Tattoo ideas

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

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Realistic shaded purple ribbon tattoo with the word Dad and a hanging rosary cross, on the upper back.
Purple ribbon, rosary and cross with Dad
Colour tattoo reproducing Van Gogh's The Starry Night on a woman's upper back and shoulder, with swirling blue and yellow sky and a dark cypress tree.
Starry Night tattoo on the upper back
Realism style black and grey tattoo of a winged hourglass with rays, roses and diamonds across the upper back.
Winged hourglass with roses on upper back
Fine line black outline tattoo of a world map with the word wanderlust in script, on a woman's upper back near the shoulder blade.
World map outline with wanderlust script on upper back
Three side-by-side views of a full back tattoo in colour, with blue waves and a figure on one side and orange flames on the other, shown on a bare back.
Full back piece, water and fire split, three views
Back view of a woman in a black dress with black and grey wing tattoos on her shoulder blades, an ouroboros on the mid-back and bands on her upper arm.
Wings and ouroboros on a back
Close-up of a small black fine-line geometric arrow tattoo on the upper back between the shoulder blades, beside the straps of a black open-back top.
Geometric arrow tattoo on upper back
Four small black sea turtle tattoos in a diagonal line with faint swirls behind them, on a woman's upper back near the shoulder blade.
Four sea turtles across the upper back
Colour tattoo of a cartoon fairy with teal wings sitting on the upper back, near the shoulder blade, of a woman seen from behind.
Cartoon fairy tattoo on upper back
Small black script tattoo on the upper back of a woman with her hair in a bun, photographed from behind against a city skyline.
Small script tattoo on upper back
Black and grey dandelion tattoo with light blue wash and drifting seeds across the upper back, in a soft botanical style.
Dandelion seeds drifting across the upper back
Traditional-style tattoo of two skulls and a banner on the upper back of a person in a white lace dress, with tattooed hands holding beer bottles.
Skull and banner tattoo on a lace-backed dress
Woman seen from behind in a forest with a black and grey wolf head tattoo on her upper back.
Wolf head tattoo on a woman's back
Black and grey realism tattoo covering a whole back, showing a winged figure standing in water beneath mountains, sun rays, birds and trees.
Full back landscape with winged figure
Black sketched portrait with a red lightning bolt tattoo on a person's upper back near the shoulder blade.
Sketched portrait with lightning bolt on back
Colour cartoon tattoo of a grey winged unicorn with a pink mane and tail, followed by pink-iced cupcakes, on a person's lower back.
Cartoon unicorn trailing cupcakes on the lower back
Large black lace-style tattoo on a person's back, with symmetrical paisley scrollwork, flowers and filigree running down the spine.
Lace-style back tattoo with flowers
Cartoon collage of eleven tattoo designs, including a PIN and password on the chest, an Apple logo on an upper arm, and the words Mrs Christian Grey on a ribbon.
Eleven badly judged tattoo ideas illustrated
Back view of a woman showing a large black and grey St George and dragon tattoo across her back, with a colour floral sleeve on her upper arm.
St George and dragon across a back
Black and grey Japanese full back tattoo of a lion dog, tiger, clouds and lotus flowers, with a cicada on the upper arm.
Full back Japanese lion dog and tiger piece
Black and grey realism back tattoo showing a woman in a fedora with a band across her eyes, two birds, and handwritten script on the upper and mid back.
Realistic back piece with woman in hat and birds
Woman seen from behind with a blue botanical tattoo of a flower bouquet in Delft-style blue and white shading, placed between the shoulder blades on her upper back.
Blue Delft-style floral bouquet on upper back
Shaded guitar neck and body with a swirling musical staff and notes across the upper back, in grey and purple ink.
Guitar and musical notes on upper back
Black fine line vine and leaf tattoo across the back, shoulder and upper arm of a woman photographed from behind with her hair up.
Vine and leaf tattoo across a back
Black typewriter-style lettering across the upper back reads nothing of me is original, with the person's face out of frame.
Typewriter quote tattoo across upper back
Split image showing a faded lion outline on a bare upper back on the left and a black and grey realism roaring lion tattoo on the shoulder on the right.
Roaring lion realism, before and after
Colour tattoo of a sunset landscape with a crescent moon, palm tree and pine trees inside a black hexagon, placed in the centre of the upper back.
Hexagon landscape with sunset on upper back
Black lace-pattern bow tattoo centred on the upper back, shown in a blackwork style, with a small line of script to the left.
Lace bow tattoo on the upper back
Black and grey compass rose tattoo with fine lines and N, E, S and W markings on the centre of a bare lower back, with hands visible at the edges of the frame.
Compass rose tattoo on the lower back
Black ornate cross tattoo on the upper back of a woman with her blonde hair in an updo, shown in a three-photo collage with a close-up of the cross.
Ornate cross tattoo on upper back
Shaded grey cross with a rainbow monarch butterfly tattoo across its lower arm, placed on the upper back.
Cross and butterfly on upper back
Black and grey tattoo of a hooded, cloaked figure reaching towards a triangle symbol with a vertical line, placed on the upper back.
Hooded figure and triangle symbol on upper back
Black and white photo of a back covered in an antique world map tattoo, spanning the shoulders, neck and upper arms.
Antique world map tattoo across back
Black fine-line dotwork constellation tattoo of stars and connected dots on a woman's upper back, below the shoulder blade.
Constellation tattoo on upper back
Full back tattoo in colour and black and grey, showing red poppies, pink flowers, black lace patterning and a dragon head at the lower back.
Poppies, lace and dragon across a full back
Fine line and dotwork tattoo of a woman with curly hair hugging a dark circular galaxy with coloured planets and a ringed Saturn, placed on the upper back.
Woman embracing a galaxy on the upper back
Back view of a loose black brushstroke bird tattoo across the upper back, with sweeping red ink lines crossing the skin.
Black brushstroke bird on upper back
Black and white photo of a person seen from behind with a small solid black crescent moon tattoo on the upper back near the shoulder.
Crescent moon tattoo on upper back
Blue and teal mandala tattoo with a yellow centre and black linework, placed on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Blue mandala on upper back
Black dotwork and linework tattoo of a tent, pine trees, a campfire and stars on a person's upper back.
Camping scene on upper back
Small fine line tattoo of a cat sitting on a crescent moon, placed on the lower back of a person with dark hair.
Cat sitting on a crescent moon on the lower back
Colour floral vine tattoo across a bare back, with red and orange mandala-style flowers, black swirling stems and green leaves.
Floral vine tattoo across a back
Black knotwork vine tattoo with small red, yellow, blue and teal flowers, a heart and a butterfly, on a person's upper back near the shoulder blade.
Knotwork vine with coloured flowers on upper back
Black and grey owl perched on a branch with leaves, tattooed across the upper back in a shaded traditional style.
Owl on a branch with leaves
Black and grey blackwork tattoo of a tree on a man's upper back, with its solid dark foliage on the left turning into bare branches and a flock of birds rising over the right shoulder.
Tree dissolving into birds on a back
Black and white photo of a fine line geometric tattoo of a horizontal bar with inverted triangles and a small crown motif on the upper back, near the neck.
Fine line triangles on upper back
Close-up of a black blackwork tattoo of three stacked yin yang style symbols with two small dots below, on a person's upper back between the shoulder blades.
Stacked yin yang symbols on the upper back
Black and grey neo-trad style tattoo on a back showing two embracing figures, a clock face, an owl and scroll banners with lettering.
Embracing figures, owl and clock on upper back

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