Many people use an ocean tattoo as a metaphor for the mystery, depth of character, and complexity found in the human mind.
Other tattoos that have a symbolic meaning with the ocean are simpler: many people live their lives in or near the water and are tied to the waves and the flow of the tide or find magic in the creatures that live under Water.
The depth of the oceans, their dark vastness that makes up more than 90% of the world’s surface, and the fact that humans cannot breathe underwater unassisted, all lend traction to the concept of mystery. their sheer size and the difference within them make for brilliant tattoo ideas.
The countless strange and interesting creatures that live underwater, from the huge lumbering whales to the ancient turtle to the blind fish in the dark, also hold mystery and magic.
Surfers, sailors, swimmers, and fishermen, hailing from coastal cities, towns, and villages, often get tattoos to signify their love for the deep blue seas, beaches, or for their providence. their respect and love for the ocean is often depicted with body art.
Keep reading for our beautiful gallery of tattoos that celebrate the ocean, the shoreline, and the animals that call it home.
1. ocean sleeve tattoo design
A talented tattoo artist can take any ocean concept you wish for and turn it into a top-quality sleeve. If you’re looking to combine an idea laden with symbolic meaning – such as the ocean’s depths and personality – with frolicking/dangerous sea creatures or a color effect like the sun’s red ocean sheen – then these examples will serve nicely as inspiration.
The artists here have applied bright and varied color palettes, realistic details on the sea creature (that hungry great white shark and torpedo-looking killer whales are unbelievably mean), and shadow/shadow effects and white ink fills on the patterns of the water.
I love the effect of the red ocean tattoo of the sun shining on the surface of the water and approaching the blue barrel. It’s something you’d find in a collection of landscape paintings or water photography from a long, twisted boarder of Santa Monica.
2. whale tattoo
I love the different application each tattoo artist has used in these examples to convey the size and scale of these whales. some have been given the opportunity to go big and deploy more than one of the huge sea creatures on the skin.
Other tattooists, with more restricted space to work with, have simplified their whale by creating a frame of water to shape the image, or have implemented an alternative such as breaking or splitting the image to convey size.
check out the orca color fish tank idea – it stands out by creating an edge to operate within and conveys the orca’s size and potential threat even though it contains a bright, cheerful image of a clown fish and a coral inside.
3. boat tattoo
The range of technical applications in these ship tattoo ideas is brilliant. There’s even a variety of the classic pirate or clipper ships that a sailor would have had inked up in the past.
each example above features a brilliant little piece of technical work. there’s the use of a squat black shading that sits between the dot work and the slash, some cheeky white pigment highlights to give the art a little sparkle, or a clever use of negative space.
I like how larger upper arm tattoos create their edges quite naturally with a wave, rope or octopus tentacle, while other leg or forearm tattoos opt for an alternative light bulb , or even without a border but with a colored finish.
If you could “pause” life a little bit on one of those boston whalers (I think that’s what it is), things couldn’t be going too bad.
4. landscapes/landscapes with ocean tattoos
a huge variety of ideas expressed in these landscape tattoo designs. everyone has concepts related to the ocean, whether it’s a sunrise or sunset over calm water, crashing and choppy waves, water filled with all sorts of sea creatures, or even a memento mori tattoo that reminds you that death awaits us. everybody.
I love how anyone can walk into a tattoo studio with the same basic idea, but express it in any one of a million different ways. I think that’s part of the mysterious aspect of an ocean tattoo: that it deeply affects everyone, but also on an individual level.
5. watercolor ocean tattoo ideas
You can’t have a watercolor tattoo without some water effect so this is an app that works well on an ocean tattoo idea. these examples show the huge variety of blue colors you can apply to your ink, or even other colors that can be used to accentuate the center line and concept.
To be able to put a lot of color into the body art, but one that is complementary to the core design (like geometric lines) or the overall concept (like a semicolon tattoo) works well for those looking to use color with more nuances.
6. wave tattoos with color inspiration
These waves of color don’t differ much from the watercolor tattoo examples above, tending towards more standard blue ink. in a paint store they would be filed under some variation using the term ocean, and for good reason.
The impressive thing about each example, whether Japanese-influenced or with a more Western application, is that they seek to complement their waves with a clever use of white pigment. in some it is a clear design feature and focal point, while in others it is a very subtle highlight meant to finish off the art.
7. ocean creature tattoo design
I have a life-size octopus tattooed on my right side, an army of koi fish, and a couple of choppy waves here and there. I love ocean creatures and water tattoos, mostly because they’re cool, but also partly because they’re weird, interesting, and mysterious.
These examples address the amazing groups of sea creatures in countless different ways, all with great skill in application technique. the only one i wouldn’t consider myself to be is the stingray, and that’s solely due to steve irwin, but the rest offer the kind of wonder you get when you visit an amazing aquarium or look through a glass bottom boat
8. delicate and small tattoo
You don’t have to get big underwater. there is variety in the idea of minimalist, delicate or small tattoo. The natural advantage of this type of tattoo image is that they can be placed discreetly away for you and the chosen few, or proudly front and center for all to admire.
9. line ocean tattoo ideas
A tattoo artist who loves lines can have a lot of fun with different ocean tattoo ideas. the waves flow and wave in different types of lines, just like sea creatures like jellyfish, turtle, marlin or shark. all it takes is figuring out how a subject wants these lines to be displayed, and then getting stuck.
10. traditional and neotraditional
both the conventional old school tattoo and the more hyperactive derivatives fundamentally need to work with ocean designs. a man walks into a tattoo shop… for 40 years he would most likely have been a sailor or military man of some sort, so these designs are bread and butter.
Putting these examples under a heading allows for a good comparison of similarities and differences. lines, color application, and center images align, but color palettes and peripherals don’t. It doesn’t really matter when you get results like these.
11. black and gray wave tattoo design
waves are linked to the idea of movement and the inexorability of tides and time. they never stop traveling, even in motion when they appear completely motionless. Being able to represent the movement of waves and tides in a black and gray ocean tattoo design requires skill and mastery.
These tremendous ocean wave tattoo ideas showcase all the techniques shown in other techniques. it is as if it had no color shackles, the application behind each piece can be fully explored.
Looking for more inspiration to plan your new tattoo? Click the links below to see more cool tattoo galleries:
- mermaid tattoo design
- top 113 beach tattoo ideas
- shark sleeve tattoo design
- top 51 best ideas for simple tattoos on the legs
