Wave tattoo ideas

1,081 photos and flash · 24% Japanese, 20% Fine line · Forearm most common

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Black ink pen sketch of two stylised waves inside a circle, with the words A million waves in the ocean and Crash at once to make you smile written around the edge.
Waves and quote in a circular pen sketch
Full back tattoo in a Japanese style showing a large red and brown owl beside cherry blossom branches and a pale moon, with a green bird sleeve on the upper arm.
Owl, cherry blossom and moon back piece
Traditional tattoo of a grey-shaded sailing ship with red sunburst, waves and a Sail On banner, on the upper back.
Sailing ship with Sail On banner on upper back
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
Fine line black tattoo of a curling wave with a script word beside it, on the outer side of a bare foot near the ankle, in black and white.
Wave and script tattoo on a foot
Black and grey tattoo of a sailing ship with a flock of birds flying from its sails, waves beneath and the words SAIL ON on the forearm.
Sailing ship and birds on a forearm
Black and grey circular forearm tattoo showing a moon, clouds, stars, mountains and swirling waves in hatched linework.
Moon, mountains and waves on a forearm
Navy engraved-style drawing of a curling wave with foam and a dark speckled circle on a beige background, a flash design with no body placement shown.
Curling wave with splatter circle
Bold circular tattoo on a calf in blue, red and black, with stylised wave shapes and a segmented black section, in a geometric graphic style.
Circular wave design on a calf
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a skull, koi fish and peony flowers with waves across the upper arm.
Skull, koi and peony on the upper arm
Colour tattoo of a lighthouse, sailboat and waves inside a rope-edged heart, with purple flowers and green leaves, in a traditional style on a forearm.
Heart-framed lighthouse and sailboat on a forearm
Two side-by-side photographs of seahorse and compass rose tattoos on the upper thighs, one in purple and one in grey shading with blue waves.
Matching seahorse and compass tattoos on thighs
Green-toned flash design of a large eye whose iris becomes a scaled wave, with a hummingbird, a sailing ship and pale pink blossom on a beige background.
Eye with waves, hummingbird and blossom flash
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a sailing ship on rolling waves with a dotted anchor hanging below, on the inner forearm.
Sailing ship and anchor on a forearm
Close photograph of a black tribal-style tattoo of dolphins and fish with swirling linework on a limb, placement not clearly identifiable.
Tribal dolphin and fish tattoo
Colour realism tattoo of a stormy sky with lightning, breaking waves and dark fern silhouettes, wrapping around a forearm.
Stormy seascape on a forearm
Fine line black tattoo of a wavy line with a small bird above it, on the side of an ankle.
Wavy line and bird on an ankle
Black and grey photograph of a blackwork chevron armband tattoo wrapped around a forearm, with a blurred street behind.
Chevron band tattoo on a forearm
Black fine line tattoo of a sailing ship on rolling waves with a dotted line descending to a small anchor, placed on the inner forearm.
Sailing ship and anchor on a forearm
Close-up of a Japanese style tattoo on a back and upper arm, showing a red and yellow serpent with a dark scaled head and orange eye among black and grey waves.
Japanese serpent and waves across back and arm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a three-masted sailing ship with full sails and rigging, placed on the side of the ribs.
Tall ship with billowing sails on the ribs
Black line tattoo of a curling wave with spray dots on the inner forearm, in a fine line style with Japanese-inspired detail.
Curling wave on a forearm
Four small colour tattoos of emblems, a blue water symbol, a green earth symbol, a grey air symbol and a red fire symbol, stacked vertically on a person's upper back.
Four nation emblems down the upper back
Side by side view of a forearm tattoo of an Art Nouveau woman in a flowing dress inside a circular floral frame, shown as black linework on the left and full colour on the right.
Art Nouveau woman with flowers on forearm
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a bearded sea god holding a trident, with waves and a sea serpent, on the forearm.
Sea god with trident and serpent on forearm
Black and grey photograph of a raised hand with a small fine line sailboat tattoo on the inner wrist, set against a nautical chart.
Small sailboat tattoo on the inner wrist
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a koi fish on the upper arm and a dragon with flowers and waves across the shoulder and chest.
Black and grey koi and dragon shoulder piece
Black ink design of a swallow in flight, with its wings and body filled with Japanese-style waves, flowers and a koi-like fish, drawn on a white background.
Swallow in flight with wave and koi patterns
Line drawing of a tattoo design with a woman's face, flowing hair, an owl, two roses and scrolling waves, shaded in blue, in a neo-traditional style.
Woman, owl and roses tattoo design
Colour tattoo of a sea turtle with swirled flippers, a blue wave and an orange and pink flower, with dark teal outlines, on skin.
Sea turtle with wave and flower
Small black and grey tattoo of a three-masted sailing ship above waves, with stippled shading, on the back of a hand.
Sailing ship on the back of a hand
Fine line black tattoos on two forearms, one reading bon voyage in script and the other showing a city skyline with a dotted path and a sun.
Bon voyage script and skyline on forearms
Black and grey realism tattoo of two sailing ships fighting on rough seas, placed on the side of the ribs.
Two galleons in battle at sea
Traditional-style colour tattoo on the forearm of a cartoon cat in a red bow and eye patch, standing in a galleon with orange sails above green waves.
Cartoon cat pirate on a sailing ship
Black line drawing of a humpback whale rising beside curled wave scrolls, shown as a standalone design with no body part visible.
Humpback whale with swirling waves
Neo-traditional flash design of a red-haired mermaid with teal tail, fish and a banner reading SIREN, with an anchor and wave tattoo on her arm.
Mermaid with banner reading Siren
Black ink tattoo of a circular Buffalo NY postmark beside wavy cancellation lines, sitting on the chest below a dark top that a hand is holding aside.
Postmark and wavy cancellation stamp on the chest
Blue wave tattoo with a curling crest and spray, shaded in a painterly style across the forearm.
Blue wave tattoo on a forearm
Pencil sketch of two dolphins curling around each other in a yin-yang arrangement, with swirling waves and bubbles, drawn as a tattoo design.
Two dolphins in a yin-yang pencil sketch
Full back tattoo of a snake coiled around a skull with waves and clouds, in grey shading with small orange accents, placed across the back.
Snake and skull full back piece
Black and white flash sheet of Polynesian-style tattoo motifs, including a turtle, dolphins, a whale tail, a lizard, a fishhook and a sun, each with a printed label and meaning.
Polynesian motif flash sheet with labelled designs
Colour sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm showing a cat, dolphins, hearts and a star, worn beside a pastel rainbow dress.
Colourful cat and dolphin sleeve tattoo
Black and grey flash sheet drawing of a sailing ship on waves, two swallows, an anchor and a telescope, with the script phrase Between the Devil and the deep blue Sea beneath.
Sailing ship, swallows, anchor and telescope flash
Two tattooed people in a Japanese style: a woman with a grey oni mask on her stomach and a man with a full colour sleeve and an oni mask on his chest.
Two people with Japanese style tattoo sleeves and torsos
Black line drawing of a mermaid with scaled tail beside a sailing ship and a large sea creature, a tattoo design sketch with no body part shown.
Mermaid and ship sea monster design
Black and grey traditional tattoo of a sailing ship on rough waves, with a rose beneath it, on an upper arm.
Sailing ship and waves on an upper arm
Pencil-style shaded drawing of a sea turtle with plumeria-like flowers and a tribal wave swirl, designed as a tattoo.
Sea turtle with flowers and wave swirls
Fine line black tattoo of a wave flowing into the word calm in script on the outer ankle, with a silver anklet worn above it.
Wave and calm script on ankle