Because sometimes it’s just too hard to come up with that perfect tattoo from scratch, here are 54 amazing tattoo designs that will no doubt inspire your next tattoo.
This mesmerizing geometric chest piece.
There are conversation pieces and then there are, well, this. If you’re looking for a reason to never wear a shirt again, regardless of climate or venue, than this tattoo would definitely justify taking your shirt off at even the most inappropriate of times. After all, anyone coming to complain would no doubt get caught up in the mesmerizing spell of all this dotwork goodness and completely forget to explain to you why going shirtless in church was not acceptable. (Photo: Xnazax)
This stroboscope photography.
At first glance this piece looks like an X-ray of the human spine, but no, it’s stroboscope photography! You may have to look it up but apparently it’s some sort of photography that gives you a cool tracer image like the one above. Of course a design of this nature might be out of reach for most of you, considering Balazs said this was his most challenging piece to date, and he’s probably one of the top 5 tattoo artists in the world when it comes to detailed designs such as the one above. (Photo: Balazs Bercsenyi)
These armbands.
Now onto our favorite design on the list. If you’re a frequent reader then you know I love simple designs with crisp and clean lines. I’m partial to these sort of designs because they’re actually attainable, as opposed to many of the beautiful, yet utterly difficult designs on the list that maybe a hand full of people on the planet are capable of replicating. (Photo: Mathieu Kes)
This swirling halftone portrait.
Last year we put together a list dedicated to halftone tattoo designs, but nothing on that list really came close to the genius of this swirling portrait. (Photo: Igor Igoryoshi)
This sleeve in progress.
Considering that this sleeve isn’t even finished and all I can think about is who buys kidneys and is there any way I can get cuts in Jun’s ridiculously long waiting list, I think it’s safe to say Mr. Cha is my favorite tattoo artist at the time of this post. His classical style flows so smoothly, leaving nothing out of place. (Photo: Jun Cha)
This broken bottle.
This hand wielding a broken bottle is something you don’t see every day. We’ve been featuring Pawel’s work for quite some time now and we never get tired of raiding his Instagram page for his latest and greatest designs. There are dotwork tattoos and then there are dotwork tattoos. This is the latter. (Photo: Paweł Indulski)
This playing card.
One of two on the list. (Photo: Carin Silver)
This triangular galaxy glyph.
When it comes to tattoos, men typically fall into two categories. Those who embrace color and those who shun it. For all you color seekers out there, this is your next tattoo. A perfect triangle with galaxy fill. Or whatever else you interpret it to be. (Photo:Paulo Victor Skaz)
This dotwork diamond.
While everyone seems to have a thing for crowns this year, the dotwork diamond is by far the most impressive piece on this guy’s arm. There’s something about flawless lines, perfect symmetry, and dotwork shading that just begs to be appreciated. (Photo: Sara)
These tiger eyes.
Speaking of attention-grabbing tattoos, I wonder how many hours this guy will have held his arm in this position for people to admire his tattoo before everything is all said and done? We did a list last month dedicated to tiger tattoos and more than a few of these type of “tiger eye” designs were featured. (Photo: Turan Art)
