Sleeve tattoos are becoming one of the most popular styles of tattoos around. If you take a look, you’ll probably notice more and more people with sleeve tattoos whether it be a full sleeve, half sleeve, or quarter sleeve. The sleeves allow people to express themselves with a large design that everyone can see. It allows people to get to know them a little before they’ve actually had a conversation. Essentially you’re getting either a variety of tattoos making up the sleeve or possibly one large piece of work to cover the space. We’re a big fan of sleeves and wanted to show you some sleeve tattoos that we like. Below you will find some of the best sleeve tattoo ideas out there and why they have become so popular. Keep in mind that these are just some of the many sleeve tattoos that you can choose from.
The landscape
If you want a great place to put a landscape and don’t want to put it on your back, then you will probably love the look of the tattoo as a sleeve. You can decide to make the image sideways down your arm, or you can even have a landscape that wraps around. With these tattoos you can be as creative or simplistic as you want as long as you get all of the images that you want in the design and the meanings that you want are clear.
The maze
There aren’t too many better ways to get a maze tattoo than on your arm as a sleeve tat. You can have the outline of anything you want and have a maze inside of it, adding even more meaning to the design. In fact, you can combine the maze with most of the other suggestions on this page without a problem. The maze that you can get can be as big or as small as you want with thick or thin lines. The key is to get a great tattoo artist that can really make the maze sleeve pop and is great with line work.
The religious
You can get a religious tattoo absolutely anywhere on your body, but if you want something a bit more creative, a sleeve tattoo might be perfect for it. You can mix in as many religious images as you want in a sleeve, including crosses, angels, Jesus, and anything else that you want. Many people like to include wrapping text to give their religious tattoos even more meaning.
The cyberpunk
The key to a great cyberpunk sleeve tattoo is to make it look as realistic as possible. You can go all-out with a mechanical tattoo that makes your arm look like it’s part of a machine, or you can get intricate lines that make you look like you have computer parts inside. These designs almost always look awesome as sleeve tattoos, so if you’re looking for something big that can grab everyone’s attention, this might be the best option for you. Of course, you should also like the cyberpunk look or else it won’t make much sense to get this one.
The animal(s)
If you know that you want to get your favorite animal tattooed on your skin and you really want a sleeve tattoo, then your artist can definitely make that work. It’s a good idea to pick an animal that could naturally curl around your arm, but you can always just have the body going down/up your arm and the tail wrapping around. Animals in sleeve tattoos usually have a bunch of other design elements surrounding them to really make the images pop.
The abstract
Not all tattoos have to have an obvious meaning. The truth is that the sleeve might be the best tattooing option for abstract tattoos since there is more for the artist to work with. For example, you could get a Jackson Pollock-esque sleeve with drips and splashes, which would probably look pretty fantastic, to be honest. The most important thing is that the abstract sleeve that you get means a lot to you.
The love
Sure, you can show your love for someone (or a group of people) with a tattoo located anywhere on your body, but the sleeve allows you to dedicate a lot of skin to that love. You could use the sleeve to show the world everything in your life that you love, which will allow you to be really creative. You could get a portrait, hearts, flowers, your favorite animal, and a bunch of other designs all in one sleeve!
The jellyfish
Since the jellyfish has a unique form with its body high up and its tentacles dropping far below it, it makes for a very interesting and cool-looking sleeve tattoo. The other reason why this has flown up the sleeve rankings is because jellyfish come in so many great colors. You can use an existing jellyfish species or you can create your own. Many people also decide to add water into the design to give the impression that the jellyfish is swimming.
The 3D
The three dimensional tattoo is perfect in sleeve form since it is a very visible location and it’s the type of tat that people usually want to show off. The idea behind 3D tattoos is that the images will end up looking like they are above your skin or really affecting your skin. Examples include flying animals with shadows, ripped skin, and heavily detailed portraits. Just be warned that these are the types of tats that you will want to get touched up regularly to keep them looking realistic.
The multi-angle
One of the advantages that the sleeve tattoo has over other tattoo locations is that you can make it look different depending on the onlooker’s angle. You can use pretty much any image for this effect if it wraps around your arm, but the best ones are those that look completely different on both sides. Something “climbing” around your arm is a great example of this.
The comic
If you have a comic that you love or you simply just like that style a lot, you can definitely turn it into a sleeve tattoo. Many people like to stick with a single image that tells a story starting from the top of their shoulders and reaching all the way to their wrists. You can also do an entire comic strip, but just don’t be shocked when someone grabs your arm so they can look at and read the whole thing!
