Wave tattoo ideas

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

What will it cost? Try the tattoo cost calculator
Full back tattoo in Japanese style showing a roaring tiger, a coiled snake, flowers and wave motifs, in black and grey shading.
Tiger and snake back piece
Colour Japanese-style tattoo of pink peonies with green leaves and black and grey waves on a leg, with a grey lotus on the ankle.
Japanese peony and wave leg sleeve
Black-ink sailing ship tattoo with a banner on the inner wrist and forearm, in a fine line style, while another person holds the wearer's hand.
Sailing ship on a wrist
Fine line tattoo of two black wavy lines on the side of a finger, against a pale blue background.
Two wavy lines on a finger
Black and grey fine line tattoo of a face in profile rising from rippled water beside a triangular fin shape, on the inner upper arm.
Face rising from water on upper arm
Colour tattoo of a pink koi and a white cat with blue Japanese wave patterns across a forearm.
Koi and wave cat on a forearm
Black and grey line drawing of a keyhole with an eye inside, framed by a crown, sunburst rays and two banners, in a vintage engraved style.
Keyhole crest with crown and banners
Black ink flash design of hatched ocean waves rising beneath a open sky, enclosed in a thick circular outline, with no body placement shown.
Hatched ocean waves in a circle
Black ink drawing of a whale swimming through stippled waves beneath a starry night sky, set inside a circle, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement.
Whale in a circle of waves and stars
Black and grey tribal tattoo of spiral curls and chevron bands across the upper back.
Tribal curl design across the upper back
Full back tattoo in Japanese style showing a leaping striped bass over rolling blue waves, with an anchor and an orange sunburst behind it, on a man's back.
Leaping striped bass and anchor on a back
Black and grey pencil drawing of a Japanese-style skull with peony flowers and swirling wave motifs, shown as a tattoo design without a body placement.
Skull and peonies in a Japanese design
Black and grey realism tattoo of a coastline with cliffs and sea inside a circle on the inner forearm.
Coastal landscape in a circle on forearm
Small black fine line wave tattoo on the side of a foot near the ankle.
Small wave on the side of a foot
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of an anatomical heart on a forearm, showing a paper boat on waves beneath a crescent moon and stars.
Anatomical heart with paper boat on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a green sea turtle with pink and red plumeria flowers and turquoise waves on a person's upper back.
Sea turtle and plumeria on upper back
Black ink ship in a bottle tattoo on the inner upper arm, with a sailing ship drawn in outline and light shading.
Ship in a bottle on upper arm
Traditional colour tattoo of a lantern enclosing a lighthouse, waves and birds, on the outer thigh.
Lighthouse lantern on a thigh
Colour Japanese style tattoo of a seated white rabbit among swirling waves, gold scrollwork and flowers across a bare chest and torso.
White rabbit and waves across chest and torso
Black and grey hatched tattoo of a curling wave inside a circle, with fine script arcing across the top, on a lower leg.
Hatched wave in a circle on a lower leg
Black monoline flash design in a circle showing a crescent moon and stars on the left, a tower with a keyhole motif in the centre, and a sun with waves on the right.
Moon, sun and tower in a circular line design
Blue-ink sailing ship with billowing sails and waves tattooed on the upper back of a woman with blonde hair, above a white lace top.
Sailing ship on upper back
Woman seen from behind on a beach with a small fine line wave tattoo on her upper back, between the shoulder blades.
Small wave tattoo on upper back
Black and grey fine line tattoo on the inner forearm, split into two bands with a mountain, sun and sunflower above and a sunflower, waves, stars and crescent moon below.
Mountain, sunflower and moon forearm bands
Large Japanese-style back tattoo of a shaded grey Buddha face surrounded by waves, with orange and green maple leaves across the upper shoulders.
Buddha face and waves across a back
Full leg tattoos in Japanese style with colourful chrysanthemums and waves on black shading, on the thighs and calves of a person seen from behind.
Japanese chrysanthemum leg tattoos
Black and grey realism tattoos of a sailing ship and a lighthouse on rocks, one on each forearm, with the palms turned upward.
Ship and lighthouse on both forearms
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 and teal mermaid silhouette tattoo with swirling teal and black vines on pale skin.
Mermaid silhouette with teal tail and vines
Two side-by-side views of a bold black tribal-patterned tattoo of spirals and waves with red chevron fills, wrapping the upper arm.
Tribal spiral and wave design on upper arm
Watercolour-style flash design of a sailing ship being wrapped by an octopus tentacle among swirling waves, with an anchor and rope below.
Sailing ship, octopus and anchor design
Hand-drawn black line sketch of an anchor rising from curling waves, with the Latin lettering fluctuat nec mergitur along the lower wave, shown as a tattoo design on paper.
Anchor and waves design with Latin lettering
Traditional colour tattoo of a three-masted sailing ship on waves with a lettered banner and a flower, on the outer forearm.
Sailing ship with banner on a forearm
Japanese style Great Wave tattoo in teal and blue with grey shading, placed on the upper back near the shoulder.
Great Wave tattoo on upper back
Close view of a person's ankles in iridescent platform lace-up boots, showing black fine line tattoos on the left ankle and a thin line tattoo encircling the right ankle.
Fine line ankle tattoos above iridescent boots
Single-needle black fine-line tattoo of flowing, abstract curves on a wrist, with a braided string bracelet visible below it.
Fine line flowing tattoo on a wrist
Coloured pencil drawing of a koi fish and a long-beaked bird above stylised swirling waves, in a Japanese-influenced flash design.
Koi and bird over swirling waves
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
Black and grey Japanese style tattoo of a shark with an anchor and rope amid curling waves, covering a person's upper arm and shoulder.
Shark, anchor and waves on upper arm
Black and grey palm tree tattoo with the word island beneath it on one forearm, and a thin fine line wave on the other forearm, with both palms facing up.
Palm tree and wave forearm tattoos
Black and grey Japanese style illustration of a woman in a patterned kimono holding a dragon, with a tattoo-style design on her upper arm and a parasol behind her.
Kimono woman with dragon and parasol
Two fine line black tattoos on inner forearms, a small arrow on one arm and a bow on the other, with hands clasped on a beach.
Arrow and bow tattoos on forearms
Black and grey tattoo of a three-masted sailing ship on rolling waves, framed in a circle with dashed sky lines, on the forearm.
Sailing ship in a circle on a forearm
Black and grey realism tattoo on a forearm showing a sundial compass, a full moon and a sailing ship on waves, shown across three photographs.
Ship, moon and sundial compass on a forearm
Colour tattoo of a sailing ship on rough blue waves beneath a full moon and purple clouds, with script lettering above, on the outer thigh.
Sailing ship and full moon on a thigh
Japanese-style Great Wave tattoo in teal and grey ink with a small Mount Fuji, placed on a person's upper back between the shoulder blade and shoulder.
Great Wave tattoo on upper back
Coloured pencil drawing of a sailing ship on waves inside a rope-framed spade shape, with a rope knot and lotus-like shape below, in a traditional style.
Sailing ship in a rope-framed heart design