33 Exciting Elbow Tattoos for Men in 2024

This men’s elbow tattoo uses a variety of black applications to create the illusion of armor. The artist demonstrates beautiful flow and dotwork shading to offset the large swathes of black ink, and I like the five holes at the center created with negative space.

IG: undulmood

This men’s elbow tattoo design is a classic black and gray link chain with spikes. The decision to avoid the painful part of the elbow works – the spiked chain is etched to look the same when the arm is bent or fully extended.

IG: derosario__

This is a unique and expressive collection of 3D nails tattooed around the point of the client’s elbow. The subtle use of black and gray lines and shading gives each nail individual characteristics and sizes, whether broken or still whole.

IG: yongha_blk

I love the combination of metal effects, off-kilter linework, and clever shading that creates this quicksilver elbow tattoo. Rather than use a metallic ink type, the artist skillfully created pockets of silver that give the throwing star shape a uniquely liquid appearance.

IG: breakkytime

I love how flat black ink contrasts against various shaded shapes and negative space lines in this men’s geometric mandala tattoo. The tremendous variation in whip-shading provides detail and depth to the piece as it radiates outward from the flower in flowing, curving waves of gray and black.

IG: kiwa_jip

An excellent pair of stylized eyes tattooed onto the client’s elbows. I love the emphasis on huge, thick, circular lines moving outward from a gray-shaded central pupil. The deliberately rough linework gives the design a freehand, painted feel despite being precise and exceptionally well-spaced.

IG: your_yuil

Mandala tattoos are rapidly becoming the go-to design choice for elbow ink, and for good reason. The ability for the design to fan outward from a central image – or, in this case, no picture – with various shading and pattern applications is excellent for the client’s and the artist’s creativity. This design uses different shading techniques to create pattern variations as it moves away from the negative space in the Mandala’s center.

IG: niki___niki___niki

This is my favorite elbow tattoo design in the gallery. I love combining vibrant colors contrasted against more conservative, realistic colors (shades of brown and green ink) and leaf patterns. These elbow tattoos juxtapose new-school art’s brightness with nature’s beauty.

IG: micotattoo

This new-school dragon tattoo design is worked around the elbow point, sinuously joining the upper and lower arm. The design features an excellent dark fantasy theme. The creature’s scales are inked to look like metallic armor. White ink creates unique patterns in the scales, with burnished silver metal plates on the underneath side.

IG: 47volt

I like the space created in this Mandala elbow tattoo, which gives the individual sections room to ‘breathe.’ A lot of untattooed space makes the concise geometric patterns, and pointillism application of shading stand out more than if the marks were clumped together.

IG: domjoeltattoo

I love this quirky elbow tattoo and the various globs of negative space that help the black ink pattern stand out. The cell-style application is open on the outside edges, implying that the random, vaguely circular shapes can continue forever.

IG: restraint_release

This clever Mandala elbow tattoo differs from versions featuring flower designs. Here, a well-crafted, realistic shaded eye is the centerpiece, conveying the idea of watching (or being watched). The surrounding geometric patterns do not feature any shading. Instead, they are inked using crisp linework of different thicknesses to make each pattern.

IG: lukeoakmantattoo

I like how this elbow tattoo is made to look like a smashed windscreen using only well-placed lashings of black ink. The pitch-black center makes it easier to create the ragged, jagged black lines that look like smashed pieces of glass, spider webbing outward in a thousand cracks.

IG: oghieflores_tattoo

This neo-tribal elbow tattoo uses interlocking tendrils of black ink in a circular pattern around the elbow’s point. I like that the design lacks uniformity, with different lengths overlaid in different ways, so they grow out haphazardly, much like a thicket of vines would.

IG: neotribaltattoo

This man’s tattoo is titled “broken elbow.” I love it; having broken an elbow once (a long time ago), I can still remember the pain – it matches this pattern almost perfectly, slash for slash. The design and delivery are simple but offer high impact, even more so if you know the tattoo’s concept.

IG: kevingimm

This abstract wave tattoo uses interesting applications to create a wash of wave water swirling around the point of the client’s elbow. I appreciate the fine details of black ink tattooing and the seemingly randomness of the water, but I would have struggled to identify the theme without the artist’s description of the piece.

IG: mak_twins

I love this bold black lock and chain tattoo where the oversized lock has been given a 3D effect. I like the design’s placement below the elbow, with the chains ‘disappearing’ into the skin on either side of the elbow’s point.

IG: sunhan.tattoo

I’ve never thought of a tattoo that would) show a shark’s jaw in realistic detail, let alone be tattooed on the elbow. This unique tattoo is just that, primarily using line art to depict the rows of the creature’s rows of teeth. It’s a fantastic concept that creates the illusion that the jaw is opening and closing whenever the client bends his arm.

IG: opulencenewry