Wave tattoo ideas

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

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Close-up photo of a black tribal-style turtle tattoo with two blue wavy lines across its centre, on skin.
Tribal turtle with blue waves
Line drawing of a Japanese-style dragon, lion-like mask and lotus flowers over waves and clouds, with pink wash shading, as a tattoo design.
Japanese dragon and lotus flash design
Colour tattoo of a swimming sea turtle with orange plumeria flowers and blue waves, in a Neo-trad style on the upper back.
Sea turtle and plumeria in blue waves
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
Black ink tattoo of a circular sea scene with sunrays, clouds and rolling waves on the inner forearm.
Sun, clouds and waves on a forearm
Close-up of a thin black fine line tattoo of a curling wave across the wrist, with the hand visible on the right.
Fine line curling wave on a wrist
Full Japanese-style sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm, showing pink cherry blossoms, grey waves and a fish-like creature with a yellow eye.
Japanese full sleeve with cherry blossoms and fish
Close-up of a small fine-line black wave tattoo with a Hokusai-style curl on the side of a person's ribs, under the arm.
Small wave tattoo on the side ribs
Black ink flash sheets of roses, daffodils, lotus and a mountain design set inside solid black triangles and circles, shown on white paper beside fresh flowers.
Botanical flash in triangles and circles
Close-up of an open mouth with a Japanese style tattoo of red koi carp swimming through green and black waves across the tongue.
Koi and waves tattoo on a tongue
Black tribal-style dragon design with a long horn, open jaw and swirling tail, shown as a flat drawing rather than on skin.
Tribal dragon design with swirling tail
Black and grey circular tattoo of waves and clouds in an engraved style, placed on the outer thigh.
Waves and clouds in a circle on a thigh
Hand-drawn sheet on squared paper showing many small line symbols, including an ankh, eye, skull, owl, lion, dreamcatcher and mountains, as possible tattoo designs.
Hand-drawn sheet of small tattoo symbols
Black and grey dotwork and fine line tattoo of a sun with rays, clouds and a curling wave inside a circle, on the inner forearm.
Sun, clouds and wave on a forearm
Black ink line drawing on paper of a rope-framed heart holding a lighthouse, waves and birds, with a flower and leaves below and a small anchor, shown as a tattoo design sketch.
Lighthouse heart and flower design sketch
Neo-traditional tattoo on a forearm showing a red and yellow gradient cloud, grey rain cloud, falling rain and a black and mint wave.
Rain clouds and wave on a forearm
Woman in a dark grey band t-shirt showing colourful traditional rose and floral tattoos on her upper arms and forearms.
Tattooed arms in a band t-shirt
White ink tattoo sleeve of mandalas, leaves and geometric patterns covering an upper arm and shoulder.
White ink sleeve with mandalas and leaves
Traditional style flash design of a black and white striped lighthouse in an oval frame, with clouds, rocks, mountains and a red flower.
Lighthouse in an oval frame
Black dotwork tattoo of a skeleton holding a staff on a house boat over rolling waves, with five stars above, on a forearm.
Skeleton with staff on a house boat
Black linework tattoo of a breaking wave and three solid black palm trees on the outer ankle and heel.
Palm trees and wave on an ankle
Blackwork and dotwork tattoo on the inner forearm showing three solid black circles with an oak leaf and acorns, a wave, and a fern with a pine cone, linked by dotted lines and small botanical sprigs.
Oak, wave and fern circles on a forearm
Colour tattoo of an orange starfish with blue scrolling waves and small flowers on a person's upper back.
Starfish and scrollwork on upper back
Black and grey realism tattoo of an anatomical heart with engraved-style waves, a hand and script on the chest.
Anatomical heart with waves on the chest
Colourful Japanese-style half sleeve on an upper arm and shoulder, showing a blue VW camper van among grey waves, purple plumeria and red clouds.
VW camper van and flowers on an upper arm
Four-panel photo of a Japanese style forearm sleeve with a grey koi fish, pagoda, waves and red maple leaves.
Koi, waves and pagoda forearm sleeve
Traditional colour tattoo of a compass hanging from a chain, with a compass rose face and blue waves, on an arm.
Compass and waves on an arm
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a curling wave inside a circle on the inner forearm, shown in a black and white photo.
Wave in a circle on a forearm
Black ink drawing of a curling ocean wave inside an inverted triangle, with fine hatched linework and stippled spray.
Wave curling inside an inverted triangle
Two black and grey tattoos: a fine line wave on an upper arm and a dotwork palm tree within a dotted circle on a forearm.
Wave and palm tree tattoos on arms
Colour tattoo on a forearm showing a breaching orca, pink plumeria, a pink hibiscus and sea turtles over blue water, shown in three side-by-side views.
Orca, plumeria and sea turtles on a forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo of a sailing ship in a stormy sea covering a person's back, with the ship's rigging and sails rendered in fine detail.
Sailing ship in a storm across a back
Colour half sleeve on an upper arm showing a black tree with swirling branches at the top, orange koi and blue waves in the middle, and pink lilies below.
Tree, koi and lilies on an upper arm
Black fine line tattoo of a single wave on the inner forearm, with a houndstooth sleeve in the background.
Fine line wave on a forearm
Side-by-side photos of a botanical swirl tree tattoo in black ink above blue wave shading on an upper arm.
Swirling tree and blue waves on an arm
Traditional colour tattoo of an anchor wrapped in rope, with a red rose, green waves and black droplets, on a forearm.
Anchor and rose on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a koi fish and pink lotus flower with teal waves across the upper back and shoulder, in a Japanese style.
Koi fish and lotus on a shoulder
Blue wave tattoo inside a black-outlined inverted triangle on a forearm, with light blue shading behind the wave.
Blue wave inside a triangle on a forearm
Tattoo on a woman's shoulder with soft purple, blue and pink washes, black brush-style linework and a black circle.
Abstract watercolour swoosh on shoulder
Black and white photo of a fine line tattoo of stacked wave lines across the inner wrist and forearm.
Stacked wave lines on a wrist
A flash sheet of small black tattoo designs on white, including a snake, sun, butterfly, dragonfly, flower and frog, shown in a simple bold tribal-style outline.
Black tattoo flash sheet of small motifs
Black fine line tattoo of a curling wave flowing into the words into the sea in script, on the side of a foot near the ankle.
Wave and script reading into the sea on ankle
Black and grey dotwork sailboat tattoo with an anchor on the sail, a small red heart, and stippled waves, sitting on the side of the torso above jeans.
Sailboat and waves on the side of the torso
Black fine line infinity symbol tattoo with a paw print, wave swirls and small stars on the top of a foot.
Infinity symbol with paw print on a foot
Black line drawing flash of a cartoon sailor in a rowboat inside a circle, with the words ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT and THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, shown without a placement on the body.
Sailor in a rowboat flash design
Black line drawing of an octopus with an elephant-like head and curling tentacles surrounded by wave swirls, shown as tattoo flash on white paper.
Octopus and elephant hybrid line drawing
Flash design of a tattooed mermaid holding a skull, with an anchor, stars and a crescent moon above her head and tentacles coiled around her tail, in cream ink on a dark teal background.
Mermaid with anchor, skull and crescent moon
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a single curling wave-like line running down the inner forearm, with a knitted jumper sleeve pushed up.
Single line wave on a forearm