Sketch tattoo ideas

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

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Pencil sketch of a neo-traditional tattoo design showing a lion head in profile with feathered wings and a lotus flower beneath it.
Winged lion and lotus design sketch
Purple ink sketch of two peony flowers with leaves and a long stem, drawn as a botanical tattoo design in a spiral sketchbook.
Two peony flowers in purple ink sketch
Pen sketch of a head and shoulders in profile outline, with the words We're all stories in the end, Just make it a good one, eh? lettered inside the shape in a hand-drawn script.
Profile outline with lettered quote
Pencil-style sketch of a stag head with large antlers, set within overlapping geometric triangles on a cream background, shown as a tattoo design.
Geometric stag head sketch
Pencil sketch of three lilies with trailing swirling vines in black and grey, a botanical tattoo design shown without any body placement.
Lily and vine tattoo design sketch
Pencil sketch of a traditional-style anchor wrapped in rope with a pocket watch showing Roman numerals, drawn as a tattoo design on paper.
Anchor and pocket watch design
Black ink sketch of a single pine tree with a loose, shaded canopy on white paper, beside a black pen, shown as a botanical tattoo design.
Pine tree design sketch in black ink
Fine line black and grey tattoo of a treeline with birds in flight on the inner forearm, shown against a dark top.
Treeline and birds on a forearm
Pen line drawing on graph paper of a fern frond, several feather and frond designs, a swirl and a hummingbird head, suitable as fine line tattoo flash.
Fern fronds, feathers and hummingbird sketch
Pencil sketch of a open-jawed skull framed by roses and sprigs of leaves, drawn as a tattoo design in black and grey with no body part shown.
Skull with roses and foliage pencil sketch
Black ink linework drawing of an ornate seahorse tattoo design on tracing paper, placed beside a pencil sketch of the same seahorse.
Ornate seahorse tattoo design drawing
A flash sheet of nine black line drawings of cacti and succulents in pots, arranged in a three by three grid on a white background.
Nine potted cacti and succulents sheet
Close crop of a person in denim dungarees and a beige top, showing black line-drawn tattoos of a face and figure on the upper arm.
Black line drawing tattoo on upper arm
Pen drawing of a skull surrounded by ornate scrolls and leaves, drawn as a tattoo design on cream paper.
Skull with ornate scrollwork design
Two overlapping pencil sketches of a woman in an Egyptian-style nemes headdress with a cobra, hoop earrings and a beaded collar, taped to paper.
Egyptian-style woman portrait design sketch
Pencil sketch of a stylised swan with a curled neck and tapered wing strokes, shaded in grey on a pale background.
Pencil sketch of a stylised swan design
Pencil sketch of a mermaid with long flowing hair and a scalloped shell tail, drawn on a sketchbook page, suitable as a fine line tattoo design.
Mermaid with shell tail sketch
Pencil sketch of a compass rose with N, E, S and W labels and the words Psalms 32:8 beneath, shown as a possible tattoo design in black and grey.
Compass rose sketch with Psalms 32:8
Three pencil sketches of owl heads on pale paper, the largest in the foreground with detailed feather and eye linework, shown as tattoo flash designs.
Pencil sketches of owl heads
Hands hold open a spiral notebook showing a colourful feather design in teal, pink and purple that breaks apart into small flying birds.
Feather dissolving into birds sketch
Brown ink sketch of a tattoo design with a treble clef as the body, musical notes on the wings and curled swirls, shown on cream paper with no body placement.
Winged treble clef design sketch
Black ink sketch of an anthropomorphic cat with a hair bun, holding a cigarette, with wisps of smoke rising around the figure.
Sketched cat with cigarette and smoke
Black ink line drawing of a toad-like creature wrapped in coin-like discs on paper, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Toad with coins, ink line drawing
Pencil and ink sketch of an ornate oval mirror frame with scrolled borders and hanging drops, shaded with a pale green wash in the centre.
Ornate oval mirror frame design sketch
Pen and ink sketchbook drawings of an arrow, a feather, an antler and a revolver, with fine line shading and dotted detail on the arrowhead.
Sketched arrow, feather, antler and revolver designs
Two colourful sketch-style tattoos on the lower legs, a leaping red fox on the left and a flying bird with teal and pink splashes on the right.
Fox and songbird tattoos on two lower legs
Pencil-style neo-traditional sketch of a cat's head in profile with whiskers, beside a cluster of buds and leaves.
Sketched cat head with buds
Pencil sketch of a neo-traditional tattoo design with two roses, a pocket watch, a butterfly and a strand of beads, drawn on paper with no body placement shown.
Rose, pocket watch and butterfly design
Realistic pink rose with black sketched flowers and watercolour splashes across an upper arm and shoulder tattoo.
Realistic rose and sketched flowers on upper arm
Black ink pen sketch of a lotus flower with fine hatched shading, drawn on a cream notebook page beside two pens.
Lotus flower pen sketch in a notebook
Colour tattoo of a fox in a sketchy, watercolour-like style on the upper back and shoulder blade, with orange, red and grey washes and black linework.
Sketchy fox tattoo on the upper back
Pencil sketch design of a cluster of pine trees and peaks above a line of vertical handwritten script, with no body placement shown.
Pine trees, mountains and vertical script sketch
Two black ink line drawings of a moth with detailed patterned wings, sketched on cream paper and shown as a design rather than on skin.
Patterned moth line drawing
Pencil sketch in a sketchbook of a frog surrounded by leaves and flowers arranged in a circle, drawn as a possible botanical tattoo design.
Frog and foliage in a circular pencil design
Two pencil sketches of tattoo designs showing flowers, leaves and butterflies, one in blue pencil and one in graphite.
Floral and butterfly tattoo design sketches
Pencil sketch on paper of an abstract serpent-like creature with an open jaw, loose flowing lines and floating rectangular shapes, a tattoo design study rather than a tattoo on skin.
Pencil sketch of an abstract serpent creature
Realistic graphite drawing of an octopus with tentacles wrapped around a human skull, shown as a tattoo design sketch on paper.
Octopus wrapped around a skull
Colourful sketch-style blossom branch tattoo with pink, red, blue and orange linework on the inside of a forearm.
Sketched blossom branch on a forearm
Black and grey pencil sketch of a monstrous creature head with open jaws, rows of sharp teeth and a long curling tendril, drawn as a design with no body placement.
Sketched monster head with open jagged jaws
Black ink line drawing of a magnolia branch with two open blooms and several buds, sketched on torn paper as a botanical tattoo design.
Magnolia branch tattoo design sketch
Greyscale pencil design of a cat's face framed by swirling feather-like shapes and small star motifs, drawn on paper with no body placement shown.
Pencil sketch of a cat with swirls
Hand-drawn black line sketch of two stacked wave motifs inside rectangular outlines, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Two line-drawn waves in rectangular frames
Line drawing of a Japanese-style dragon, lion-like mask and lotus flowers over waves and clouds, with pink wash shading, as a tattoo design.
Japanese dragon and lotus flash design
Black fine line sketch tattoo of a loose floral or botanical drawing on the outer upper arm of a person in a black sleeveless top.
Loose line sketch on an upper arm
Pencil and ink sketch of three lilies with scrolling foliage on a sketchbook page, drawn as a botanical tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Lily and scroll design sketch
Sketchy black linework winged bird with a red heart and red and black lettering tattooed along the side of a ribcage.
Winged bird and lettering on ribs
Pencil sketch design of a howling wolf whose fur becomes a feather, with small birds rising from its tip, shown with no body placement.
Howling wolf dissolving into feather and birds
Black line drawing of a cartoon Alice in a jar with a Drink Me tag, in a sketch-style outline on the outer thigh.
Alice in a jar on a thigh