InkCraftSmall tattoos for women, from ear to ankle
32 women's small tattoos photographed on skin for InkCraftBy Uladzimir TumanauUpdated
These are our designs photographed on women, in small spots: behind the ear, on a finger, hand, wrist, collarbone, hip, ankle or foot. Blackwork, dotwork, fine line and biomechanical work lead the set, and lilies share it with skulls, a shark and an anchor.
- new school · colourTry it on — Color new school tattoo on a woman's wrist
- tribal · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white tribal lily tattoo on a woman's ankle
- dotwork · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey dotwork skull tattoo on a woman's finger
- tribal · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white tribal tattoo behind a woman's ear
- dotwork · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey dotwork tattoo on a woman's collarbone
- ornamental · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey ornamental ornament tattoo on a woman's hand
- blackwork · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white blackwork tattoo on a woman's foot
- fine line · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white fine line shark tattoo on a woman's hip
- blackwork · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white blackwork lily tattoo on a woman's wrist
- ornamental · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey ornamental flowers tattoo on a woman's ankle
- biomechanical · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey biomechanical figure tattoo on a woman's finger
- new school · colourTry it on — Color new school moon tattoo behind a woman's ear
- watercolor · colourTry it on — Color watercolor elephant tattoo on a woman's collarbone
- geometric · colourTry it on — Color geometric compass tattoo on a woman's hand
- biomechanical · colourTry it on — Color biomechanical tattoo on a woman's foot
- Japanese · colourTry it on — Color Japanese koi fish tattoo on a woman's hip
- watercolor · colourTry it on — Color watercolor compass tattoo on a woman's wrist
- fine line · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white fine line cross tattoo on a woman's ankle
- geometric · colourTry it on — Color geometric lion tattoo on a woman's finger
- blackwork · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white blackwork tattoo behind a woman's ear
- tribal · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white tribal butterfly tattoo on a woman's collarbone
- traditional · colourTry it on — Color traditional raven tattoo on a woman's hand
- fine line · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white fine line angel tattoo on a woman's foot
- neo traditional · colourTry it on — Color neo traditional tattoo on a woman's hip
- dotwork · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey dotwork snake tattoo on a woman's wrist
- illustrative · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey illustrative flower tattoo on a woman's ankle
- Japanese · colourTry it on — Color Japanese cat tattoo on a woman's finger
- dotwork · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey dotwork tattoo behind a woman's ear
- blackwork · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white blackwork rose tattoo on a woman's collarbone
- fine line · black and whiteTry it on — Black and white fine line tattoo on a woman's hand
- biomechanical · black and greyTry it on — Black and grey biomechanical tattoo on a woman's foot
- biomechanical · colourTry it on — Color biomechanical tattoo on a woman's hip
Every pair is one tattoo: the design as it was drawn, and a photograph of that same design on the body.
These 32 tattoos in small spots on women, in numbers
- Body parts
- 8
- Black and grey
- 20
- Colour
- 12
- Most common style
- biomechanical
Behind the ear and along the collarbone
In all four behind-the-ear photographs the hair is pulled back or tucked behind the ear, and that is the condition in which these pieces are seen. Worn loose past the jaw, the same hair covers a design set directly behind the lobe, like the solid black sunburst and the dotwork lily. The tribal bird and the new-school moon face sit lower, on the upper neck, and show under a ponytail and above most collars.
The skin there lies thin over the bone behind the ear and changes little with weight or age, so a design keeps its proportions for decades. That favours a firm outline over a soft gradient, and the photographs follow it: three of the four are solid black or dotwork, and the moon face keeps its blues inside a heavy black edge.
The collarbone photographs were all taken in wide or off-the-shoulder necklines, and each design sits on the outer half of the bone, towards the shoulder, rather than in the hollow at the centre: a dotwork bee, a watercolour elephant, a tribal butterfly and a blackwork rose. Placed there, a piece stays clear of a necklace, which settles at the centre, and of the pendant that swings over it.
Fingers, hands and wrists
Three of the four finger pieces run most of the length of the finger from the knuckle: a dotwork skull, a geometric lion in colour and a Japanese cat among cherry blossom. That is the room a finger really offers, a strip about as wide as the nail and around seven centimetres long, and each design is drawn tall and narrow to use it rather than shrunk to a dot on one segment. The fourth, a biomechanical piece, spreads from the fingers across the back of the hand.
The wrists and hands lean on shapes that work at a glance: a blackwork lily, a dotwork snake coiled through irises, a watercolour compass, a traditional raven with flowers. Among the best-known wrist tattoos is still the thin bracelet Lyle Tuttle put on Janis Joplin in San Francisco in 1970. None of the four wrist pieces here wraps the wrist like that, so each leaves the outer side free for a watch or a bracelet.
The hands run from a fine line desert of mesas and cactus inside a diamond to a filigree ornament that trails from the knuckles down the back of the hand. The filigree follows the layout of bridal mehndi in South Asia, where the pattern covers the fingers and continues across the hand to the wrist. Both are open drawings with bare skin between the lines, which is what lets them sit on a hand without looking heavy, and what will need refreshing first.
Hips, ankles, feet and what covers them
The hip pieces are among the largest here, sized for the side of the body rather than for a pocket: a fine line shark and a Japanese koi above a waistband, a pair of neo-traditional cardinals and a biomechanical carnation above a bikini tie. Two were photographed in swimwear, because that is when a hip tattoo is actually seen. Low-rise trousers show the top edge, and most other clothes cover all of it. Biomechanics, the style that leads this set alongside three others, grew out of the work H. R. Giger drew for Alien in 1979.
Feet are where small work is tested hardest. Shoe straps, trainers and the edge of a sock rub the same line every day, and the skin on top of the foot is thin over tendon, so bold outlines last and fine lines break up. The blackwork anchor, a sailors' mark for well over a century, should hold best of the four foot pieces; the fine line angel on the instep is the one to expect to refresh.
Around the ankle the designs either wrap or climb: an ornamental band of flowers curling from the ankle bone onto the foot, a tribal lily, a fine line cross and an illustrative flower in full bloom above the bone. The tribal lily and the tribal butterfly on the collarbone use the black flame shapes of late-1990s tribal flash, set here on a flower and an insect rather than round an arm.
Common questions
- Will loose hair cover a tattoo behind the ear?
- It covers one set directly behind the lobe whenever the hair falls past the jaw, and it shows when the hair is tied back or tucked. A design that runs lower onto the neck, like the tribal bird and the moon face here, shows under a ponytail and is hidden only by long loose hair or a high collar.
- What fits on a finger besides one tiny symbol?
- A tall, narrow design that uses the length of the finger. Three of the four finger pieces here, a skull, a lion and a cat, run most of the way from the knuckle towards the nail. The cost is the knuckle creases they cross, which soften first, so keep the lines bold enough that a softened crease does not break the drawing.
- How big is a hip tattoo compared with a wrist one?
- Several times bigger as a rule. The hip pieces in this set run from about the waistband towards the top of the thigh, a palm-length or more, because the side of the body is a large, gently curved surface. A design sized for the inner wrist looks lost there, and one sized for the hip will not fit a wrist at all.
- Do foot tattoos survive shoes and sandals?
- Bold ones do, with a touch-up now and then; fine ones fade in patches wherever a strap or the top of a trainer rubs. Sandals add sun, which fades pale work fastest. Of the four foot pieces here, the blackwork anchor and the two biomechanical pieces are built for it, and the fine line angel is the fragile one.
See it on your own skin first
InkCraft places a design on a photo of you — scaled, wrapped and shaded to the spot you pick, so you can judge the size against your own body before it is permanent.