Tattoo ideas

49,007 photos and flash · 24% Fine line, 17% Lettering · Forearm most common

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Collage of five photos of a forearm and elbow with small fine line black tattoos, including a flower sprig, eyelashes, script words, a tiny triangle and a pinky promise hand.
Fine line forearm tattoos in a five-photo collage
Black silhouette tattoo of a cat on a crescent moon, with bats and stars, on a person's upper back, photographed from behind.
Cat on crescent moon with bats and stars
Black and grey owl tattoo with crosshatched wings and a small heart on its belly, sitting on the inner forearm with a small red ladybird tattoo nearby.
Owl tattoo on the forearm
Black ink dotwork drawing of an anchor with a circular medallion showing a sun, palm trees and a small island above the sea.
Anchor with palm tree island medallion
Black and grey realistic orchids with flowing script lettering across an upper arm and shoulder tattoo.
Black and grey orchids with script on upper arm
Small solid black pine tree tattoo on the inner forearm, with slight redness around the skin.
Small pine tree on the inner forearm
Hand-drawn botanical tattoo design of pink flowers, leaves and dark scroll swirls on a pale sheet of paper.
Pink flowers and swirls line design
Realistic black and grey tattoo of a clock face with a teal eye on the forearm, with Roman numerals and clock hands around it.
Realistic eye and clock face on a forearm
Realism tattoo of two Great Danes, one harlequin and one dark, with blue script reading Absolute Dane on the calf.
Two Great Dane portraits with Absolute Dane script
Black linework mandala design with five scalloped petals, paisley motifs, dotted borders and hatched edges, shown as a flash drawing with no body placement.
Five-petal mandala flower design
Three views of a full arm sleeve tattoo in Japanese style, showing a man rowing a boat on blue waves and a red octopus with suckers on the upper arm and forearm.
Full sleeve of a boatman, waves and red octopus
Black and grey botanical tattoo of two roses with small wildflowers and leaves wrapping around the inner forearm.
Roses and foliage on a forearm
Small fine-line tattoo of a heart formed from treble and bass clefs in blue-purple ink on the side of a finger.
Clef heart tattoo on a finger
Fine line black script tattoo reading courage across an ankle, with a second bare foot resting against it on a white background.
Courage script on an ankle
Close photo of three black fine line ant tattoos decreasing in size along a forearm, each shaded with grey.
Three ants marching down a forearm
Black handwritten script reading 'This too shall pass.' on a plain white background, a lettering design suited to a fine line tattoo.
Handwritten 'This too shall pass' lettering
Black ink drawing of a key whose bow forms a bare tree, shown as a tattoo design on a plain white background.
Key with a bare tree bow
Black and grey botanical tattoo of an oak leaf and two acorns with dotted shading, placed on the forearm.
Oak leaf and acorns on a forearm
Dark black and grey tattoo sleeve on the upper arm and forearm of a woman in an orange crochet bikini, standing among large green leaves.
Black and grey sleeve on an upper arm
Realism style colour tattoo of red roses with black lace and beaded chains, and two feathers, on a woman's upper arm and shoulder.
Red roses and feathers on upper arm
Loose ink sketch of a hummingbird in mid-flight with black and teal linework on a pale grey background, drawn as a possible tattoo design.
Hummingbird sketch in black and teal ink
Black and white photo of a woman seen from behind, with a small solid black silhouette of a cat with an arched back tattooed on her upper back near the shoulder blade.
Small black cat tattoo on upper back
Colour tattoo of Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas inside a grey stitched heart, shown on skin.
Jack and Sally in a stitched heart
Black fine line script reading faith with a thin trailing line on the inside of a wrist, set against purple and pink petunias.
Faith script with fine line on a wrist
Black and grey botanical tattoo of a bare tree with exposed roots and falling leaves, with a Celtic knot at the trunk, across the centre of a lower back.
Bare tree with roots and falling leaves on a back
Fine line black tattoo of a vertical line, a small coil and looping swirls on the inner forearm, with a short line of script tattooed nearer the wrist.
Fine line loops and script on a forearm
Black handwritten script reading flawless followed by a full stop, drawn as a lettering tattoo design on a plain white background.
Flawless handwritten script design
Close view of a black blackwork-style ornamental tattoo across the back of a hand, with a darker tattoo on the forearm beside a steel wristwatch.
Black ornamental tattoo on hand and forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a pocket watch with Roman numerals, two roses and leaves on a forearm.
Pocket watch and roses on a forearm
Black linework lotus flower with ornamental drops and dotwork detail running down the centre of a woman's upper back, seen from behind.
Lotus and ornamental spine tattoo on upper back
Grey shaded fishing hook tattoo with the word Dad in script inside its curve and a red heart-shaped barb, on the top of a foot.
Fishing hook with Dad script on foot
Black and grey tattoo of a snarling cat head with bared fangs and dotted shading, on a lower leg, in a traditional blackwork style.
Snarling cat head on a calf
Black script lettering tattooed on the inner wrists of two hands, reading It's Only Forever and Not Long At All.
Script quote tattoos on both wrists
A man in a grey felt hat and white t-shirt, face hidden by the brim, with a partly visible dark tattoo on his upper arm.
Man in felt hat with partly visible arm tattoo
Two photographs of small black typewriter-style lettering tattoos on the inner forearm, reading heart over mind and courage over fear, with a dark knit sleeve pushed up.
Typewriter words on forearm: heart, mind, courage, fear
Black and grey tattoo of a cartoon cat with a bow, small wings and a bow and arrow, surrounded by outlined hearts, on the upper arm.
Cartoon cat with hearts on upper arm
Black and white pen drawing of a faceted crystal built from dotwork stippling, with a straight line cutting diagonally across it and a black fineliner pen above.
Stippled faceted crystal design on paper
Colour traditional tattoo of a stack of books with lettered spines reading There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more, on a lower arm.
Stacked book spines with lettering on a forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a banknote portrait with a weathered face, framed by bill edges, on a calf, with a partial crown tattoo below.
Banknote portrait tattoo on a calf
Close-up of a small black fine line wave tattoo on the inner wrist, with a silver wave-shaped bangle and a turquoise sea behind.
Small wave tattoo on a wrist
Black and grey photo of an ornate elephant tattoo with its trunk raised, placed on the upper back of a woman seen from behind with her hair tied up.
Ornate elephant on upper back
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of an antlered hare in profile, with detailed shading, on the outer thigh.
Antlered hare on a thigh
Black fine line rose with leaves on the inner forearm of a woman in a striped top, with a shaded foliage tattoo on the upper arm.
Rose line art on a forearm
Neo-traditional style design of an owl's face and wing inside an ornate heart frame with a beaded border and scrollwork, in brown and grey tones.
Owl within an ornate beaded heart
Colour neo-traditional sleeve tattoo on an upper arm showing two barn owls, pink flowers and leaves.
Barn owls and pink flowers on an upper arm
Realistic grey plate armour tattoo with rivets and a fleur-de-lis emblem covering a man's shoulder and upper arm, shown from three angles.
Plate armour shoulder and arm sleeve
Traditional style tattoo of a grey globe with a woman's profile, a red and orange butterfly and red and orange flowers on the outer thigh.
Globe, butterfly and flowers on a thigh
Fine line black tattoo of two small dog faces on the inner forearm, one looking up and one facing forward.
Two small dog portraits on a forearm

Ideas by style

Fine line Traditional Blackwork Japanese Dotwork Neo-trad Realism Lettering Botanical Geometric

Ideas by placement

Forearm Upper arm Shoulder Back Chest Ribs Thigh Calf Ankle Hand Neck

Popular subjects

Flower 8,605 Script 6,821 Leaves 6,438 Rose 4,399 Heart 4,105 Lettering 3,720 Bird 3,605 Feather 3,392 Quote 3,385 Swirl 3,253 Star 3,037 Dot 3,012 Text 2,685 Mandala 2,563 Wing 2,537 Word 2,200 Circle 2,163 Hand 1,970 Skull 1,900 Cat 1,806 Petal 1,805 Stem 1,695 Triangle 1,678 Outline 1,574 Arrow 1,573 Ornament 1,552 Banner 1,537 Eye 1,508 Woman 1,494 Moon 1,451