Tiger Tattoo Sketch

Loose ink lines and splashes of orange watercolor shape the head of a tiger turned in three-quarter view. Its gaze drifts off to the left, pale eyes calm under a furrowed brow, and a pink nose and a fan of fine whiskers sit above a white muzzle. Toward the neck, the strokes thin out into scratchy hatching and a pale wash, as if the artist had stopped mid-sketch.

A watercolor study of a tiger

The unfinished edges are the charm of this style: ink sketches the ears, the stripes and the ruff, and patches of rust, orange and soft peach spill past the lines. The result looks like a page from an artist's notebook, a quieter take on the tiger than the classic snarling face. It sits well on an outer forearm, a shoulder or the side of the calf. The symbolism behind the big cat is covered in our article on what a tiger tattoo means, and more designs in ink and color are gathered in our tiger temporary tattoo collection.

Size and ingredients

The design is listed at 15x21 cm and is applied with a moistened sponge. The listed ingredients are an acrylates copolymer, propylene glycol, petrolatum, linseed and soybean oils, mineral oil and color pigments including iron oxides and titanium dioxide.