Wave tattoo ideas

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

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Full-colour Japanese-style tattoo of a red and white koi fish swimming among peonies and waves across a person's back.
Koi fish and peonies across a back
Three photos of a forearm with a black armband tattoo filled with blue wave shapes, with blue splashes and dots trailing below it.
Blue wave armband tattoo on a forearm
Black and grey back tattoo of a sailing ship, a lighthouse and a large kraken with tentacles rising through waves, in a traditional nautical style.
Kraken, sailing ship and lighthouse across a back
Colourful Japanese style koi fish back tattoo across the upper and mid back of a woman seen from behind, with bookshelves in the background.
Koi fish back piece
Black line drawing of a mermaid with long wavy hair and a curling fish tail, shown as a tattoo design on white with no body part visible.
Mermaid with flowing hair line drawing
Realism colour tattoo of a sunset over the sea with a seashell and starfish on the upper arm of a person with long hair.
Sunset beach and shells on upper arm
Three paper tattoo flash designs in traditional style: a teacup with a wave and flowers, a small aeroplane, and a dagger-like syringe, each with a text banner.
Teacup, aeroplane and syringe flash stickers
Traditional style flash drawing of a red and grey lighthouse with red light beams, set on rocks above rolling waves.
Lighthouse on rocks with waves flash
Colour tattoo of a peace symbol filled with rainbow gradients, framed by white-outlined blue and purple swirls on skin.
Rainbow peace symbol with swirls
Black and grey fine line tattoo of stacked wavy lines in a rectangle on the upper back of a woman wearing a red open-back top.
Wave line tattoo on upper back
Colour traditional tattoo of an anchor wrapped in rope with a teal wash behind it, on the top of a foot below the toes.
Anchor and rope on the foot
Black and grey chest tattoo of a lighthouse with rays, a rose and Japanese-style waves on the upper chest, with a tattooed arm visible at the left.
Lighthouse and rose chest piece
Black and grey wave and fish scale tattoo on the side of a hip, above green scale-patterned leggings.
Grey wave and scale tattoo on a hip
Japanese style full sleeve tattoo on an arm, showing a red koi carp, purple lotus flowers, cherry blossoms and clouds, shown from three angles.
Koi and lotus full sleeve
Fine line and dotwork koi fish tattoo in teal, grey and pink across a person's upper back and shoulder blade.
Two koi fish on the upper back
Colour tattoo of a skull above a purple lotus, framed by wave-like swirls, in a Japanese-influenced style on a lower leg.
Skull and lotus on a calf
Five Japanese-style full back tattoo designs drawn on paper sheets, showing dragons, an oni mask, a warrior with a sword, a woman and waves in colour.
Japanese back piece designs on painted sheets
Black sketch-style tattoo of a sailing ship above a fish-like creature on the outer thigh, with a hand resting on the other leg.
Ship and fish on a thigh
Greyscale pencil drawing of two koi fish swimming through stylised waves, a Japanese style tattoo design on paper.
Two koi fish among waves design
Black and grey blackwork tribal swirl tattoo running up a lower leg, with a bare foot visible at the bottom right.
Swirling tribal pattern on a lower leg
Black and grey dotwork tattoo of a moon, clouds and sea waves inside a circle on the forearm.
Moon, clouds and waves in a circle on a forearm
Black fine line tattoo on an ankle and foot, showing a sweeping wavy line rising up the leg and a small outlined animal figure near the ankle bone.
Black line wave and small cat on an ankle
Black and grey traditional flash design of a sailing ship on rough sea inside a ship's wheel, with banners reading NEED YOU LIKE WATER IN MY LUNGS.
Sailing ship in a ship's wheel with banner lettering
Black traditional-style swallow design with a sunburst and wavy lines, printed on a grey t-shirt laid flat on a wooden background.
Traditional swallow with sunburst and waves on a grey
Colour tattoo of a white polar bear beneath aurora, stars and a green moon in an oval panel on the upper arm.
Polar bear under northern lights on upper arm
Black and grey traditional anchor tattoo with rope, a banner reading EST. and the date 1970 above, on a forearm.
Anchor with rope and 1970 est. banner on a forearm
Colourful Japanese-style koi fish design in orange and gold on a deep blue background, framed by teal wave and cloud swirls.
Koi fish with swirling waves
Two versions of a stylised flame design with spirals, a Greek key motif and wave lines, one in black outline and one in rainbow colour, shown as a tattoo flash design.
Flame and spiral design in line and colour
Seated man shown from the neck down, covered in a full Japanese style tattoo with a dragon and phoenix on the arms and a deity figure across the chest and abdomen.
Full body Japanese tattoo with dragon and phoenix
Colour traditional tattoo on a calf of a pin-up mermaid with a flower in her hair, surrounded by waves, pineapple, watermelon, orange slices, grapes and a pink flamingo inside a rope frame.
Mermaid and tropical fruit on a calf
Black linework tattoo of a walking pilgrim with a staff and a dog, set among clouds and waves, on the upper arm of a person in a blue tank top.
Pilgrim with staff and dog on upper arm
Black and grey tribal sun with a face and bands of spiral and triangle patterns covering a person's upper arm and shoulder.
Sun face tribal upper arm tattoo
Black tattoo of a film strip with a dark silhouette and ink drips on a leg, surrounded by other black linework tattoos of a ship, birds and high heeled legs.
Film strip with ink splash on a calf
Colour tattoo of two lavender dolphins meeting nose to nose above turquoise waves, one wearing a pink flower and the other a green lei, on the back.
Two dolphins nose to nose above waves
Black and grey dotwork and traditional tattoo on a forearm showing a stormy wave and sailing ship inside a patterned teacup, with a rain cloud above.
Teacup with a storm at sea on a forearm
Black line drawing of a flying saucer beaming down over mountains, a moon, stars, pine trees and a small house with a wavy hatched field.
UFO beam over a mountain landscape
Black script lettering on an arm reads 'Our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean', in a lettering style.
Wave quote lettering on an arm
Traditional-style nautical design of two swallows, a rope-edged anchor and roses, burned into a pale wooden board, with no body placement shown.
Swallows, anchor and roses design on wood
Japanese style back tattoo of a gnarled grey tree with pink cherry blossoms falling past it, above blue-green waves at the lower back.
Blossoming tree and waves across a back
Black and grey Japanese style full sleeve tattoo of peonies, waves and clouds across a man's upper arm and forearm.
Japanese peony and wave full sleeve
Japanese style koi fish with red and black scales swimming among waves and clouds, tattooed on an upper arm and shoulder.
Koi fish and waves on an upper arm
Full colour Japanese sleeve tattoo on an upper arm and forearm, showing foo dogs, peonies and waves against a plain wall.
Japanese lion and peony full arm sleeve
Colour tattoo of a yin and yang design on a shoulder blade, with pine trees and exposed roots on one side and teal ocean waves on the other.
Yin yang with pine forest and ocean waves
Colour Japanese style koi fish tattoo in red, orange and yellow with grey swirling water across the side of the ribs.
Koi fish tattoo on the side ribs
Neo-traditional tattoo on a forearm showing a grey California state outline with a bear, orange poppies, green leaves and a Dreams banner.
California poppies and state outline on a forearm
Black ink fine line tattoo of palm trees above a curling wave, across the upper back of a person wearing a pink string bikini top.
Palm trees and wave across a back
Sepia drawing of a geisha with hair sticks and closed eyes, with a dragon and wave design and a patterned sleeve, in a Japanese style.
Geisha and dragon tattoo design
Black and grey flash design of a skull above a sailing ship on waves, with a mermaid resting on a treasure chest below, shown without a body placement.
Skull, pirate ship and mermaid design