How to use someone else’s tattoo
as a reference

A finished tattoo often feels safer than an idea that still needs to be developed.

When you see a completed tattoo on someone’s body, it is easier to imagine how something similar might look on you. The motif, arrangement, details and overall impression have already been resolved.

That is why people often show a photograph and say, “I want this.”

That does not mean they are deliberately trying to take someone else’s work. Often, they simply do not know another way to explain what they like about the photograph.

The same motif is not automatically a copy. The problem begins when a person takes not only the idea or direction from someone else’s tattoo, but the entire composition, arrangement, details and recognisable way in which the work was designed.

Why a finished tattoo feels safer

An initial idea can be unclear. You may know that you want a wolf, a rose or a bird, but not yet know what the motif should look like.

When you see a finished tattoo that you like, you suddenly have a clear example. You do not have to imagine the proportions, movement, amount of detail or relationship between the elements.

That can help.

The problem begins only when the photograph stops being an example and becomes a finished template that merely needs to be transferred to another body.

It is more useful to ask yourself what attracts you to that tattoo than to immediately request the exact same work.

Inspiration, reference and copy are not the same thing

Inspiration is something that starts an idea or shows a possible direction. It can be a motif, atmosphere, movement, relationship between colours or the way a tattoo follows the body.

A reference is a specific image used to explain what you like or dislike.

A familiar motif is content that appears in many different tattoos. A rose, wolf, snake, skull, bird or portrait is not, by itself, someone’s exclusive solution.

A similar idea means that two people want to express a related subject, but it can be developed into completely different designs.

A reworking means changing an existing solution. The changes can be substantial and lead to a new project, or they can be merely superficial.

A copy is the reproduction of a substantial part of a specific finished solution.

The boundary is not always simple or mathematically measurable. Still, there is a major difference between saying, “I like the direction of this tattoo,” and asking, “Make me the same thing.”

A motif is not the same as a design

Two people can want the same motif without copying.

Take a wolf as an example.

One wolf can be shown calmly, another in motion. One can face forward, another to the side. It can be a full figure or only a head. It can stand alone or form part of a larger composition.

The position, movement, proportions, additional elements, balance of dark and light areas, details and the way the design follows the body can all be different.

The motif is a wolf.

The design is the specific way that wolf has been conceived and placed.

That is why the same motif is not enough to make two tattoos copies. But the same motif in almost the same pose, with the same details, arrangement and relationship between elements, is something different.

What makes someone else’s tattoo a specific solution

A finished tattoo is not merely the name of a motif.

It already contains decisions about:

• the shape and position of the main motif
• composition
• the relationship between elements
• proportions
• pose and direction of movement
• recognisable details
• empty, dark and light areas
• adaptation to a specific part of the body
• the method of visual execution

Some of those decisions may be common and general. Others are highly recognisable as part of that particular work.

The more of the same decisions are repeated, the less it is a shared broad idea and the more it becomes a reproduction of a specific design.

When similarity becomes reproduction

Not every similarity is a problem.

Two roses may have a similar form because both depict the same plant. Two snakes may wrap around an arm because that motif naturally follows that part of the body.

The problem begins when most of the key decisions are repeated: the same position, same angle, same arrangement of additional elements, same details, same composition and almost the same appearance.

Changing the colour, adding a date or removing one leaf does not necessarily create a new solution.

If the main structure remains the same, a few minor changes can still look like a copy.

On the other hand, using the same motif with a new composition, different relationships between the elements and a solution adapted to another person can lead to a genuinely new project.

Someone else’s tattoo was made for someone else’s body

A photograph of someone else’s tattoo is not a finished template for another body.

That work was made for a particular surface, proportions and placement. On another person, the same arrangement may look different.

The body area may be narrower, wider, shorter or curved differently. The same size may not create the same impression. An element that follows someone’s shoulder well may not work equally well on a forearm or thigh.

A photograph also often shows only one angle. You may not see how the tattoo behaves in movement or how it looks in relation to the entire body.

It is therefore more useful to take the direction from the reference and then create a solution for the person who will actually wear it.

How to use references correctly

A reference should provide information, not the entire finished design.

Instead of saying, “I want exactly the same thing,” it is more useful to say:

• “I like the calm expression of the animal, but I do not want the same drawing.”
• “I like the direction of the movement.”
• “I want a similar balance of dark and light areas.”
• “I like the way the motif follows the shoulder.”
• “I do not want such a dense background.”
• “I like the idea of connecting these two motifs, but not the same arrangement.”

Statements like these show clearly what you are looking at.

You can also use several different references, but each should have a reason. One may show the feeling, another the position of the motif, and a third something you do not want.

The goal is not to cut out parts of several other people’s tattoos and combine them into one. Such a combination can easily become a collection of unrelated solutions.

References should help identify a direction and then develop a new, clear composition.

“I want the same thing, but a little different”

When someone says, “I want the same thing, but a little different,” the first step is to determine what “the same” actually means.

Perhaps the person wants the same motif.

Perhaps they want the same feeling, a similar amount of detail, a similar placement or the same relationship between dark and light areas.

Perhaps they actually like the entire composition and do not yet know how to separate its parts.

In that case, the reference needs to be broken down and a few priorities identified.

What is the main motif? What creates the desired impression? Which detail matters, and what can be changed completely?

A new solution can then be developed.

If the person still wants the same arrangement, the same details and almost the same appearance, then “a little different” is probably not enough of a change.

The responsibility of the client and the tattoo artist

The client does not need to know the professional boundaries of design.

It is completely normal to show a photograph and ask whether something similar can be made.

The client’s responsibility is to explain what they like and accept that a new solution may look different from the reference.

The tattoo artist should recognise when a specific piece of work is being requested for reproduction. Their responsibility is to explain what can be retained as a direction and what needs to be redesigned.

Changing only a few small details and declaring the finished work new is not enough.

The responsibility does not belong only to the client. The tattoo artist understands how a design is created and should guide that part of the process.

The most common misunderstandings

• The same motif is not automatically a copy.
• A few small changes do not automatically create an original design.
• Personal meaning does not change the fact that the visual solution has been reproduced.
• A good tattoo does not have to contain a motif no one has ever used before.
• Inspiration and the use of references are not problems in themselves.
• The client is not solely responsible for recognising a copy.
• Combining parts of several other people’s tattoos does not guarantee a new or coherent solution.
• A familiar motif can be adapted well and individually without needing to be rare or unusual.

A tattoo also does not need to have a deep personal story. It can be an aesthetic choice. That does not remove the need for the specific design to be made for the person who will wear it.

A brief check before sending a reference

Before sending a photograph to a tattoo artist, ask yourself:

• Do I know exactly what I like about this tattoo?
• Am I asking for the same motif or the same design?
• Can I accept a different composition?
• Which parts of the reference matter to me, and which do not?
• Do I want a solution adapted to my body?
• Am I showing a direction or expecting a reproduction?
• Am I prepared for the position, details and arrangement to change?
• Am I trying to combine parts of several other people’s work without a clear shared idea?
• Is “a little different” genuinely a new solution or only a few minor changes?

Someone else’s tattoo can be a very useful reference.

It can help you show a motif, feeling, movement or the way you want the work to feel.

But a good reference should not replace a new design.

Its purpose is to help communicate the direction and then create a tattoo that suits a new person and a new project.

Related guides

• Important before deciding to get a tattoo
• Tattoo guide
• Finding your own tattoo idea
• How do media and social networks influence tattoo choices?
• Do you know what you genuinely want tattooed?

Zoran Pocrnić – Žvaki, Anubis Tattoo / Osijek–Čepin