Tattoo inspiration is everywhere now.

Pinterest. Instagram. TikTok. Google Images. Screenshots from screenshots. That one tattoo you saw on someone’s arm in Tesco and tried to describe from memory later. We get it.

Most people do not walk into a tattoo studio with a fully formed original design living peacefully in their head. They come in with references. Saved images. Bits they like. Styles they’re drawn to. A general feeling of “something like this, but not exactly this.”

And that is completely fine.

In fact, reference images are useful. They help us understand your taste, your style, the sort of detail you like, the mood you’re going for, and what you mean when you say things like “delicate but not too dainty” or “dark but still pretty” or “witchy, but not Halloween.”

References are good.

Copying another artist’s tattoo exactly is where things get complicated.

At The Inkpot Studio, we’re always happy to look at inspiration images with you. But we won’t simply lift another artist’s custom tattoo and put the same thing on you line for line.

Not because we’re being difficult.

Because it matters.

A tattoo is someone else’s artwork

When you bring in a photo of a tattoo you love, it is easy to forget that it did not just appear out of the mist.

Someone designed it. Someone spent time drawing it, adapting it, placing it, tattooing it, and making it work for that specific person’s body.

Often, that tattoo was custom-made for the person wearing it. It might have personal meaning. It might have been designed around their body shape, existing tattoos, placement, story, style, or memories.

Copying it exactly takes something that was made for someone else and turns it into a duplicate.

That does not sit right with us.

Tattooing is an art form, and artists deserve respect for their work. Just as we wouldn’t want someone else copying one of Kelsey’s custom designs exactly, we don’t want to do that to another artist either.

You deserve your own tattoo

This is the bit that sometimes gets overlooked.

Avoiding direct copies is not just about protecting other artists. It is also about giving you something better.

You deserve a tattoo that was made for you.

Your body, your placement, your size, your style, your story, your taste. Not someone else’s design, fitted onto you because it happened to look nice in a photo.

A tattoo can be inspired by something without being a copy of it. That is where the good stuff usually happens.

You might love the composition of one tattoo, the shading style of another, the flowers from a third, and the overall mood of a fourth. That gives us something to work with. From there, we can create a design that has the feeling you like, but belongs to you.

That is the difference between copying and designing.

One is tracing a finished answer.

The other is understanding what you’re drawn to and building something original from it.

“But I want exactly that”

We understand.

Sometimes you find a tattoo online and it feels perfect. The shape, the placement, the size, the details — everything. It can feel frustrating to be told you can’t just have that exact one.

But there are a few things worth remembering.

First, that tattoo might not even work the same way on your body. Bodies are not flat pieces of paper. A design that sits beautifully on one person’s forearm might not flow the same on your wrist, shoulder, ribs, thigh, or ankle.

Second, the photo might be fresh, filtered, edited, or taken from the most flattering possible angle. It may not show how the tattoo healed.

Third, you might like it because of the overall style rather than every single detail. Once we talk it through, we can usually find what you actually love about it and keep that feeling without copying the design outright.

So when we say we won’t copy it exactly, we are not saying no to your idea.

We are saying, “Let’s make your version properly.”

References are still welcome

Please do not read this and think you can’t bring reference images.

Bring them.

Bring loads, if you need to. Bring the ones you love, the ones you almost love, and the ones where you only like one tiny bit in the corner. Bring examples of what you don’t want, too. That can be just as useful.

A reference image might show us:

• The style you like.
• The level of detail you’re drawn to.
• Whether you prefer soft shading or strong contrast.
• The type of linework you like.
• The mood of the piece.
• The size you had in mind.
• The kind of placement you’re considering.

That is all helpful.

What we’ll do is look at those references with you and talk through what parts matter most. Maybe it’s the shape. Maybe it’s the subject. Maybe it’s the way the design wraps around the arm. Maybe it’s the softness. Maybe it’s the drama. Maybe it’s just the general “ancient forest creature who knows too much” energy.

Whatever it is, we can work with that.

Copying is not the same as inspiration

Every artist is inspired by things.

Tattooing has always involved influence, tradition, reference, and shared visual language. Roses, daggers, skulls, moths, snakes, script, portraits, sacred hearts, ornamental patterns, animals, florals — these themes appear again and again.

That is normal.

The problem is not using a rose as a tattoo idea because someone else has a rose tattoo.

The problem is copying that exact rose, in that exact layout, with that exact shading, from that exact artist’s custom piece.

Inspiration means taking the idea, mood, subject, or style and creating a new design from it.

Copying means reproducing the same design with no real change.

There is a big difference.

What if the tattoo is flash?

Flash is a little different.

Flash designs are usually pre-drawn designs that an artist has made available to be tattooed. Some flash is repeatable, meaning multiple people can have it. Some flash is one-off, meaning once it’s claimed, it’s gone.

That depends on the artist.

If you bring in flash from another artist, we still need to be careful. If that artist created the flash for their own clients, it is not automatically ours to use. The right thing to do is book with that artist if you want that exact design, or ask whether they allow tattoo tickets or permission for another artist to tattoo it.

If you love the idea of a flash piece but can’t get that exact one, we can create something original in a similar direction — not a copy, but something with the same spirit.

What if it’s a famous image?

Sometimes people bring artwork, characters, symbols, album covers, film references, book illustrations, or other recognisable images.

That can be different again, depending on what it is and how it is being used.

A tattoo based on a famous painting, a public symbol, a pop culture reference, or a traditional design might be possible, but it still needs thought. We may adapt it, redraw it, stylise it, or change the composition so it works better as a tattoo.

The same rule applies: the goal is not to lazily duplicate something without care.

The goal is to make a good tattoo.

A custom tattoo takes more thought

This is why consultations and design time matter.

A proper custom tattoo is not just “draw the thing from the screenshot but slightly different so nobody can complain.”

It is more considered than that.

We need to think about size, placement, skin, flow, detail, contrast, longevity, and whether the tattoo will still make sense once it is healed and settled.

That takes time.

Sometimes your final design may look quite close in mood to your reference. Sometimes it may become something completely different once we understand what you like about it. That is part of the process.

Good custom work is collaborative. You bring the idea and the references. We bring the tattoo knowledge, design judgement, and honest advice.

Together, we land on something that works.

It protects everyone

Not copying other artists’ tattoos exactly protects the original artist. It protects the person who already has that tattoo. It protects the integrity of the design. It protects us as a studio.

And it protects you from ending up with a tattoo that was never really yours in the first place.

That might sound dramatic, but tattoos are personal. Even when they are decorative, they become part of you. They sit on your skin, age with you, and become part of how you see yourself.

It is worth taking a little extra time to get your own version.

Final thoughts

You are always welcome to bring tattoo inspiration to The Inkpot Studio.

Screenshots, Pinterest boards, old photos, sketches, vague descriptions, chaotic notes app lists — all welcome. We love helping people turn scattered ideas into something real.

But we won’t directly copy another artist’s custom tattoo.

Not because we’re being precious.

Because artists deserve respect, clients deserve originality, and your tattoo deserves to be more than a duplicate of something made for somebody else.

Bring us the inspiration.

Tell us what you love about it.

We’ll help create something that carries the same feeling, suits your body, works as a tattoo, and belongs to you.

Got a tattoo idea in mind? Book your free consultation with The Inkpot and we’ll help you turn it into something you’ll love.