Sketch tattoo ideas

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

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Black and grey dotwork design drawings of peonies, leaves and olive sprigs on tracing paper, with two marker pens beside them.
Peony and olive branch tattoo design sketches
Black ink drawing of a vintage diving helmet built from geometric hatched facets, being shaded by a hand with a marker on white paper.
Geometric diving helmet sketch
Red pencil sketch of a pocket watch with two roses, beads and leaves, drawn as a neo-traditional tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Pocket watch and roses design sketch
Eight line drawn arrow designs in a fine line geometric style, with a few teal accents, sketched on white paper beside two black pigment liner pens.
Eight arrow designs on paper
Blue and grey sketch-style guitars tattooed across a man's upper back, with a black hexagon pattern band on the shoulder and upper arm.
Sketched guitars across a back
Pen and grey ink drawing of a lion head in profile with a flowing mane, a lioness head below it, and purple blossom sprigs, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Lion and lioness with purple flowers
Pencil drawing of a fox turned to look over its shoulder, with shaded fur, a bushy tail and a raised foot, on a plain white background.
Fox sketch looking over its shoulder
Pen sketch of a skull set between moth wings, drawn on paper as a tattoo design with loose linework and rays around it.
Skull and moth tattoo sketch
Black and grey traditional anchor tattoo with a banner and rope on the back of a hand, with the word FIND tattooed across the knuckles.
Anchor and banner hand tattoo from sketch to finish
Pencil line drawing of a woman's face and shoulders with flowers in her hair and leaves along her neck, shown as a flash design sketch with no visible body placement.
Pencil sketch of a woman with flowers in her hair
Pencil sketch of a lion's head in profile behind a woman with long, wavy hair partly covering one eye, drawn on cream paper.
Lion and woman with flowing hair sketch
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing a Roman numeral clock face with a monarch butterfly, orchids and ornamental swirls, with no body placement shown.
Clock, orchids and butterfly design sketch
Black ink line drawing on white paper of a woman with billowing hair and one arm outstretched, her body trailing into flowing wisps, shown as a design sketch and not a tattoo on skin.
Flowing-haired female figure line drawing
Sketch-style grey elephant tattoo with red and orange balloons, spanning the shoulder and upper arm.
Elephant with balloons on upper arm
Three views of a black and grey abstract sketch tattoo on the forearm, with loose linework, ink washes and circular shapes.
Abstract black and grey sketch on a forearm
Black and grey sketch-style tattoo of a wolf head in profile on the forearm, with loose hatched linework and shaded fur.
Sketched wolf head on a forearm
Pencil sketch of a woman wearing a wolf head headdress, with a triangle on her forehead and braided hair, drawn as a tattoo design.
Wolf headdress woman pencil sketch
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
Black and grey sketch-style tattoo of a hand pierced by two arrows, with fine geometric construction lines, on the calf.
Hand pierced by arrows on a calf
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
Two forearm tattoos in a loose watercolour style: a leaping fox in orange and black on the left, and a grey wolf with a teal wash on the right.
Fox and wolf tattoos on forearms
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
Sketch-style tattoo of a woman's head and shoulders with swept-up hair on the inner forearm, shaded in grey and black with touches of red.
Vintage woman portrait sketch on a forearm
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
Abstract tattoo on a forearm in loose black linework and grey shading, with a single orange splash of colour beside the shape.
Abstract grey shape and orange splash on forearm
Black and green quill feather and inkwell tattoo with ink splatter on the side of the torso, shown beside its pen-and-ink sketch.
Quill and inkwell on the side of the torso
Sketch-style skull with purple and blue poppies and anemone flowers tattooed across a person's upper back and shoulder.
Skull and poppies across a back
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