How to Draw

TATTOOS
 How to

DRAW TATTOOS
Some tattoos just look better than others. But why? As
a beginner tattoo artist, it can be hard to figure out
what makes or breaks a tattoo...especially when you’re
staring at a blank page, trying to draw.



Tattoo artists know that designs that work with the

body will always look good...even if they aren’t tattooed
perfectly. On the other hand, a poorly-designed tattoo
will always look bad, even if you have perfect tattooing
technique.

Luckily, learning how to draw tattoos that work with the body isn’t too hard once you know
a couple tricks. By the end of this book, you’ll know how tattoo artists create drawings that
look great on skin…and how to draw tattoos yourself. In this book, we’ll break down how to:

Identify the “flow” of the body

Draw tattoos that flow with the shape of the body

Develop your tattoo drawing skills

Master one style that will allow you to begin tattooing faster

CHAPTER 1: tattoo designs age well on the client

Make sure your
 How to Draw Tattoos
Drawing tattoos that “Flow” with the Body
What is “flow”?
Human bodies are not made of straight lines and edges, but rather more organic, curved shapes.
Because of this, every part of the body “flows” in an S-shape.

Why does flow matter to a tattoo?

Working with the flow of a client’s body means creating a tattoo design that goes along with the lines
and curves of their body. This makes the tattoo look more dynamic (because it “moves” with the body)
and gives it a stronger aesthetic (because it “fits” that part of the body. It also ensures your design
doesn’t get warped over different bones and planes of the body.
How working with the flow improves a tattoo:

Just like well-fitting clothes, a tattoo that works with the lines of the body is more pleasing to the eye. A
tattoo that is not warped by the planes of the body not only looks better, but makes the overall design
more attractive. While designing a tattoo, try to place elements in a way that moves along those curves of
“flow.”


A good design that flows with the shape of the body will still look good, even if it is not tattooed perfectly.
In the same way, a poorly designed tattoo that is also placed poorly will stand out much more and be far
more difficult to repair later when your skills improve.

Pro Tip:

The way the muscles are placed under the skin is what gives the body "flow".
If you're struggling to identify the "flow", try to imagine how the muscles wrap
around the body.
 How to Draw Tattoos
Fitting Designs Within the Body’s Shape
What does “fitting” a tattoo mean?
Fitting a tattoo with a person’s body shape simply means aligning your design elements with the
“outline” of the person’s shape, whether you’re working on their arm, leg, torso, etc.

small elements like

leaves are “wrapped

around”

main elements stay tattoo works

within the body’s with the flow

shape to prevent
of the body
warping

Why is fitting a tattoo important?

While a design might look great on paper, a 3-D human body is a different matter. If your design is trying
to wrap around an elbow or reach around a shin bone, it’s going to look stretched on the client.

note: Most tattoo designs are long and skinny for this purpose.

While you can wrap simpler background elements around the body (for example, letting a few leaves or
waves reach around the back of the arm to extend the tattoo’s coverage), you do not want to do this with
the key elements of the tattoo (like faces, animals, intricate line work, etc.).
How to make sure a tattoo fits a body part correctly:

1 Print an image of the body part you are

designing the tattoo for. Screenshot an
image if you are using an iPad.

2 Place your tracing paper over the

image of the body part. Upload into
Procreate if you are using an iPad.

3 Outline the body part on your tracing

paper (remember to use a separate layer if
you are on an iPad). All the main parts of
the design should fit within this border.

4 Add a dotted line just outside the outline of

the body part (this is known as the wrap zone).
This is the part of the design that is allowed to
wrap around the body part. Make sure that only
background elements like leaves, clouds, waves,
etc extend into this section.

5 Draw your design within the constrains of the

lines you drew previously. Ensuring that only
non-essential back ground elements land in the
wrap zone.
Pro Tip:

Images of faces always look forward or inward. When the face is on the side of

the body, it should face forward and should not appear to be "looking back". If

the face is closer to the centerline of the body (inside of the shin, inside of the

upper arm, torso, ribs, chest, etc.), the face should always be looking inward

toward the body's center line.

 How to Draw Tattoos
How To Practice Drawing Tattoos

How do you create tattoos from scratch?



-The best way to learn how to draw your own tattoos is to first replicate other artists’ tattoo designs
without tracing them.

are 2D
Generally, traditional
tattoos are easier to draw use only one line weight (14 RL)
because they:
use “flat” colors (no complicated shading)

This makes them the perfect style to begin practicing on.

 Why You Should Practice Drawing

Other Artists’ Tattoos

Drawing other artists’ designs instead of trying to come up

with your own from the start lets you learn how to draw much

faster because:

You’ll be able to learn by Osmosis

Drawing designs created by professionals will help you

pick up on how they create strong designs that flow with

the body without having to figure it out by trial and error.

It’ll increase your output

Instead of running around in circles trying to figure out

what to draw and how to draw it, you’re simply recreating

another artwork. Getting rid of all the extra decisions

means you get to focus solely on improving your drawing

ability.
 How to Develop Your Drawing Skills Quickly

Organizing your practice and creating a drawing calendar will help you stay on track and

start drawing better designs fast:

Find a good tattoo artist you

Draw five designs each day 


admire (or a few, if you’d like).

over the course of 12 weeks,

Save pictures of their work (we

you’ll have a strong grasp on tattoo

recommend saving images in a Google

design, which means you can start

Drive folder), and create a drawing

creating your own designs from

calendar so that you have five references

scratch.
that you plan to draw each day.

Week Design Color Y/N Style Link to References

Rose Y American Traditional See our Rose Tutorial article here

Rose N American Traditional Rose 1

Rose Y American Traditional Rose 2

Rose Y American Traditional Rose 3

Dagger Y American Traditional Follow along with Brandon’s Dagger Tutorial

Dagger N American Traditional Dagger 1

Dagger Y American Traditional Dagger 2

Dagger Y American Traditional Dagger 3

Snake Y American Traditional Follow along with Brandon’s Snake Tutorial

Snake N American Traditional Snake 1

Snake Y American Traditional Snake 2

Snake Y American Traditional Snake 3

Skull Y American Traditional Follow along with Brandon’s Skull Tutorial

Skull N American Traditional Skull 1

Skull Y American Traditional Skull 2

Skull Y American Traditional Skull 3

 How to Draw Tattoos
How To Sketch In Stages
Drawing in “stages” means that
you build up your design in layers instead of trying to draw the final version of your image 

right away. This is important because it allows you to map out your basic shapes and get the right
proportions from the start. This saves you time and keeps you having to erase a whole design because
one piece is off or doesn’t flow well with the body. 



To draw in stages, we recommend using a red pencil to build up your basic shapes. You can use a blue
pencil to fill out details and finalize your design. We recommend using a black pen to go over your design
and create perfect line work, since you’ll use this final version as the stencil for your tattoo.

Tracing Sheet One: Tracing Sheet Two: Tracing Sheet Three: Flash Sheet:

Draw basic shapes 
 Build up shapes 
 Add details and 
 Strong, steady outlines & 

and outlines. and muscle memory. darker outlines.
add color if using color.

Pro Tip: When working on photorealism design (particularly with faces and
hands) trace your design from a reference photo. Tracing reference photos
will save you time and ensure your version of the image looks realistic.

For example, if you need to tattoo an image of a hand in a specific

position, take a reference picture of your own hand in the position
you need and trace that. From there, you can add details to make it
unique, whether you widen the eyes of a face or add stacks of rings
to a hand. Tracing isn’t cheating; it gives you the framework you
need to create a stunning tattoo.
 How to Draw Tattoos

“How to Draw Long-Lasting Designs”

Skin changes with age, which will affect their tattoos. When you’re creating a tattoo design,
you want to make sure that it will age well with the person’s body. Above is an example of
what happens as a tattoo ages. The lines thicken and expand. When designing a tattoo you
need to take this into account and limit the amount of intricate detail so that it still looks
good in 10 years or more time.

What causes designs to blur?

There’s a variety of reasons

Placing the ink too deep

that can cause a tattoo to blur

Too much detail in a small area,
overtime. Some of them, you
leading the lines to blur together
as the artist can cause:

However, many of these will Sudden weight loss or gain

be caused by the client and Pregnancy

the regular wear-and-tear of Body-building

the skin:
Sun exposure
Why is it important to take aging into account?

As a person ages, the ink under the skin will

spread and all the lines will eventually double
or even triple in thickness. If you don’t take
this into account when you design your
tattoos, in five years the lines will close up
together, and the tattoo will look like a messy
blob on the skin.

How to prevent tattoos from aging poorly:

As a person ages, the ink under the skin will spread and all the lines will dramatically triple in thickness. If
you don’t take this into account when you design your tattoos, in five years the lines will close up
together, and the tattoo will look like a messy blob on the skin.

Pro Tip: If your client is particularly concerned about a design blurring, you
can suggest either:

1 2
Place the tattoo where the skin
does not stretch as much
Place the tattoo in a place that
( like the shoulder, as opposed is almost always protected from
to the abdomen).
the sun by clothing.