Sea tattoo ideas

574 photos and flash · 21% Fine line, 20% Traditional · Forearm most common

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Black line flash design of an anchor with a small heart at its base, with the script words 'A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.' written above and below it.
Anchor with heart and sailor quote
Pencil sketch of a tattoo design with a ship's wheel enclosing a sailing ship, a flower below, and the words DARLIN IM NOT above and COMIN HOME below.
Ship's wheel and flower sketch with lettering
Nautical flash design of white lettering on a navy background, with a crossed anchor, lifebuoy, flags and banners in a traditional style.
Nautical lettering with anchor and lifebuoy
Two black ink dotwork drawings of palm trees on a beach scene, sketched on translucent paper beside a fine liner pen, shown as tattoo design artwork.
Dotwork palm trees design drawings
Purple line drawing of a three-masted sailing ship with full sails cutting through stylised waves, shown as a tattoo design on a plain white background.
Sailing ship on waves line drawing
Black line drawing of stylised sea waves with curling crests and spray, framed inside a circle, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Stylised waves inside a circle
Traditional flash drawing of a sailing ship inside a rope-edged star with an anchor behind it, shown on a stained paper background.
Nautical star with anchor and sailing ship
Traditional style flash design of a bearded sailor in a knitted cap smoking a pipe, framed by roses, rope, swallows and a sea sunset.
Sailor portrait with swallows and roses
Black dotwork drawing of an anchor wrapped in rope, with bubbles rising from it, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Dotwork anchor with rope and rising bubbles
Drawn tattoo design of a black whale tail rising from blue watercolour waves, with five black birds and a dotted pink circle, shown on a white background.
Whale tail, waves and birds design
Black silhouette design of four sharks swimming at different sizes on a white background, with no body placement shown.
Four sharks silhouette design
Flat blue design of a leaping dolphin with swirling wave and splash shapes, shown as a drawing rather than on skin.
Leaping dolphin with wave swirls
Black ink fine line drawing of a sailing ship on waves with the words a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor and a dangling anchor, shown as a tattoo design on white paper.
Sailing ship, waves and anchor with quote
Black ink drawing of a three-masted sailing ship riding interwoven waves, with a hanging anchor on a thin line, in a traditional nautical design shown on cream paper.
Sailing ship on waves with anchor
Neo-traditional coloured pencil design of a pink octopus wrapped around a blue anchor, with a cream skull and a banner reading NO MANS LAND.
Octopus with anchor and skull design
Purple line drawing of a mermaid in a pirate hat holding a pipe beside a treasure chest, skulls and a shipwreck, shown as a tattoo flash design.
Mermaid pirate with treasure chest and skulls
Solid black silhouette design of a dolphin leaping beside curling wave splashes, shown as a stencil-style tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Dolphin and wave design
Black ink pen drawing of a sailing ship on rough waves with a dangling anchor and the script words a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor, on white paper.
Sailing ship and anchor with quote
Pencil sketch of a great white shark with its jaws wide open, its body wrapped around a ship's steering wheel, shown without placement on skin.
Shark with open jaws and ship's wheel
Black and grey drawing of a fish with a sailing ship and waves in its body and a skeletal tail, a neo-traditional style tattoo design on paper.
Ship-filled fish with skeleton tail design
Black line drawing of a symmetrical design with two mermaids, two seahorses, an octopus and leaves, shown as a tattoo flash style illustration.
Mermaids, seahorses and octopus design
Hand-drawn flash design of three blue and black waves above the cursive word home, drawn on plain paper.
Three waves above cursive script on paper
Line drawing of a sailing ship on paper, with blue, yellow, pink and maroon watercolour splashes behind it, shown as a tattoo design sketch.
Sailing ship with watercolour splashes
Black ink drawing of a circular mountain and wave design with arrows pointing north, south, east and west, shaded in dotwork, shown on white paper beside two marker pens.
Mountain and wave compass design
Blue pencil sketch of a mermaid with shells in her hair, a starfish, bubbles, waves and a fish, drawn in a neo-traditional style on cream paper.
Mermaid with shells and fish sketch
Black and grey flash design of a skeletal mermaid holding a skull and a flower, with dotwork sunburst rays and stippled waves inside an oval frame.
Skeletal mermaid with skull and sunburst
Black ink flash design of hatched ocean waves rising beneath a open sky, enclosed in a thick circular outline, with no body placement shown.
Hatched ocean waves in a circle
Black ink drawing of a whale swimming through stippled waves beneath a starry night sky, set inside a circle, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Whale in a circle of waves and stars
Black line drawing of a stylised iris with leaves and buds, shown as a botanical tattoo design over a misty grey sea with a small boat.
Iris line design over foggy sea
Hand-drawn black line sketch of an anchor rising from curling waves, with the Latin lettering fluctuat nec mergitur along the lower wave, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Anchor and waves design with Latin lettering
Black ink hand-lettered design reading 'A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor' on aged, sepia paper, with decorative flourishes above the text.
Hand-lettered sailing quote on aged paper
Traditional style flash drawing of a red and grey lighthouse with red light beams, set on rocks above rolling waves.
Lighthouse on rocks with waves flash
Black and grey traditional flash design of a sailing ship on rough sea inside a ship's wheel, with banners reading NEED YOU LIKE WATER IN MY LUNGS.
Sailing ship in a ship's wheel with banner lettering
Black and grey flash drawing of a mermaid sitting on rocks beneath a full moon, with a sailing ship, stars and roses, designed as a traditional style tattoo.
Mermaid on rocks with moon and ship
Black ink flash sheet in a traditional style showing two female heads with daggers, barbed wire, clasped hands, a sailing ship and birds.
Traditional flash sheet with ship, daggers and barbed wire
Black traditional-style swallow design with a sunburst and wavy lines, printed on a grey t-shirt laid flat on a wooden background.
Traditional swallow with sunburst and waves on a grey
Traditional flash design of a one pint bottle holding two sailing ships, with a banner reading A Sailor's Grave over a skull and crossbones, flanked by red stars and green leaves.
Bottle with ships and a sailor's grave banner
Black ink sketch of a sailing ship with loose brush strokes and splatters, drawn as a tattoo design on pale paper.
Sailing ship with ink splashes
Colour flash design of a burning pirate ship above an octopus wrapped around an anchor, with skeleton arms and a skull and crossed swords at the top.
Pirate ship, octopus and anchor sleeve design
Sepia pencil drawing of a three-masted galleon with billowing sails, torn pennants and detailed carved stern, shown as a tattoo design.
Galleon under sail
Black line drawing of a sailing ship above a curling banner reading IT IS NOT DOWN ON ANY MAP TRUE PLACES NEVER ARE, with waves below, in a traditional style.
Ship and banner quote design
Teal line drawing in a traditional nautical style showing a sailing ship, waves and an anchor wrapped in rope, with a banner reading I am the captain of my soul.
Sailing ship and anchor banner design
Pencil and teal colour sketch of a woman in profile with flowing hair, waves and a ship, drawn as a tattoo design with the words my love n the sea.
Woman in profile with waves and ship