Wave tattoo ideas

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

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Black and grey tattoo on an upper arm showing a tentacled creature head beneath a full moon and stars, with swirling waves below.
Tentacled creature, moon and waves on upper arm
Black and grey traditional tattoo of a sailing ship, rose, ship's wheel and anchor across an upper arm and shoulder.
Sailing ship, rose and anchor on upper arm
Japanese style full sleeve tattoo on an arm showing a koi fish, rolling waves, lotus flowers and a skull, shown from three angles.
Koi, waves and lotus full sleeve
Colour tattoo of a grey anchor wrapped in rope, with blue waves and Roman numerals on the upper arm.
Anchor and waves on upper arm
Black and grey realism tattoo of storm clouds and a rolling wave across a man's shoulder and upper arm.
Clouds and wave on a shoulder
Black and grey dotwork tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder showing a whale tail above a man in profile with a moustache, with a bearded man in the waves.
Whale tail and face in the sea on upper arm
Full colour sleeve tattoo in a Japanese and traditional style on a raised arm, showing a rose, clouds, a wave and a script banner on the forearm and upper arm.
Colour sleeve with clouds and script banner
Black and grey tattoo with a red sun of a moustached man in profile, wavy lines and a pentagram on an upper arm.
Moustached man portrait and pentagram on upper arm
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a maneki-neko lucky cat holding a gold coin, with koi fish and clouds, on the upper arm.
Maneki-neko lucky cat on upper arm
Traditional tattoo of a ship in a bottle with an orange banner reading Steady as she goes, purple flowers and a ship's wheel on the upper arm.
Ship in a bottle with banner on upper arm
Black and grey Japanese dragon full sleeve tattoo with scales, waves and clouds, covering the shoulder, upper arm and forearm.
Japanese dragon full sleeve
Person seen from behind with black and grey tattoos covering the back, neck and both arms, including a winged figure on the back and a rose on the upper arm.
Heavily tattooed back and arms seen from behind
Colour Japanese-style sleeve tattoo on an upper arm, with black and grey waves, green leaves and pink flowers.
Japanese sleeve with waves and blossoms
Colour tattoo of a red-haired mermaid with a teal tail and surrounding bubbles, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Red-haired mermaid on upper arm
Three views of a full arm sleeve tattoo in Japanese style, showing a man rowing a boat on blue waves and a red octopus with suckers on the upper arm and forearm.
Full sleeve of a boatman, waves and red octopus
Full body Japanese-style tattoo with green and orange dragons, koi and goldfish over black wave-patterned ground across the chest, arms and thighs.
Full body Japanese irezumi with dragons and koi
Black and grey Japanese-style wave sleeve tattoo covering the shoulder and upper arm of a shirtless man, with swirling water and wind motifs.
Black and grey wave sleeve on a shoulder and upper arm
Full back tattoo in Japanese style showing a geisha holding fans, cherry blossoms, butterflies and wind lines in colour across the back.
Full back Japanese piece with geisha and butterflies
Black and grey tattoo of a muscular, bearded sea god holding a trident, with a water-tail base, on the upper arm.
Trident-bearing sea god on upper arm
Colour tattoo of a bearded sea god with a trident and a blue horse among turquoise waves, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Sea god and blue horse on upper arm
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a koi fish leaping through black and grey waves with pink cherry blossoms, covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Koi and cherry blossoms on upper arm
Colour tattoo of a sunset beach with palm trees, breaking waves and surfboards, with pink hibiscus flowers, covering an upper arm and shoulder.
Sunset beach scene and hibiscus on an upper arm
A full colour Japanese style sleeve tattoo of a red koi fish, cherry blossoms and waves on a woman's upper arm and forearm.
Koi and cherry blossom sleeve on an arm
Black and grey tattoo of curling waves, swirling clouds and a stippled sun with rays, on the upper arm, in a linework style.
Waves and rising sun on an upper arm
Black and grey photograph of a raised arm with a Japanese style sleeve on the upper arm, showing clouds, swirling waves, wings and script lettering.
Japanese style arm sleeve with wings and script
Black and grey Japanese style sleeve tattoo with a koi fish on the upper arm and shoulder and wave-like linework on the forearm.
Koi and wave sleeve on a arm
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a red koi fish, yellow and blue flower and grey waves covering the upper arm and shoulder.
Koi fish and flower on an upper arm and shoulder
Three views of a colour Japanese-style half sleeve on the upper arm and shoulder, with teal waves, red blossoms and dark shaded rays.
Japanese waves and blossom half sleeve
Black and grey Traditional style tattoo of octopus tentacles rising from engraved waves beneath stars and clouds, on an upper arm.
Octopus tentacles rising from waves on an upper arm
Black ink tattoo of three triathlon pictograms, a swimmer, a cyclist and a runner, stacked vertically on the upper arm near the shoulder.
Triathlon pictograms on the upper arm
Colourful neo-traditional tattoo of a breaking wave with an orange sun inside the curl, set against a sunset sky, on a man's upper arm and shoulder.
Colourful breaking wave and sunset on shoulder
Colour traditional-style tattoo on the upper arm showing a mermaid with a zodiac medallion, a red heart, pink roses, a skull and a blue rose.
Mermaid and heart upper arm sleeve
Black and grey Buddha face with pink blossoms, a pagoda and a coloured lotus across an upper arm, in a Japanese style sleeve.
Buddha face, pagoda and lotus upper arm sleeve
Black and grey full arm sleeve with chrysanthemums, flower of life geometry and dotwork, with red script on the forearm, shown on both arms.
Full sleeve with chrysanthemums and sacred geometry
Black and grey realism tattoo of a sailing ship in a storm with lightning and a compass on a man's upper arm and shoulder.
Sailing ship in a storm with compass on upper arm
Black tribal spiral and wave design tattoo wrapping around the upper arm and shoulder, in a blackwork style.
Tribal armband tattoo on upper arm
Woman seen from behind with a colourful Japanese style koi and wave tattoo covering her back and left arm, against a dark red studio backdrop.
Full back Japanese koi and wave tattoo
Black script lettering tattoo on an upper arm reading: our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean.
Wave quote lettering on an upper arm
Black and grey Polynesian-style tribal tattoo with plumeria flowers across a shoulder and upper arm.
Polynesian tribal shoulder and upper arm
Side-by-side photos of a Japanese-style swirling cloud tattoo on an upper arm and shoulder, the left before treatment and the right after, with the colour noticeably faded.
Japanese swirl sleeve before and after laser fading
Traditional style colour tattoo of a red and white striped lighthouse with lightning bolts and waves on a man's upper arm, with a skull and nautical elements nearby.
Lighthouse and lightning sleeve on an arm
Back of a woman with a black linework Japanese-style lotus and wave design across her lower back, and a peony and flower sleeve on her arm, photographed in a dim studio.
Lotus back piece and flower arm sleeve
Black line drawing of a woman with long hair and closed eyes, showing a Japanese-style sleeve of cherry blossoms, a koi-like fish and a skull on her arm.
Woman with Japanese-style sleeve and skull
Black dotwork and linework tattoo of a sailing ship on waves inside a circle with clouds and birds, on the upper arm.
Sailing ship in a dotwork circle
Back and arm tattoo in Japanese style showing a fierce warrior with a sword, a koi on the upper arm and peonies, in colour against a black background.
Japanese back and arm sleeve tattoo
Two photographs of a full body Japanese-style tattoo: on the left a back piece seen while kneeling in water, on the right a torso and sleeves with an eagle, cherry blossom and koi.
Full body Japanese-style tattoo in two views
Japanese style chrysanthemum tattoo in orange and grey shading covering a forearm, with wave shading above and small script on the wrist.
Chrysanthemum sleeve on a forearm
Full arm sleeve tattoo in dotwork and geometric patterns, with black and grey shading on the shoulder and upper arm fading to red and orange dots on the forearm.
Geometric dotwork sleeve with a pale sun