Shell tattoo ideas

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

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Full-colour upper arm tattoo of a red-haired cartoon mermaid with a teal tail, a fish and a trident in a blue underwater scene.
Cartoon mermaid sleeve on upper arm
Black and grey line drawing of a woman wearing an ornate masquerade mask, with swirling hair and a shell held in one hand, on tracing paper.
Masked woman with flowing hair design
Black and grey nautilus shell tattoo with fine engraved shading on the upper chest near the collarbone of a woman with a dark bob.
Nautilus shell on upper chest
Traditional style colour tattoo of an ornate crab with a mandala patterned shell, placed on the calf.
Ornate crab on a leg
Black blackwork and dotwork tattoo on a calf showing a mermaid silhouette above a castle, coral and an open shell with a pearl.
Mermaid silhouette and shell on a calf
Realistic green sea turtle tattoo with shaded yellow highlights on the lower back, just above the waistband of blue denim jeans.
Green sea turtle on the lower back
Two colour tattoos on a pair of thighs, one of Elsa from Frozen and one of Ariel from The Little Mermaid, each in an ornate oval frame in neo-traditional style.
Elsa and Ariel framed portraits on thighs
Colour tattoo of a mermaid with flowing red hair, a shell top and blue wash below, outlined in black on a limb.
Mermaid with red hair and shell top
Tattooed hands resting on a white cat, with a colour traditional shell design and roses on the hand and arm and a grey etched design on the back of the other hand.
Tattooed hands petting a white cat
Two side by side neo-traditional tattoo flash sketches of a woman in ornate headdresses, one in green ink with a lemur, one in brown ink with feathers, with no body placement shown.
Woman with lemur headdress design sketches
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a sea urchin surrounded by radiating shells and flowers across the upper back.
Sea urchin and shell mandala on a back
Nautical flash sheet of line-art designs in navy and red, including a lighthouse, swallow, whale, anchor, jellyfish and squid on a cream background.
Nautical tattoo flash sheet
Two matching pastel scallop shell tattoos with black outlines sit on the upper arms of two people, placed side by side.
Matching scallop shell tattoos on two arms
Close-up of a colourful traditional style tattoo of an open pearl clam with a pink pearl and bubbles, beside a purple candy heart, on an upper arm.
Pearl clam and candy heart on an arm
Black dotwork tattoo of an ammonite-style spiral shell on the outer thigh, with shaded segments fading across the chambers.
Ammonite spiral on a thigh
Black and grey nautilus shell tattoo with fine hatched linework on the lower stomach, just above the waistband of jeans.
Nautilus shell on the lower stomach
Small fine line and dotwork conch shell tattoo in dark ink on a pale arm, beside a patterned knitted jumper.
Conch shell tattoo on an arm
Black and grey traditional flash sheet with a skull and rose, crescent moon, anatomical heart, eye, horseshoe and clover designs.
Black and grey traditional flash sheet
Fine line black scallop shell tattoo on the side of a finger, beside a large mint stone ring, with a hand resting on sand.
Small scallop shell tattoo on a finger
Colour traditional tattoo of a mermaid holding a rope, with waves, clouds, birds and a flower, on an upper arm.
Traditional mermaid with rope on upper arm
Four pastel flash designs on a pink background: a unicorn with a Wonderland banner, a scallop shell, lips with a glittery drip, and mushrooms in a circle.
Unicorn, shell, lips and mushroom flash designs
Black and grey engraved skull design built from an octopus, fish, shells and an anchor, in a detailed flash style.
Sea creature skull with anchor
Small black and grey turtle tattoo with tribal-style swirled flippers and a four-petal shell pattern, on the inner wrist of a raised hand.
Small turtle tattoo on the inner wrist
Black fine line scallop shell tattoo on the side of a person's ribs, with a grey top and grassy dunes in the background.
Scallop shell tattoo on the ribs
Traditional style flash drawing of a mermaid with shell top and a vintage brass diving helmet diver beside her, framed by a rope border.
Mermaid and diver under the sea
Black and grey pencil drawing of a mermaid holding a baby on a shell, with a starry hair, pearl strands and scale detail, shown as a tattoo design.
Mermaid cradling a baby on a shell
Back view of a person in a black bikini bottoms showing traditional-style tattoos on the thigh and hip, including a helmeted woman head and a bowling pin.
Traditional helmeted woman on thigh at the beach
Blue and black ink drawing of a nautilus shell with waves splashing out of its opening, shown as a flash design with no body placement.
Nautilus shell with blue waves
Colour traditional-style tattoo on the outer thigh showing an anchor with rope, pink flowers, seaweed, an open shell with a pearl and blue waves.
Anchor, shell and pearl on a thigh
Traditional style flash drawing of a dark-haired mermaid with a green scaled tail, holding a pink shell over her chest, surrounded by black stars on a parchment background.
Traditional mermaid flash with stars
Black silhouette drawing of a sea turtle with a heart-shaped pattern across its shell, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Sea turtle with heart shell design
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a nautilus shell spiral surrounded by a swirl of dots, on the forearm.
Nautilus shell spiral on a forearm
Black ink drawing of a crab with moon phases on its shell, a feather, a flower, shells, an anchor and a CANCER banner, shown as a tattoo flash design.
Zodiac crab with moon phases and banner
Colour tattoo of a red starfish, pink and grey shells and seaweed on the side of a ribcage.
Starfish and shells on the ribs
Black line drawing of a conch shell with hatched shading on the forearm of a person wearing a red top.
Conch shell on a forearm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a frilled lizard above crossed bare legs, set within an art nouveau frame on the thigh.
Frilled lizard in an art nouveau frame
Two black dotwork tattoos on a person's thighs, a conch shell on the left and a scallop shell on the right, with a partial claw tattoo at the left edge.
Conch and scallop shells on thighs
Black ink flash sheet of small hand-drawn designs including a leaf sprig, yin yang, candle, umbrella, lotus, sailboat, crown, smiley face and the words MOM, YES and love.
Hand-drawn small tattoo flash sheet
Traditional style colour tattoo of a snail with a skull-shaped shell and the words Death Comes Ripping around it, on a limb.
Skull-shell snail with Death Comes Ripping
Black tribal sea turtle tattoo on the upper back, with bold solid shapes and a face-like motif across the shell.
Tribal sea turtle tattoo on the back
Teal scallop shell tattoo with a black outline and white highlights on the inner forearm.
Teal scallop shell on a forearm
Black and grey realism forearm tattoo of a shark, anchor, vintage diving helmet and treasure chest, shown from four angles.
Shark, anchor and diving helmet on a forearm
Coloured flash design of a red-haired mermaid in a rope-edged oval frame, with two fish, an anchor and a SIREN banner, in a neo-traditional style.
Red-haired siren in an oval frame
Wrist stacked with gold and silver bracelets above a gold metallic shell temporary tattoo on the forearm.
Metallic shell temporary tattoo on a wrist
Fine line drawing of a snail with a spiral shell, crystal cluster and sprigs of foliage on its back, shaded in lavender on white paper.
Snail with crystals and sprigs drawing
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a nautilus shell on the upper chest near the collarbone, shown on a woman with a bob haircut in a white top.
Nautilus shell on upper chest
Colour traditional tattoo of a red-haired mermaid in a shell top, with a skull under a spider web above her head and waves below, on an arm.
Mermaid with skull on an arm
Black and grey neo-traditional design drawn on tracing paper of a mermaid with a ship, anchor, rope and ship's wheel, with no body placement shown.
Mermaid with ship and ship's wheel design