Tattoo ideas

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

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Traditional colour tattoo of a pin-up sailor in an oval rope frame with a ship's wheel and daisies, across the upper back.
Pin-up sailor and ship's wheel on a back
Black ink tattoo on the upper back showing a witch on a broomstick, three birds, the words books are proof humans can do magic, and two geometric symbols.
Witch, birds and quote on upper back
Colourful watercolour-style tattoo of a dancing figure with flowing red, orange, pink and blue brushstrokes, placed on the upper back.
Watercolour dancer figure on a back
Tattoo on the upper back showing a pentagram inside a web-like circle between two crescent moons, with purple feathers, scrollwork and small stars.
Triple moon and pentagram feather design on back
Black and grey realism tattoo of a race car with the number 13 in front of a speedometer dial, placed on the upper back over the shoulder blade.
Race car and speedometer on upper back
Black and grey dotwork mandala tattoo with a seed of life motif and scale-patterned shapes across a person's upper back.
Seed of life mandala on upper back
Black and grey shaded butterfly tattoo on the upper back, with a handwritten quote in black script reading I'm a walking travesty but I'm smiling at everything.
Butterfly and handwritten quote on upper back
Black and grey script lettering reading Each day is a gift not a given right across the upper back, shown from behind with blonde hair and a knitted scarf.
Script quote across upper back
Sketchy orange and black tattoo of a bow with a ribbon trailing down the spine, with cursive script written on the ribbon, on the upper back and neck.
Bow and script ribbon on upper back
Black and grey outlined tattoo of a hand making a sign language gesture, placed on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Hand sign outline on upper back
Black linework tattoo of a stylised horse head with flowing mane on a woman's upper back near the shoulder blade, photographed from behind.
Black linework horse head on upper back
Black script lettering tattoo across a woman's upper back and shoulder blade, with a long braid falling over her left shoulder.
Script quote tattoo across upper back
Fine line colour tattoo of an open lavender wreath with green leaves and crossed stems, on the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Lavender wreath on upper back
Black fine line tattoo of a cross, a heartbeat line ending in a heart and the words Faith, Hope, Love across the upper back.
Cross, heartbeat and heart on upper back
Black and grey blackwork tattoo of a sun with eight patterned rays and three outlined stars on a person's upper back.
Sun with rays and three stars on upper back
Black fine line script tattoo reading We shall never part, running diagonally across a shoulder and upper back, shown in two close-up photographs.
We shall never part script on shoulder
Colour tattoo of a lotus flower within a fine line mandala on the upper back, shaded in red, orange and yellow.
Lotus mandala across upper back
Black and grey dotwork anatomical heart on the upper back, with a fine line heartbeat trace running to the right.
Anatomical heart with heartbeat line on back
Back view of a woman in a gold sequin dress showing a grey-blue bird tattoo on her upper back with pink flowers and green leaves trailing down her spine.
Bird and flowers on an upper back
Black and grey shaded dahlia tattoo with layered petals on the upper back, with a bra strap visible below it.
Dahlia tattoo across the upper back
Black and grey back tattoo in realism and geometric style, with a sun face medallion at the upper back, a tree with horse-drawn chariots at the lower back and a dotted border.
Sun face, tree and chariots across a back
Back view of a fine line black dragonfly tattoo with cross-hatched wings, sitting centrally between the shoulder blades on a person in a navy vest top.
Dragonfly tattoo on upper back
Traditional black and grey back tattoo of a large moth with filigree ornament above an animal and a row of roses, with a small red rose on the upper arm.
Moth, animal and roses across a back
Black and grey botanical tattoo of roses and swirling vines with Chinese characters above, across a woman's back, seen from behind.
Rose and vine tattoo on a woman's back
Woman seen from behind with a black lettering tattoo in Gurmukhi script across her upper back, between the shoulder blades.
Gurmukhi script across upper back
Black script lettering tattoo of a four-line rhyming poem across the upper back, close to the shoulder blade.
Four-line poem script on upper back
Black fine line tattoo of a Mickey Mouse head silhouette framed by scrolling swirls and small stars across the upper back.
Mickey Mouse silhouette and swirls on upper back
Full back tattoo of a hannya mask among pink cherry blossoms in Japanese style, with further tattoos visible on the upper arms.
Hannya mask and cherry blossom back piece
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a sun and crescent moon with hanging drops, centred on a person's upper back.
Sun and crescent moon with dangling drops on upper back
Black and grey realism tattoo of a moon filled with pine tree silhouettes, with a thin stem below, on the upper back of a person wearing a striped shirt.
Moon with pine trees on upper back
Black and grey dotwork and blackwork mandala tattoo with a radial geometric pattern, placed on the back.
Dotwork and blackwork mandala on the back
Woman seen from behind on a sandy beach, with a small black bird tattoo on her upper back near the shoulder blade.
Small bird tattoo on upper back at the beach
Black script lettering reading Pain is inevitable suffering is optional, with fine flourishes, across the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Script quote on upper back
Black and grey fine line phoenix with a long feathered tail tattooed across the back, with a small script word near the shoulder.
Phoenix with feathered tail across a back
Colourful neo-traditional tattoo on a back featuring Hello Kitty, a cupcake, a lollipop, purple flowers and hearts.
Hello Kitty, cupcake and flowers across a back
Dark brown tree of life with roots inside a circle, placed in the centre of a woman's upper back, in a botanical linework style.
Tree of life in a circle on a back
Back view of a person in a black cut-out swimsuit, with a small solid black cross tattoo on the upper back below the neckline.
Black cross tattoo on upper back
Collage of four panels showing colourful star, wand and wing designs, apparently temporary tattoos, on a hand, shoulder, upper arm and upper back.
Four star and wing designs on skin
Black Arabic script lettering tattoo running down the middle of a woman's back, seen from behind in a black open-back top.
Arabic script tattoo down a back
Woman seen from behind with a fine line black script tattoo running down her upper back between the shoulder blades.
Fine line script tattoo across the upper back
Black and grey realism tattoo of praying hands wrapped in a rosary in front of a cross, with banners reading Only God Can Judge Me, on the back.
Praying hands, rosary and banner tattoo
Fine line tattoo of five girls in dresses on the back, four drawn in outline and one solid black silhouette at the right.
Five girls in dresses on the back
Collage of four fine line infinity symbol tattoos with script wording, shown on a wrist, a finger and the upper back.
Infinity symbol tattoos in a four-photo collage
Colour tattoo of a gold compass with a red and blue compass rose and orange autumn leaves scattering across the upper back.
Compass and autumn leaves on the back
Black and grey realism tattoo of two roses with a black lace pattern across the upper back.
Two roses and lace on upper back
Realistic cherry blossom branch tattoo with pink petals and grey shaded stems, running from the shoulder down the side of a bare back.
Cherry blossom branch across a back
Large black and grey lion head tattoo with a flowing, patterned mane covering the upper and middle back.
Lion head tattoo across a back
Photograph of a red and black butterfly tattoo with a pink wash swirl and small star sparkles across the upper back near the shoulder blade.
Red butterflies in a swirl 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