Hand-drawn black ink sketch of a DNA double helix on a cream background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
DNA double helix sketch
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing two large roses, smaller buds and leaves wrapped around a compass star, shown on paper with no body placement.
Rose cluster and compass star sketch
Black ink sketch of a mountain range above the handwritten script words the mountains are calling, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Mountain range with script quote
Brown ink drawing of a jellyfish with long trailing tentacles on cream paper, shown as a possible tattoo design.
Jellyfish ink sketch on paper
Red pencil flash drawing of a swan and a skull-like head inside a cracked scrolled frame, a neo-traditional design shown on paper rather than skin.
Swan in a cracked ornate frame
Hand-drawn ornate letterform in red fineliner with scrolls, filigree and hatched shading, a design suited to lettering-style tattoos.
Ornate red ink lettering sketch
Pencil sketch of a woman wearing a wolf headdress with feathers, with a rose and pearl strands drawn below, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Woman in wolf headdress with rose design
Black pen sketch of a nested geometric triangle design on a notebook page, with handwritten words Explore, Challenge, Transcend, Express, Create and Learn beside small triangle motifs.
Geometric triangle design sketch with words
Pen and ink sketch of three feathers on cream paper, drawn in fine black linework with soft shading, suited to a feather tattoo design.
Three feather sketches on cream paper
Red line drawing of a fox head framed by ornamental flowers and filigree, a tattoo design sketched on tracing paper.
Fox head with floral ornament sketch
Pencil-style line drawing of a woman with closed eyes, flowers in her hair, a songbird and orchid sprigs, designed as a fine line tattoo sketch.
Woman with bird and orchids sketch
Pencil and wash flash sketch of an ornate lace-patterned heart held by two hands, with a crown above and a dagger through it, partly tinted pink.
Lace heart with crown and dagger design
Pencil sketch of a dreamcatcher with two shaded feathers and small birds, drawn on a spiral sketchbook page, suitable as a tattoo design.
Dreamcatcher and feathers pencil sketch
Blue pen sketch of an Egyptian queen in a striped headdress, with an Eye of Horus, an ankh, palm fronds and a flower of life behind her.
Egyptian queen tattoo design sketch
Pen drawing of a tattoo design on a woman's torso in a bikini, showing a Japanese style dragon and mermaid along the ribs and hip.
Dragon and mermaid design on a torso
Blue pencil drawing of a tattoo design showing a woman's face framed by flowing hair, peonies and a owl, in a neo-traditional style.
Woman with roses and an owl design
Pencil and red ink sketch of an ornate lion head wearing a crown, drawn as a tattoo design on paper, with no body placement shown.
Lion head with crown, pencil design sketch
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
Pencil-style sketch of a tattoo design showing an ornate birdcage, a small bird and flowers, drawn on paper with no body placement shown.
Birdcage, bird and flowers design
Hand-drawn script lettering design reading Mind on my money, money on my mind, in black ink on cream paper, being traced by a hand holding a pen.
Script lettering sketch on paper
Pencil sketch of a small bird with outstretched wings and feathered detail, drawn in red and blue coloured pencil on cream paper, shown as a possible tattoo design.
Bird with spread wings pencil sketch
Pencil sketch of a fox with its head turned back over its shoulder, drawn as a simple black outline design on grey paper.
Stylised fox outline sketch
Pencil sketch of a stylised lion head in profile with a flowing mane, drawn in brown ink on cream paper beside a green pencil.
Lion head sketch on paper
Pencil sketch of an anchor with a dotted line curling up to a flock of birds, drawn on lined paper as a tattoo design.
Anchor with dotted line and flying birds
Black and grey pencil sketch of an ornate tattoo design with a central rose, two side roses, lace-like patterning and dotted chains drawn on paper.
Rose and lace ornamental design sketch
Pencil tattoo design of a Roman numeral clock framed by two shaded roses and leaves, drawn over faint grid lines.
Clock and roses pencil design
Pen and ink sketch of two howling wolves with swirling smoke-like linework, drawn in black, blue, purple and orange on a notebook page, not shown on skin.
Pen sketch of two howling wolves
Six fine black ink sketches of looping, swirling ornamental designs drawn on grid paper, with two pens resting above them.
Six looping line ornament sketches
Pen sketch of a lion's head framed by lotus flowers and foliage, drawn as a botanical tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Lion head with lotus flowers sketch
Sketched tattoo design of a songbird with spread wings in front of a pocket watch with Roman numerals, surrounded by leaves, drawn in blue and red pencil.
Bird and pocket watch design sketch
Six numbered pencil sketches of skulls in varying shapes and shading, shown as possible tattoo design options.
Six numbered pencil skull sketches
Hand-drawn black ink lettering sheet of the numbers 0 to 9, an exclamation mark and an ampersand, in a decorative lettering style suitable as tattoo flash.
Hand-drawn numerals and symbols sheet
Black ink and pencil drawing of a snail with an ornate patterned shell beside geometric crystals and scrolling swirls, a neo-traditional tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Snail and crystals tattoo design
Pencil sketches on graph paper of mountain peaks merged with heartbeat trace lines, shown as possible tattoo designs.
Mountain and heartbeat line sketches
Black and grey hand-drawn design of an arrow, a semicolon and an infinity symbol on a textured grey surface with vertical lines.
Arrow, semicolon and infinity symbol
Pen sketch of the words Who I am today is worse than other times in mixed lettering styles, with no body part visible.
Hand-drawn lettering sketch of a quote
Black ink sketch of an ornate anchor with swirling scroll details, drawn on paper beside a black marker and a gel pen.
Ornate anchor sketch with scrolls
Pencil sketch of three peony blooms with leaves and small buds in a botanical design, drawn for a tattoo and not shown on skin.
Three peonies with leaves, pencil design
Black and grey sketch of a Batman-style cowl with cross-hatched shading, fading into loose ink splatters on a white background.
Batman mask in ink splatter sketch
Black line drawing of an owl facing the viewer with its wings spread wide, shown as a tattoo design sketch with no body part visible.
Owl with spread wings sketch
Pencil sketch of an outstretched bird wing with layered feathers on a white background, a possible design for a tattoo.
Pencil sketch of a bird wing