I think skull tattoo designs are great if you want to highlight that you don't fear death. To this day, one of the most memorable skull tattoos I've done is this Grim Reaper tattoo with a cross. It was for one of my regulars. She wanted the design to represent not fearing death after having accepted Christ into her life.
Like any good tattoo, the meaning of your skull tattoo will change depending on the designs you add. For example, you can do a Santa Muerte skull tattoo to represent luck and protection, while a skull and crossbones tattoo can emphasize danger being ahead. But there are many more designs to talk about. So, I thought about discussing them, and their different meanings below.
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Here are all the best skull tattoos around.
If you want to keep it simple, you can go for an outline skull tattoo. It won't be flashy, and would just be a skull's outline without any coloring or shading inside. The tattoo design is already a bit inconspicuous, but if you want to take this up a notch, you can get it on a part of your body that not many people would see, like your back.
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You can get a small skull tattoo if you want something dainty. A lot of the smaller skull tattoos that I've done have been on the client's hands. Like just a few days ago, I did a small flash tattoo skull on a finger. Also, you can only do the outline of your small skull tattoo if you want to make it discreet: plus this would be perfect if you want a classic skull tattoo that's minimalistic.
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Skulls and crossbones are popular warnings for danger being ahead. As a tattoo, they can emphasize that you're someone who likes thrills, and going after the riskier things in life. At the same time, the tattoo can be a warning to people to not come too close to you as you bite.
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Tears are often associated with crying and sadness, while skulls are popular symbols of death. The two together can represent grief over a death in your life, possibly after someone important to you passed away.
The tattoo can symbolize emotional turmoil, as the skull can represent your inner self, with the tears being the grief over your present situation. To emphasize your emotions, you can do what one of my clients did and do two crying skulls instead of just one skull.
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In a lot of cultures, deers are associated with spirituality. It makes perfect sense to combine one with a skull tattoo design, as you get to send a message about spirits and the afterlife. By getting a deer skull tattooed, you'll also be able to tie in your appreciation for nature since deer are graceful creatures.
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The skull is a symbol of life and death, while crowns represent power. A tattoo of the two can symbolize the balance between power and control, and how fleeting life is. One of the coolest-looking skull and crown tattoos that I've done was this sugar skull with a Maiyan crown - the client chose this design because she wanted to give a nod to her heritage, so maybe you can do something similar.
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Flowers bloom and go through various stages, so they're popular symbols of change and transformation. By combining one with a skull, you can emphasize the change that comes with death. But also, flowers are beautiful, so a tattoo of the two can represent how beautiful death can be.
I'd suggest that you be smart about the flowers you choose. In a lot of cultures, white roses, and lilies are popular at funerals, so incorporating them into your tattoo can be a way of further highlighting. In fact, you can also add butterflies to the flowers. Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, butterflies have been a way to symbolize souls. So, having a couple in your tattoo can represent drifting off to the afterlife.
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The Grim Reaper is a mythical figure that collects souls and helps them move on. In many depictions, he's a skeleton with a cloak. So, you can incorporate him into your skull tattoo if you do a headshot of him: it'll be a way to symbolize your appreciation of death.
Like I said in my introduction, I had this client who got a Grim Reaper cross tattoo that stuck with me. She got it to represent not being afraid of death after accepting Christ in her life. It was pretty detailed too, being a part of a half-sleeve on her upper arm.
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Santa Muerte is a Mexican folk saint that resembles the Virgin Mary and the Reaper. She's often associated with protection and healing, so a tattoo of her can symbolize her watching over these aspects of your life. Just remember that if you are Christian, a Santa Muerte tattoo might not be the best idea - she's been condemned as being demonic by the Catholic church and even several evangelical denominations.
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The snake is often depicted as a symbol of rebirth since it sheds its skin. By combining one with a skull, you can emphasize the rebirth of the soul in the afterlife. However, snakes and skulls are also seen as these "tough-guy" symbols. So the combination of the two can be a way to warn people to not come close to you.
For some extra cool imagery, I'd suggest making the snake slither through the eye-sockets in the skull - it would take a classic skull design and make it extra hardcore.
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Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that honors deceased loved ones. A major part of it is sugar skulls - they're used to celebrate the souls of the departed. What's nice is that they're colorful, which reflects how positive the holiday is towards death. Also, I have to say that sugar skulls are visually striking - I love throwing neon colors in there to make them extra eye-catching.
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The Jolly Roger is a pirate flag used to identify ships, so they're customized depending on the crew on board. They're usually skulls with crossbones on a black background. If you're a fan of pirates or just the adventure that they symbolize, you can get a Jolly Roger flag tattoo.
On that same note, I would say a pirate skull tattoo can be a good idea if you're a fan of the One Piece anime. Jolly Roger's flags are seen throughout the series, with each pirate crew having their own flag. You can get a customized pirate skull tattoo to rep your favorite crew from the series.
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If you like how skulls look, you can bring one to life with a realistic skull tattoo. Just keep in mind that realistic tattoos of any type are hard to do. There's a lot of skill that goes into them, so you need to work with a tattoo artist who knows what they're doing.
Also, since you're getting such a detailed piece, I'd recommend making it big. So, you can get your realistic skull tattoo as a part of a full sleeve, or a back tattoo. You'll be able to let all the details in your piece shine.
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If you resonate with the symbolism behind skulls, you can get one tattooed on your chest. If you're looking for inspiration, the last chest skull tattoo I did was this tattoo of a skull, white roses, and my client's father's name. She got it as a tribute to her father for his death anniversary.
But also, tattoos here can kind of hurt. This shouldn't come as a surprise considering how thin the skin is.
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You can get an arm skull tattoo if you want your tattoo to be very noticeable. It would be right up and center after all. You can especially make your tattoo noticeable if you get it as a part of a full sleeve. Essentially, it will stretch from the top of your arm all the way to the bottom.
I get it if you're not a fan of how full-sleeve tattoos sound. They can be a lot of work, plus kind of expensive too - don't get me started on how long they take to do. So, you can always just get a half-sleeve skull tattoo. It's exactly what you might think, being a skull tattoo that only goes halfway up your arm.
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You can also get a hand skull tattoo if you want something more attention-grabbing than just an arm tattoo. As you can imagine, hands aren't the largest space to work with. So, you'll have to go for a smaller design here.
I think the best hand skull tattoo I did was this sugar skull tattoo that went all the way up my client's hand. I distinctly remember the client came in on the Day of the Dead, and the tattoo ended up being really colorful - I added a couple of neons in there to make it extra visually striking.
If you want to make your hand skull tattoo extra interesting, you can always get it on the palm side of your hand. Keep in mind that you need a lot of aftercare when taking care of tattoos, like not getting them wet or sweaty. So, taking care of a palm tattoo can be tricky in this regard.
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If you want a very big skull tattoo, you can get a back tattoo. You have probably the largest canvas on your body to work with, so you can go to town and get elaborate with your design. But of course, if you're going for a very big piece, you have to be mindful of the design you do, as you have to add design motifs in there to make the tattoo look good.
The thing with back tattoos is that they can hurt. There's just a lot of thin skin here, especially the closer to your spine and neck you go. If it's any consolation, the back is at the same time a very discreet spot for a tattoo. No one would be able to see your tattoo with a shirt on, which might be what you want to hear if you work in corporate.
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Last but not least, you can go for a leg skull tattoo. The leg's another pretty large space to work with, so you can get an elaborate skull tattoo here as well. If you're looking for inspiration, the last skull tattoo I did here was this large piece of Santa Muerte praying with the souls of the departed behind her. What's also nice is that leg tattoos don't hurt that much, like on your upper outer thigh.
Plus, if you liked the idea of an arm sleeve, you can always get a sleeve on your leg. It's up to you to decide whether to get it as a part of a half or full sleeve.
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Skulls are popular symbols of death, so a skull tattoo can symbolize the balance between life and death. But of course, there are a bunch of ways that you can go about skull tattoos, with their meanings changing depending on the imagery you add. You can do a sugar skull tattoo to highlight the Day of the Dead. Or you can do a Santa Muerte tattoo to showcase protection and healing.
You can do a skull and flower tattoo if you want to represent the change in life that death brings, and a snake and a skull to emphasize the eternal life of a soul after death. On the flip side, something like a pirate skull tattoo can represent that you have an adventurous spirit, like a pirate.
The placement of your skull tattoo will also affect its meaning. Like if you get it tattooed on your chest, you can convey how much the idea of life and death means to you - the tattoo would be near your heart after all. At the same time, you can get the skull tattoo on your back if you want to keep its meaning private.
There are a lot of skull tattoos that you can go for, with them each being great ways to highlight that you are not afraid of death and the afterlife but instead appreciate it. All in all, I hope you found this ultimate guide useful - I ran through over 50 amazing skull tattoos to turn heads!
