Traditional tattoo ideas

4,572 photos and flash · Forearm most common

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Black linework sketch of an apple with a worm, a stack of books, a pencil and a leaf, drawn as a tattoo design on tracing paper.
Apple, worm, book and pencil design
Traditional-style flash drawing of a mermaid with a flower crown, long hair and a spotted tail, painted on textured paper.
Spotted mermaid flash design
Black and grey traditional style flash design of a hockey mask on a blade shape, with the words IT'S FRIDAY FRIDAY curving along the edge.
Hockey mask and blade flash with Friday lettering
Black ink traditional flash sheet of butterflies and moths, including a central moth with a woman's face, skulls, tigers and a lantern, on cream paper.
Butterfly and moth flash sheet
Pink flash-style design of a heart with a banner reading FEMINIST and two roses with leaves, drawn in bold outlines with no body placement shown.
Feminist banner, heart and roses flash
Black line flash drawing of two long-nailed hands with stylised flames, sparkles and the words Fire Walk With Me above a chain.
Hands with flames and Fire Walk With Me
Black line drawing of two sugar skulls, one in a veil and one in a top hat, framed by roses and a banner reading 'Til Death Do Us Part, in a traditional tattoo flash style with no body placement
Sugar skull couple with roses and banner
Traditional style flash drawing of a clawed glove hand with a banner reading Never Sleep, in red, teal and brown.
Clawed hand with Never Sleep banner
Traditional style anchor flash design with a wooden stock, coiled rope and red flowers with green leaves, shown on a plain white background.
Anchor with rope and red flowers
Traditional style flash drawing of a woman with bobbed curls, a red striped headscarf with a feather, red cheeks and lips, and a pearl necklace, shown on a gold background.
Traditional flapper head with red headscarf and feather
Traditional-style flash sheet of four cartoon characters with scroll banners, flowers and a large red rose, drawn in bold outlines and bright colour.
Cartoon character flash sheet with roses and banners
Black ink pen drawing of a skull and crossbones on paper, with hatched shading in a traditional tattoo style.
Skull and crossbones pen drawing
Black linework flash design of a robot head inside circular blackletter-style lettering reading YOU ARE WHO YOU CHOOSE TO BE, drawn on cream paper.
Robot head with circular quote lettering design
Coloured Japanese-style flash design of a roaring tiger among bamboo and swirling clouds, with a small frog holding a leaf in the lower right corner.
Tiger and bamboo flash with frog in rain
Black and grey flash design of four arrows wrapped in a ribbon reading A MAN MUST MAKE HIS OWN ARROWS, with feathered shafts and radiating lines.
Four arrows with ribbon banner quote
Coloured drawing of a purple iris with yellow markings and green leaves, outlined in black on white paper, in a traditional botanical flash style.
Purple iris flower design
Traditional-style flash sheet of cartoon characters, a dagger wrapped in a rainbow snake, flowers, a heart and a lemon, drawn in bold outlines and bright colour.
Cartoon character flash sheet with dagger and snake
Black ink line drawing of a rose with leaves and curling vine scrolls on white paper, a flash design suited to a tattoo.
Rose with scrolling vines line drawing
Shaded pencil drawing of a Scottish heraldic lion on a shield, flanked by thistles, a sword and banners reading Scotland and Forever, a design suited to a tattoo.
Scottish lion crest with thistles and banners
Black line drawing of a traditional-style bird carrying a sealed envelope with a scalloped flap and small heart, with flowers and radiating rays, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Bird carrying a love letter with flowers
Traditional style flash drawing of an eagle in flight with red roses and green leaves on a pale background.
Eagle and roses flash design
Pencil drawing of a traditional-style tattoo design showing a hand with dark nails holding a cracked oval hand mirror, with a banner reading YOU'RE STILL PRETTY.
Hand holding a cracked mirror with banner
Black line-art flash design of a ribbon banner with the words don't worry, you're just as sane as I am, flanked by wings and a pair of round spectacles, with a cherry below.
Ribbon banner with wings and spectacles
Black and grey drawing of an eagle with spread wings holding a Live to Ride banner, with a blank banner below, in a traditional style.
Eagle with Live to Ride banner
Neo-traditional flash design of a pin-up woman in a yellow and navy bodysuit with a purple dragon behind her and HELLO KITTY banners across a rope-framed oval.
Pin-up dragon and banner flash design
Nautical flash sheet of line-art designs in navy and red, including a lighthouse, swallow, whale, anchor, jellyfish and squid on a cream background.
Nautical tattoo flash sheet
Navy line drawing of a pocket watch, rose, leaves and beads with a banner reading TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Pocket watch, rose and banner design
Traditional-style flash design of a lantern with a gold flame, three moths and banners reading LIGHTS, WILL, GUIDE and YOU HOME, with no body placement shown.
Lantern with moths and banner lettering
Four white Valentine's cards each show a taped-on traditional-style tattoo flash design: an anchor, a shark head, a swallow and a heart with a flame, with no body part visible.
Traditional flash designs on Valentine's cards
Black and grey traditional flash sheet on a wooden table, showing video game themed designs including a castle, bomb, ghost, shy guy, tombstone reading GAME OVER and a pin-up figure.
Video game themed flash sheet in black and grey
Traditional black and grey flash sheet showing four moth designs, two with skulls on their bodies, held up by a hand against a wooden floor.
Four moth designs on a flash sheet
Purple and teal illustration of a skull and crossbones filled with traditional tattoo flash motifs such as roses, swallows, stars and banners.
Skull and crossbones with traditional flash motifs
Traditional flash drawing of a yellow five-petalled flower with a red centre, green and blue leaves and brown thorn-like buds, on a speckled cream background.
Traditional yellow flower with red centre
Three blue traditional swallow designs in flight with black outlines on a cream background, shown as flash.
Three swallows in flight
Black and grey flash sheet drawing of a sailing ship on waves, two swallows, an anchor and a telescope, with the script phrase Between the Devil and the deep blue Sea beneath.
Sailing ship, swallows, anchor and telescope flash
Traditional-style flash drawing of a striped hot air balloon with a banner reading Enjoy Your Journey, a woven basket and small stars, in red, brown and black ink on kraft paper.
Hot air balloon with Enjoy Your Journey banner
A neo-traditional skull design drawn on paper, framed by grey scrollwork and red panels with dotted borders, with pens lying nearby.
Skull with scrollwork in neo-trad style
Two side-by-side tattoo flash designs of a traditional dagger with a jewelled pommel wrapped in a rose, shown as a black line drawing and a coloured version.
Dagger and rose flash, line and colour versions
Black and grey traditional flash sheet with a skull and rose, crescent moon, anatomical heart, eye, horseshoe and clover designs.
Black and grey traditional flash sheet
Traditional style flash sheet of many small coloured tattoo designs, including hearts, roses, daggers, pin-ups and animals, all lettered with True Love and framed by TATTOO at the top and bottom.
True Love traditional flash sheet
Coloured flash design of a white skull wearing a red fez and bow tie, with a tattoo machine and the word Geronimo on a gold banner, on a pale blue background.
Skull with fez, bow tie and tattoo machine
Black linework flash design of a fist gripping a lightning bolt beside a storm cloud with lightning, in a Traditional style on a tan background.
Fist gripping lightning and storm cloud flash
Black ink line drawing of a cracked heart wrapped in a bandage, with a plaster, stitches, a rose and leaves, in a traditional flash style.
Cracked heart with rose and bandage
Black and grey traditional flash design of an hourglass reading TEMPUS FUGIT, with a sailing ship in the top bulb and a skull in the bottom bulb.
Hourglass with skull and ship
Seamless black and white line pattern of traditional flash motifs, including hearts with banners, daggers, a skull, an eye, a diamond, an anchor and an eight ball.
Traditional flash pattern of hearts, daggers and skulls
Traditional-style flash drawing of a red heart with flames, a script Harley-Davidson banner, a blue rose and orange flowers on a black background, with a Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles shield logo
Heart, rose and banner flash design
Black and grey traditional flash of an elephant with its trunk raised, shown with a flower and leaves below, drawn on white card against a dark background.
Traditional elephant flash with flower
Traditional-style flash design of a woman's profile in a winged helmet, with oak leaves, acorns and a shield, drawn in brown ink on aged paper.
Winged helmet profile with oak leaves