Traditional tattoo ideas

4,572 photos and flash · Forearm most common

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Traditional style tattoo of two clasped hands with cuffs, framed by a rose above and a smaller rose below, on the outer thigh.
Clasped hands and roses on a thigh
Traditional style tattoo on a forearm of a hand holding blue forget-me-not flowers in a blue and yellow base, with the words FORGET ME NOT in black lettering beside it.
Forget-me-not hand and lettering on a forearm
Black line drawing of a tattoo design showing a heart made of two crossed skateboards, with a rose behind, leaves and a blank banner, in a traditional style.
Skateboard heart with rose and banner
Black crossed arrows tattoo with hatched shading and dotwork accents on the upper arm.
Crossed arrows on an upper arm
Neo-trad owl tattoo on the inside of a forearm, with a red heart and a banner reading 1985 below it.
Owl and heart on a forearm
Black and white line drawing of a rose with two leaves in a traditional flash style, shown on a round white background with no body placement.
Rose with leaves flash design
Traditional style tattoo of a grey shaded anchor wrapped in red rope forming a heart, on the lower leg.
Anchor wrapped in a red rope heart on the leg
Traditional style tattoo of a skull wearing a flat cap and bandana with a cigarette, above and below the words WORKING CLASS, on a forearm.
Skull in flat cap with cigarette
Black and grey realism portrait of Frankenstein's monster in an ornate oval frame on a calf, beside a traditional pin-up tattoo with a banner.
Frankenstein portrait and pin-up on a calf
Traditional colour tattoo of an anchor and ship wheel within a rope heart, framed by orange flowers, teal leaves and the words INTO THE SEA, on the thigh.
Anchor and ship wheel in a rope heart
Black ink flash sheet in a traditional style showing two female heads with daggers, barbed wire, clasped hands, a sailing ship and birds.
Traditional flash sheet with ship, daggers and barbed wire
Black and grey traditional style drawing of a bird diving head first with raised wings and a small yellow eye, shown as a tattoo design.
Diving bird flash design
Black and grey traditional tattoo of a compass rose over a torn map with a banner reading The Journey Never Ends, on the outer thigh.
Compass and torn map on thigh
Neo-traditional tattoo of a woman with waved hair and orange earrings, holding a fan with a hand and eye design, on an upper arm.
Portrait of a woman with a fan on the upper arm
Traditional style colour tattoo of a flying saucer beaming rainbow light, with the words STAY WEIRD above it, on a limb.
Stay weird UFO tattoo
Traditional style flower and rose tattoos cover a person's forearms, upper arms, thighs and calves, with their hands resting on a seated dog.
Floral tattoos on legs and arms with a dog
Black and grey traditional grim reaper skull tattoo with a scythe and floral wreath on the upper arm.
Grim reaper skull with scythe on upper arm
Pencil sketch of a traditional style anchor tattoo design, wrapped in rope with a heart, scrollwork and two flowers.
Anchor with rope and flowers sketch
Black line drawing of Bender, the Futurama robot, holding a cigar, with flowers, leaves and a LETS GO ALREADY banner in a traditional flash style.
Bender robot banner flash design
Traditional style tattoo of a skeletal hand in a pinch gesture with the words THE END beside it, shaded with dotwork on a leg.
Skeleton hand with THE END lettering
Black traditional-style swallow design with a sunburst and wavy lines, printed on a grey t-shirt laid flat on a wooden background.
Traditional swallow with sunburst and waves on a grey
Black and grey traditional anchor tattoo with rope, a banner reading EST. and the date 1970 above, on a forearm.
Anchor with rope and 1970 est. banner on a forearm
Traditional style roses, a heart and a sun tattooed on a person's thighs, with a tabby cat lying across the legs.
Traditional roses and a cat across tattooed legs
Traditional flash sheet of coloured designs including a flask with a LET'S COOK ribbon, scales with BETTER CALL SAUL, and a gas mask, all with black outlines on cream paper.
Flash sheet of TV-themed designs with quoted phrases
Colour neo-trad tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder of a hand with a raised middle finger, surrounded by scissors, thread, a paintbrush and ink bottle, with PRIDE IN CRAFT on banners.
Hand and craft tools on an upper arm
Black and white traditional-style dagger design with three banners reading WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE SCARY MOVIE, shown as a sticker on a wooden surface.
Dagger and banner with scary movie lettering
Traditional flash design of a one pint bottle holding two sailing ships, with a banner reading A Sailor's Grave over a skull and crossbones, flanked by red stars and green leaves.
Bottle with ships and a sailor's grave banner
Traditional-style flash design of two swallows above a red heart with flames and a LOVE banner on an orange background, shown without a body placement.
Swallows, heart and LOVE banner flash
Collage of six butterfly and moth tattoos on the back, thigh and upper arm, in watercolour, neo-traditional and bold outline styles.
Butterfly and moth tattoos on skin
Traditional style colour tattoo on a forearm showing a purple yarn skull with crossed knitting needles and orange banners reading KNIT FAST and DIE WARM.
Yarn skull with knitting needles on a forearm
Black and grey traditional tattoo on a forearm showing a skull within an ace of spades, banners reading Life is a gamble, roses, a crown and dice.
Ace of spades skull with dice and roses on forearm
Two matching traditional-style tattoos of linked hands with blue cuffs in front of an orange sun, on two forearms.
Matching linked hands and sun on forearms
Black traditional tattoo of an eye with a chequered crown, leaves and a dagger on the upper arm, shown against a white brick wall.
Eye with geometric crown on upper arm
Two traditional style dagger tattoos on calves: the left has a teal and red snake coiled around the blade, the right has a red rose with green leaves.
Daggers with snake and rose on two calves
Two crown tattoos on forearms in a traditional style: a red-filled crown with black outline on the left and a grey-shaded crown with pink gems on the right.
Two crown tattoos on forearms
Two colour traditional tattoos on forearms, one of a hand holding a lighter with a 'BEST' banner, the other a hand holding a joint with a 'BUDS' banner, both with cannabis leaves and red flowers.
Matching lighter and joint hand tattoos on forearms
Black line drawing of a striped bee with hatched wings holding a banner that reads HAPPY, shown as a tattoo design.
Bee with a HAPPY banner
Traditional style colour tattoo of a grey mouse in a red cape holding a stick, beside a hanging lantern, a cockroach and purple blossoms, on the thigh.
Mouse warrior with lantern and flowers on a thigh
Black and grey flash drawing of a dreamcatcher with a hanging feather, a comb and ornate scrollwork on either side, with no body placement shown.
Dreamcatcher with feather, comb and scrollwork
Traditional style tattoo of an elephant-headed deity with a red and cream ornate crown on the inner forearm, in black, red and cream ink.
Ganesh head with ornate crown on a forearm
Traditional style flash sheet showing a black heart with a pink rose and teal leaves, beside two black and gold hearts with a YOU SUCK banner and arrows, with no body placement shown.
Rose heart and banner hearts flash sheet
Colour traditional tattoo on a calf of a pin-up mermaid with a flower in her hair, surrounded by waves, pineapple, watermelon, orange slices, grapes and a pink flamingo inside a rope frame.
Mermaid and tropical fruit on a calf
Traditional-style colour tattoo of a man and a woman facing each other in profile inside a heart outline, with a purple flower in the corner.
Profile couple in a heart with a flower
Colourful sugar skull tattoo with a red rose above the eyes, on the top of a foot, in a traditional style with bold black outlines.
Sugar skull and rose on a foot
Two colour tattoos of a white cartoon cat in an ornate gold or silver frame, one with a pink ribbon banner and one with a pink bow, both on the thigh.
White cartoon cat in ornate frame on thigh
Colour traditional-style tattoo on a forearm of a cartoon woman with pink curly hair blowing a bubblegum bubble beside a milkshake, with a partly visible banner.
Cartoon woman blowing bubblegum on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a cheeseburger pierced by a black arrow, with bold outlines, on the outer thigh of a person wearing dark shorts.
Cheeseburger with an arrow on a thigh
A painted canvas showing a teal and pink swallow in traditional style holding a banner that reads HOPE, resting on a wooden floor.
Bird with HOPE banner painted on canvas