Shell tattoo ideas

264 photos and flash · 18% Fine line, 15% Neo-trad · Forearm most common

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Close-up of a green scallop shell tattoo with black outline and soft shading on the side of a person's ribs, above the waistband of denim shorts.
Green scallop shell on the side ribs
Traditional colour tattoo of a brown-haired mermaid with a teal tail and pink starfish on the upper arm, against a blue shirt with shell print.
Mermaid with starfish on upper arm
Two small black fine line tattoos, an anchor on the left heel and a scallop shell on the right heel, shown on bare feet in flip-flops.
Anchor and shell tattoos on the heels
Two colour tattoos on arms: Ariel the mermaid with a teal tail on the upper arm, and a split-face Aurora and Maleficent with a dragon on the forearm.
Ariel and a split Aurora and Maleficent tattoo
Colourful nautilus shell tattoo with a red geometric flower of life pattern behind it, placed on the upper back.
Rainbow nautilus shell over a flower of life on back
Black ink ornamental swirl tattoo with a small blue shell motif on a person's hip and thigh, in a blackwork style.
Ornamental swirl tattoo on hip and thigh
Sheet of gold and silver metallic temporary tattoo designs, including stars, arrows, hearts, an infinity sign, an anchor, a shell, a butterfly and tribal bands, on a white background.
Gold and silver metallic temporary tattoo sheet
A dark blue sea turtle design filled with spiral swirls and scale-like patterning on a pale blue background, shown as a flash drawing.
Swirl-patterned sea turtle design
Pencil drawing of a snail with shaded shell and textured body beside cursive script reading I'll be there soon, shown as a design sketch rather than on skin.
Pencil snail with I'll be there soon script
Black and white flash sheet of small line tattoo designs, including an om symbol, a hamsa hand with an evil eye, script words and a crescent moon, in fine line and lettering styles.
Black and white flash sheet of small designs
Nautilus shell tattoo with a black outline and blue, green and purple watercolour wash, shown on the elbow.
Nautilus shell with watercolour wash
Neo-traditional colour tattoo on a forearm showing an open oyster with a pearl, framed by pink lilies, green leaves and turquoise splashes.
Open oyster with pearl and lilies on a forearm
Black ink drawing of a sea turtle with a spiral shell, flippers and head drawn in loose brushstrokes on a white background.
Sea turtle with spiral shell design
Close photo of a small black outline scallop shell tattoo on the side of a finger, with a silver ornate ring on the neighbouring finger.
Scallop shell tattoo on a finger
Pencil sketch of a mermaid with shell and starfish tattoo designs on both upper arms and forearms, drawn in red and blue on kraft paper.
Mermaid tattoo design sketch
Traditional style flash drawing of a pin-up mermaid with brown hair, a red hibiscus, a shell top and a teal scaled tail, on a white background.
Pin-up mermaid with a shell top
Close-up of a fine line outline tattoo of a scallop shell on a person's upper back near the shoulder blade, with faint pinkish marks on the skin.
Scallop shell on upper back
Black and grey realistic shell tattoo on an upper arm, just below a red polka-dot sleeve.
Shell tattoo on the upper arm
Line drawing of two skeletal mermaids with mint green hair and pink shells on a black background, with mirrored lettering reading dead and sea.
Skeleton mermaids with mint hair
Colour tattoo of a red-haired mermaid sitting on a rock inside an ornate grey oval frame with shells and a starfish, on the thigh.
Mermaid in a shell-framed oval mirror on a thigh
Black and grey realism tattoo of a spiny conch shell across a man's forearm, with a black t-shirt and a city street behind him.
Conch shell on a forearm
Black line drawing of an ornate filigree heart with a fan shell, with chains, stars, anchors and small shells hanging below it, shown as a tattoo design.
Hearts, shells and anchors dangling from chains
Fine line mermaid tattoo on the side of the ribs, with red flowing hair, a purple shell top and a teal tail fin.
Mermaid outline tattoo on the side ribs
Traditional-style colour tattoo of a cartoon character with glasses and a dark bob haircut, framed by teal leaves and a banner reading UGHHH, on a leg.
Cartoon character and UGHHH banner
Black dotwork tattoo of a scallop shell with a stippled fan of ridges and a bold outline, on the inner forearm.
Scallop shell on a forearm
Two bare ankles on sand wearing metallic gold and silver temporary tattoos of hibiscus flowers, wavy lines, shells and a dotted band.
Gold and silver metallic ankle tattoos
Black outline tattoo of a horseshoe crab on an upper arm, with a second photo of a similar fine line horseshoe crab on a forearm.
Horseshoe crab outline on arm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of an ornate floral heart and dotted chain drapes across a woman's upper back and nape, photographed from behind.
Ornamental floral back piece with dotted chains
Black and grey pencil drawing of a mermaid with wind-swept hair, a shell top and a curling wave-shaped tail, shown as a tattoo design.
Mermaid with flowing hair and wave tail
A realistic green and blue sea turtle tattoo with yellow spotted flippers, set against plain skin in the upper part of the frame.
Green sea turtle on skin
Close view of two forearms with metallic temporary tattoos in gold, silver and blue, including palm trees, a wave, leaves and shells, against sand.
Metallic palm tree and wave designs on forearms
Grey tribal style sea turtle design with spiral flippers and a patterned shell on a white background.
Tribal sea turtle design
Black and grey sea turtle tattoo with a shaded world map on its shell, placed on the side of a person's lower back.
Sea turtle with world map shell on the back
Black dotwork drawing of a snail with a spiral shell and extended eye stalks, shown on a grey background as a tattoo design.
Stippled snail design
Black and grey traditional style rose tattoo with leaves, flowers and a shell on the neck and upper chest, with script lettering below.
Large rose with shell and flowers on neck and chest
Black line-art flash design of a spiral shell and a fan-shaped scallop shell on a white background, with no body placement shown.
Spiral shell and scallop shell designs
Black and grey tattoo of a snail looking through a telescope on a tripod, drawn in fine hatched linework on the lower leg.
Snail and telescope on a leg
Black script tattoo reading Who Says Dreams Have To Stay Just Dreams on the top of a foot, with grey bubbles and a shell.
Script quote with bubbles and shell on a foot
Small fine line black tattoo of a scallop shell on the lower leg, with a thin cord anklet visible below it.
Scallop shell on a lower leg
Colour traditional tattoo of a shell, moth, leaves and panther head on a limb, with a beetle and another tattoo partly visible at the edges.
Traditional shell, moth and panther tattoo
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of two hands framing a sun, crescent moon and planets, placed on a calf.
Two hands, sun and planets on a calf
Black and grey tattoo design drawing of an eye inside an ornate triangle, with a fan shell and dotted chains below, in a dotwork and geometric style.
Eye in triangle with shell and dotted chains
Three black line-drawn scallop shells stacked vertically on a sun-tanned calf, in a fine line style, with sand and sunlight in the background.
Three scallop shells on a lower leg
Coloured pencil drawing of a blue turtle creature with a brown shell peering over a grey anchor inside a rope frame, with blue water swirls above, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Blue turtle creature on an anchor and rope
Two forearms in black and grey with fine line tattoos, including a shaded palm tree and the word WILDERNESS on the inner forearm.
Palm tree and fine line forearm tattoos
Fine line seahorse tattoo in brown ink on the inner forearm of a person wearing denim shorts, with a small solid black spiral tattoo on the hand.
Seahorse tattoo on the inner forearm
Line drawing of a stylised turtle design in brown ink, with a patterned shell of four teardrop shapes and spiral flippers.
Stylised turtle design with spiral flippers
Small black fine line scallop shell tattoo on the sole of a foot on sand, beside a real scallop shell.
Small scallop shell tattoo on a foot