Swirl tattoo ideas

3,253 photos and flash · 24% Botanical, 17% Fine line · Forearm most common

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Five views of a colourful full sleeve tattoo in neo-traditional and Japanese-inspired style, showing birds, swirling clouds and rays across the upper arm and forearm.
Colourful bird and cloud full sleeve
Black and grey tattoo of a looping cross with swirled ends on the side of the ribs.
Looped cross tattoo on the side ribs
Colourful swirl-patterned tattoo of a stylised animal head on the neck behind a woman's ear.
Swirling animal head behind the ear
Colour tattoo of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas on the inner forearm, with a purple head, black bow tie and blue swirling background.
Jack Skellington on a forearm
Black and grey Japanese-style tattoo of a wolf with swirling clouds on the upper arm and shoulder, shown from two angles.
Wolf and swirling clouds on upper arm
Black linework tattoo of stars and swirling lines on the side of a torso, just above the waistband.
Stars and swirls on the side of the torso
Fine line single-line tattoo of two facing cats with flowing wave-like strokes on the outer thigh, in reddish-brown ink.
Two facing cats in single line on thigh
A full sleeve tattoo of feathered wings in grey and beige with red shading, running from the upper arm down to the wrist on a man wearing a white vest.
Feathered wing full sleeve tattoo on an arm
Black dotwork tattoo of swirling dots and curls across a woman's upper back and shoulder, with a striped top visible at the edge of the frame.
Dotwork swirl tattoo across a shoulder blade
Black tattoo of a sitting cat with a white-faced head, surrounded by red swirling vines, flowers and stars on a forearm.
Cat silhouette with red vines on a forearm
Black ink infinity symbol with three script names and a small butterfly on the forearm, in a fine line style.
Infinity symbol with names and butterfly
White ink lettering tattoo reading Believe, with swirling flourishes, on the forearm.
Believe script on a forearm
Black ink drawing of a symmetrical lotus flower with swirling inner petals, dotted accents and a trailing stem, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Lotus flower tattoo design
Shaded blue rose with black vine swirls and a dangling beaded rosary ending in a cross, tattooed on the ankle.
Blue rose and rosary on an ankle
Solid black anchor design with sweeping tribal-style lines curving out from either side, drawn as a flash design on a white background.
Anchor with tribal flourishes
Close-up of a solid black tribal-style bird head tattoo with a swirl detail, on a forearm.
Tribal bird head tattoo on a forearm
Black ornamental design of a stag head with swirling antlers, dotted linework and floral patterns on a white background.
Ornamental stag head design in black
Black tribal swirl tattoo across the lower abdomen, photographed in black and white with an orange belt and a navel piercing with a dragonfly charm.
Tribal swirl tattoo on the abdomen
Black fineline drawing of a dense floral design with leaves, paisley swirls and flower heads, being inked by hand with a fineliner pen.
Hand-drawn floral design with fineliner
Black line drawing of a heart formed from curling vines, scrolls and small leaves on a white background, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Swirling vine heart design
Photo of a Japanese style tattoo of two cranes in flight with black swirling linework across a man's shoulder and upper chest.
Two cranes and swirls on shoulder and chest
Black and grey back tattoo of corset lacing with leaf scrollwork over the shoulder blades and swirling flourishes on the lower back.
Corset lacing and leaf scrollwork across a back
Ornate line drawing of an owl perched on a branch, with detailed feather patterning and swirling ornament, shown as a tattoo design without any body placement.
Ornate owl perched on a branch
Black and grey ornamental swirl tattoo on a lower leg above the ankle, with a multicoloured snakeskin print peep-toe stiletto shoe.
Black and grey swirl tattoo on a lower leg
Six views of a full colour sleeve tattoo on an arm, with red and orange lilies, blue swirls and bubbles on a black background.
Colourful lily full sleeve from six angles
Black tribal feather tattoo with swirl details sitting on the upper chest near the collarbone.
Tribal feather on upper chest
Close photograph of a black tribal tattoo with a reddish flower on a woman's upper chest, extending toward the shoulder.
Polynesian tribal and flower chest tattoo
Two matching fine line star swirl tattoos on a pair of calves, one with an orange star and one with a purple star.
Matching star swirl tattoos on two calves
Black and grey shaded tattoo of large outlined stars and swirling smoke-like shading across a shoulder and upper arm.
Stars and swirls across shoulder and upper arm
Black and grey dotwork and linework tattoo of a rearing horse with flowing mane and swirling ornamental patterns on the outer thigh.
Rearing horse with ornamental detail on thigh
Black tribal tattoo with spiral and swirl motifs covering a shoulder and upper arm.
Tribal spiral piece on a shoulder
Black line drawing of a curving musical staff with a treble clef, several notes, two roses and floral swirls, shown as a tattoo design.
Musical staff with treble clef and roses
Realistic owl face tattoo with orange eyes and grey feather shading, set among swirling tribal-style lines on the upper arm.
Owl face tattoo on upper arm
Black ink botanical mandala with a curled figure in a circle, covering a rounded bare abdomen, in a blackwork and botanical style.
Floral mandala with curled figure on a belly
Black and grey Japanese style full sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm, showing armour plates, a scale pattern and swirling shapes.
Japanese armour sleeve on an arm
Black line drawing of a three-part curled swirl with thin vine tendrils and small leaves on a white background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Three-part swirl with leaves and tendrils
Black and grey butterfly and scrollwork tattoo on the lower back, with shaded butterfly wings and bold swirling linework.
Butterfly and scroll tattoo on lower back
Two photographs of butterfly tattoos on a woman's upper back: a black linework butterfly with swirling vines on the left, and blue and teal butterflies on the shoulder blade on the right.
Butterflies on upper back and shoulder blade
Black linework drawing of a stylised wolf head with swirling tendrils, shown as a tattoo-style design on a pale grey background.
Stylised wolf head with swirling linework
Black line drawing of the word strength in flowing script, with an infinity loop swash looping around it, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Strength script with infinity loop
Black tribal-style kangaroo tattoo with swirl detail and two lines of coordinates on the outside of an ankle, above white canvas trainers.
Tribal kangaroo with coordinates on an ankle
Black fine line tattoo of flowing swirls, curls and dots on the top of a foot, photographed against a pale tiled floor.
Black swirl ornament on the top of a foot
Black outline tattoo of angel wings with a halo above and curled swirls at the base, on a patch of skin.
Angel wings with halo tattoo
Black ink line drawing of an ornate cross-shaped filigree design with swirls and loops, shown on grey paper.
Ornate cross filigree design
Black fine line tattoo of a winged angel with flowing swirling lines, shown on bare skin.
Flowing angel tattoo in black linework
Small watercolour-style blue wave tattoo curling into a circle on a forearm, with a black outline paper boat inside.
Blue watercolour wave with paper boat on a forearm
Small black ornamental cat tattoo with swirling curled tail on a person's lower stomach above light denim shorts.
Ornamental sitting cat on the stomach
Black outline tattoo of the words Don't dream it, be it in serif capitals with swirling flourishes, on the inside of a forearm near the wrist.
Don't dream it, be it quote on the forearm