Sketch tattoo ideas

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

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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
Sketch-style tattoo of a skull with a smoking pipe and grey smoke wisps, with orange wash shading, on the outer thigh.
Skull with pipe and smoke on a thigh
Black and grey sketch-style whale tattoo on a forearm, drawn with loose, overlapping geometric lines that suggest the animal's body and fins.
Sketched whale on a forearm
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
Fine black line sketch of a small girl in a dress with her shadow beside her, on the upper back shoulder of a woman wearing a dark strap top.
Small sketched girl in a dress on a shoulder
Black and grey sketch tattoo of a gothic castle with spires, a grand staircase and a walled town on the calf, drawn with fine lines and stippled shading.
Gothic castle sketch on a calf
Colour sketch style tattoo of a small bird with loose black linework and blue and pink washes, sitting on the upper chest beside the shoulder, with a faint swirl above it.
Sketched bird on the shoulder and chest
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
Geometric tattoo of a solid black disc inside an orange ring with radiating black marks, on the front of a lower leg below the knee.
Geometric sun and lines on a lower leg
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
Red pencil sketch of a neo-traditional tattoo design showing a dreamcatcher, two roses and a feather, drawn on white paper.
Dreamcatcher, roses and feather design sketch
Hand-drawn sketch of a wolf head with blue shading, grey pencil hatching and red and teal watercolour splashes on white paper.
Sketched wolf head with watercolour splashes
Red pencil sketch of an arrow passing through a ribbon bow, drawn on a sketchbook page as a tattoo design.
Arrow and ribbon bow sketch
Sketch-style tattoo of a teal and black bird in flight on the outer forearm.
Teal bird in flight on a forearm
Black and grey pen sketch of a front-facing lion's head with a dark shaded patch over one eye, shown as a tattoo design without a placement on skin.
Lion head sketch with shaded eye
Black and grey sketch-style skull tattoo with a rose below it, running along a forearm.
Sketched skull and rose on a forearm
Pencil drawing of a face with smeared dark eye makeup and a red grinning mouth, above the script words Love is a Joke, with coloured pencils and pens around it.
Joker face sketch with Love is a Joke lettering
Two sketch-style portrait tattoos of faces on a person's thighs, one in grey and blue ink and the other with orange-brown wash, viewed from the waist down.
Sketch-style portrait tattoos on both thighs
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design with a pocket watch, roses and script lettering, in a neo-traditional style.
Pocket watch and roses pencil design
Twelve hand-drawn black ink arrow designs in a row on a notebook page, with chevron, triangle and feather details, beside a patterned page edge.
Hand-drawn arrow designs in a notebook
Black ink sketch in a notebook of an ornate key with a keyhole, a star, a chain and swirling linework, drawn as a tattoo design.
Ink sketch of a key and star design
Black and grey pencil drawing of a lighthouse and ornate compass tattoo design on paper, with a hand holding a pencil at the top left.
Lighthouse and compass tattoo design
Pencil sketch of six loose feathers scattered across a pale page, drawn with soft shading and fine hatched strokes, shown as a possible tattoo design.
Scattered feather sketches in pencil
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design showing two lilies and a small blossom joined by swirling linework, drawn in black and grey shading.
Pencil sketch of lilies and swirling flourishes
Pencil drawing of a rose whose petals form a human skull, with a leaf and thorned stem, shown as a tattoo design on plain white paper.
Skull and rose design sketch
Pencil sketch of an open hand with the words Promise, love, PROVOKE, DIRECTION and Good Luck written around the fingers, shown as a tattoo design idea.
Hand sketch with word designs
Pen and ink sketch of a hummingbird in flight with loose, feathered linework on cream paper, shown as a possible tattoo design beside a black fineliner pen.
Hummingbird sketch in ink
Ink sketch in a spiral notebook of a treble clef and 4/4 staff that flows into a double helix with piano key rungs, with faint pencil studies beside it.
Musical staff merging into a DNA helix sketch
Black ink pen drawing of a mermaid seen from behind, with wavy hair raised above her head and a fishtail, shown as a tattoo design sketch with no body placement.
Mermaid with flowing hair, seen from behind