Promptkoi

Blackwork Serpent and Dagger Tattoo

Stable Diffusion
By Varun Sharma Tested with Stable Diffusion SDXL 1.0

Blackwork Serpent and Dagger Tattoo is an SDXL 1.0 prompt for a bold blackwork flash design at 3:4. Negative-space highlights left as bare paper are what keep the heavy fill from healing into a solid black mass.

Last tested: July 2026 with Stable Diffusion SDXL 1.0

Part of the Stable Diffusion prompt library · see more line art prompts .

Remix in builder
Blackwork tattoo design of a serpent coiled around a dagger in solid black ink on white paper
Blackwork Serpent and Dagger Tattoo — Stable Diffusion SDXL 1.0, Aspect ratio 3:4

Prompt 

A blackwork tattoo design of a serpent coiled around the blade of a dagger, the snake's body built from solid black scales with negative-space highlights left as bare unfilled paper along the top of each coil, a plain crossguard and a wrapped grip, heavy solid black fill through the coils set against fine parallel hatching on the blade, bold confident outlines of even weight, a small sprig of nightshade at the base, pure black ink on plain white paper, no colour, no grey wash, tattoo flash study

Negative prompt 

blurry, low quality, grey wash, soft shading, colour, thin faint lines, photorealistic, text, watermark, deformed anatomy, cluttered background, gradient fill

Settings

Model
Stable Diffusion SDXL 1.0
Aspect ratio
3:4
Steps
30
CFG scale
6.5
Sampler
DPM++ 2M Karras

How to use this prompt

Blackwork is defined by what is left out. "Negative-space highlights left as bare unfilled paper along the top of each coil" is the instruction that forces SDXL to break up the solid fill, and those gaps are exactly what read as scale sheen once the piece is on skin — without them the serpent heals as one undifferentiated black mass. Grey wash has to be banned in both prompt and negative, because SDXL reaches for soft shading by default and blackwork uses only solid ink and bare skin. The blade's parallel hatching gives the eye a second texture to read against the coils.

Variations to try

  • Swap the dagger for a hand mirror with the serpent threading through the handle and frame
  • Add a moth with heavy solid wings above the crossguard for a taller full-forearm composition
line art moody tattoo design illustration

Explore collections

Moody Stable Diffusion Prompts Line Art Stable Diffusion Prompts Line Art Tattoo Design Prompts

What to do next

Adapt it →

Open this prompt in the Stable Diffusion builder, pre-filled, and change one layer at a time.

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For developers — copy this prompt as JSON 
{
  "title": "Blackwork Serpent and Dagger Tattoo",
  "prompt": "A blackwork tattoo design of a serpent coiled around the blade of a dagger, the snake's body built from solid black scales with negative-space highlights left as bare unfilled paper along the top of each coil, a plain crossguard and a wrapped grip, heavy solid black fill through the coils set against fine parallel hatching on the blade, bold confident outlines of even weight, a small sprig of nightshade at the base, pure black ink on plain white paper, no colour, no grey wash, tattoo flash study",
  "negative_prompt": "blurry, low quality, grey wash, soft shading, colour, thin faint lines, photorealistic, text, watermark, deformed anatomy, cluttered background, gradient fill",
  "model": "Stable Diffusion",
  "model_version": "SDXL 1.0",
  "settings": {
    "aspect_ratio": "3:4",
    "steps": 30,
    "cfg": 6.5,
    "sampler": "DPM++ 2M Karras"
  },
  "style_tags": [
    "line-art",
    "moody"
  ],
  "use_case_tags": [
    "tattoo-design",
    "illustration"
  ],
  "source_url": "https://promptkoi.com/prompts/stable-diffusion/blackwork-serpent-and-dagger-tattoo/"
}

The whole library is available as an open JSON dataset · developer docs.