Water tattoo ideas

300 photos and flash · 22% Japanese, 20% Realism · Forearm most common

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A sheet of blue line and solid wave designs in a Japanese-influenced style, arranged in rows on a white background.
Sheet of blue wave designs
Hand-drawn tattoo design of two lungs and a trachea with stippled dotwork and watercolour-style washes, with the words Need you like water in my lungs above and below.
Lungs with lettering design
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
Watercolour illustration of four element symbols labelled air, fire, earth and water, each drawn with a spiral or flowing motif in blue, orange, green and blue respectively.
Four element symbols in watercolour
Black outline drawing of four triangle element symbols on white, labelled Air, Fire, Water and Earth, shown as a flash design sheet.
Four element symbols: air, fire, water, earth
Flash sheet of gold and silver foil temporary tattoo designs, including icosahedrons, arrows, a sunburst and lettering, with no body placement shown.
Metallic geometric flash sheet with lettering
Black and grey flash sheet of seven numbered swan designs, ranging from sketchy brushwork to clean single-line outlines.
Seven swan designs on a flash sheet
Hand-drawn flash design of pink lotus flowers and green leaves with bold black astrological symbols and a triangle, labelled Cancer.
Lotus and astrology symbols design
Black blackletter lettering arranged in a diamond shape, appearing to spell earth, air, fire and water, shown as a flat design drawing with no body placement.
Earth, air, fire and water blackletter design
Colour drawing of a silver Japanese-style dragon with orange flame accents, coiling through blue stylised waves, as a tattoo design.
Silver dragon with blue waves and orange flames
Traditional-style flash design of a yin yang symbol, with the black side filled with red and yellow flames and the white side with blue water splashes, shown without any body placement.
Yin yang with fire and water
Blue ink drawing of two koi fish circling in a yin and yang arrangement, surrounded by stylised water swirls, in a Japanese style.
Two koi fish in a yin and yang circle
Black tribal-style flash design of two dolphins leaping above curling swirls and water splashes, with no body placement shown.
Two dolphins with tribal swirls
Black line drawing of a koi fish with flowing fins and curling waves, shown as a Japanese style tattoo design on a white background.
Koi fish with swirling water design
Black line drawing of two solid black hands reaching up out of concentric ripples, shown as a flash design on a white background.
Two hands rising from ripples
Coloured ink drawing of a leaping trout curved into a circle, with black linework, green, peach and teal washes, and splashes of water around it.
Leaping trout within a circle of splashes
Black and white flash sheet of fourteen tattoo designs, including Chinese characters for health, wisdom and love, a bagua, and a mystic knot, each with a printed English label.
Chinese symbol flash sheet with labelled motifs
Black line drawing of a Japanese-style koi fish swimming among lotus flowers and swirling waves, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Koi fish with lotus flowers and waves
Full-colour Japanese style koi fish design drawn in red and orange with white wave lines and a black and grey swirl behind it, shown as a flash drawing with no body placement.
Koi fish with swirling waves design
Pen sketch of a tattoo design showing a hand rising from ripples with a banner reading DON'T LET ME DROWN, in black and grey linework.
Hand rising from water with banner
Black and white flash design of a fish caught on a hook above waves, with the words Good Hope in lettering along the bottom.
Fish on a hook with Good Hope lettering
Watercolour flash design of a mermaid with long black hair and red flower accents, with a grey and red scaled tail and bubbles, on a white background.
Mermaid with flowing black hair
Flash design of a teal watercolour cat with gold eyes, leafy foliage, a full moon and a small silhouetted cat on a branch.
Cat and moonlit foliage design
Black and grey drawing of a mermaid with long flowing hair, her scaled tail curving around to form a circular design with bubbles rising beside her.
Mermaid within a circle
Teal line drawing of a lion's head in profile, with its mane flowing into water splashes over a pale watercolour wash.
Lion head with flowing mane and water splash
Black and grey realism design of Medusa, with a woman's face framed by coiled snakes and rippling water below, shown on a dark background.
Medusa with snakes in black and grey
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
Pen drawing of a traditional-style anchor wrapped in rope, with a seagull, a ribbon banner reading family and blue water, shown as a design with no body placement.
Anchor and rope design with family banner
Black line drawing of two flowing betta fish with long trailing fins and rising bubbles, shown as a tattoo flash design.
Two flowing betta fish with bubbles
Black line drawing of four triangle symbols in a row, each with a handwritten label, showing an upward triangle, a downward triangle, an upward triangle with one bar and a downward triangle with two
Four element triangles with handwritten labels
Two colour flash designs on a white background: a blue water and red flame yin-yang, and a sun and moon face in blue and gold, in a traditional style.
Yin-yang fire and water with sun and moon face
Painted flash design of three stylised wolves, one made of blue water, one of orange flame and one of green leaves, on white paper beside markers.
Three elemental wolves in water, fire and leaves
Black line design of the word Love arranged inside a heart outline, with a small heart and a Song of Solomon 8:7 quotation in mixed lettering styles.
Heart-shaped lettering reading Love
Coloured pencil tattoo design of a mermaid wearing a rose crown, drawn in a neo-traditional style with no body part shown.
Mermaid with rose crown and ship design
Black line drawing of two koi fish swimming in a circle among sakura blossoms and water ripples, a Japanese-style tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Two koi fish with sakura flowers
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo design of a koi fish swimming among stylised waves, lotus flowers and maple leaves.
Koi fish with lotus flowers and waves
Black and grey realism design of a mermaid with long flowing hair, her scaled tail curling into a circle around her, surrounded by smoke-like swirls.
Mermaid curled within a scaled tail
Black ink sketch of bare trees and a lake framed in a circle on textured white paper, drawn in fine line with fineliner pens beside it.
Bare trees and lake in a circle
Pen and coloured pencil drawing of two koi fish circling a blue circle filled with white swirls and water splashes, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Two koi fish around a swirling wave circle
Flash style drawing of a blue tidal wave with a cream banner reading We Will Bring The Tidal Wave and the words Pierce The Veil 2013 beneath, shown without any body placement.
Tidal wave banner flash design
Neo-trad style flash design of a brown otter curling through blue water beside a fish, framed by swirling waves and bubbles in a circle.
Otter and fish in swirling water
Blue wave tattoo design with curling foam crests, black zigzag lines and dots, shown as a standalone drawing with no body placement visible.
Blue wave and Aquarius symbol design
Black line drawing of a stylised animal with a flowing tail, standing in water beside a large swirling crescent, drawn as a tattoo design.
Swirling stylised animal standing in water
Black ink drawing of two cupped hands holding a crescent moon, with water drips and a star constellation above, labelled aquarius.
Aquarius hands holding a crescent moon
Black linework flash sheet of thirteen script lettering designs, including the words Rain, Life, Birth, Star and Peace, drawn on white paper.
Script word designs on a flash sheet
Pencil sketch of a koi fish swimming upward among lotus flowers and swirling water lines, drawn as a tattoo design in a Japanese style.
Koi fish sketch with lotus flowers
Black and grey Japanese style drawing of a peony, cherry blossoms and a swirling wave, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Peony and cherry blossom wave design
Black line drawing of three lotus flowers with curling Japanese-style waves, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Three lotus flowers with swirling waves