Tattoos styles pictures
Tattoos styles pictures
Skulls and skeletons tattoos (2)
Many people choose to get a skull tattoo because they want to show their affiliation to a group or to show their beliefs and their devotion to them.
The famous Jolly Roger (the black flag with a white skull and two human bones crossed under the skull) once used by pirates, was both an intimidating signal and a symbol of the total disregard for the authorities, as well as a symbol of the absolute freedom. This symbol (which is still preserving its original meaning) symbol was integrated into various systems of symbols belonging to different subculture or/and counterculture groups (like the outlaw motorcycle clubs whose members often get Jolly Roger tattoos to show their lawlessness). Sometimes, the anarchists use the "Jolly Roger" as a symbol of rebellion against the organized authority.
a Jolly Roger tattoo
The Dead Man's Head consists usually of the human skull with or without the mandible and often includes two crossed long-bones (the femurs). Unlike the Jolly Roger design, the Dead Man's Head design features a skull with the crossbones placed behind the skull, instead of beneath it. The Dead Man's Head is an ancient symbol and has had different meanings over time; in the Elizabethan England, for instance, The Death's-Head Skull (usually a depiction without the lower jawbone), was emblematic of bawds, rakes, sexual adventurers and prostitutes; the term Deaths-Head was actually parlance for these rakes, and most of them wore half-skull rings to advertise their station, either professionally or otherwise. The original rings were wide silver objects, with a half-skull decoration not much wider than the rest of the band; this allowed it to be rotated around the finger to hide the skull in polite company, and to reposition it in the presence of likely conquests.
Dead Man's Head ring
The Totenkopf was used by the german Schutzstaffel (SS) as the unit's insignia. As a consequence of that, this particular design of the Dead Man's Head has become closely associated with various movements like the "white nationalist" movements, the "white power skinhead" movements and the "Neo-Nazi" movement.
a Totenkopf tattoo - a tattoo design closely associated with the Neo-Nazi's ideology
the 3rd SS Division's Totenkopf insignia
Totenkopf design; the draw also contain a variant of so-called "Cross Pattee (English: Cross Patty; German: Tatzenkreuz)"; the Cross Pattee is often mistakenly identified with the gothic crosses, but actually it is an ancient symbol which was largely used by the Teutonic Knights and sometimes by the Templiers. The Cross Pattee design was incorporated in the design of the "Iron Cross", a german decoration for military valor established by the King Frederick William III of Prussia in 1813. The Iron Cross remained in use, in various forms, by Prussia and later Germany until 1945.
Variations on the Skull and Crossbones are used by various military units as a symbol of strength, courage and bravure, as well as a symbol of the disregard for one's life. On wikipedia you can find a list of the Skull and crossbones military insignias.
The BOPE emblem, a skull impaled on a sword, backed by two gold pistols sends out a strong, unambiguous message. The emblem symbolises armed combat, war and death. The BOPE’s emblem, a skull with a crisscross of pistols, is believed to possess mystical powers of protection. BOPE = Special Policial Operations Battalion, a special forces unit of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. If you want to know more about BOPE you can visit their blog or you can watch these two movies: Elite Squad and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
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Various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo: skulls and skeletons (1)
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo
Death tattoos: the main depictions of the Grim Reaper
Death Tattoos / Grim Reaper Tattoos: themes and meanings
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals
Various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo: skulls and skeletons (1)
Human skulls and skeletons are one of the most common elements in the Grim Reaper tattoos, due to the fact that skeletons and skulls have long been associated with death and decay (sometimes Death himself is portrayed as a skeleton).
the modern society associates skulls with decay, death and evil
Skull tattoos do represent death, but they usually represent the fleetingness of life. Various Latin maxims and aphorisms: Memento Mori (Remember your mortality, Remember you must die or Remember you will die), Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Thus passes the glory of the world), Carpe Diem (Seize the day), Ubi sunt...? (Where are...?) or Ubi nunc...? (Where now...?) - both of them are shortened variants of the Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt? Where are those who were before us?) are very often included in the skull tattoo designs; their role is to remind us that Death comes to us all, and for this reason is important to enjoy every moment of life.
a very popular tattoo design: a skull and the latin maxim "Memento mori"
Seize the day or die regretting - a tattoo design which contains flowers (which symbolize brevity and the ephemeral nature of life) and a skull
Memento Mori - the skull is a reminder of the mortality
As a symbol of the certainty of death, skulls are one of the most common symbols used in the Vanitas art
vanitas tattoo containing a skull (a symbol of dead and mortality), several roses (symbols of the ephemeral nature of life), a candle (an object closely related with the cult of the dead) and a watch (a symbol of the inexorable flow of time)
Vanitas tattoo: the beauty is ephemeral, Death awaits every man and woman
a tattoo inspired by the illustration 'All is Vanity' by Charles Allan Gilbert
Despite the fact that the skull is often a symbol of mortality, a design which depicts a skull backed by a pair of wings (usually a pair of angelic wings, but this is not mandatory) is rather a positive design with various meanings: resurrection; death is the road to a new form of existence; the death frees one of the burdens of life; the progression of the human soul through the afterlife. Anyway, the winged skull is not always a positive design, having also many negative connotations: danger, death (death which can reach everyone everywhere), lawlessness (very common in the bikers-gang tattoos)
a winged skull tattoo
back tattoo: winged skull
many biker gangs adopt the winged skull as one of their emblems
The skull is also a symbol of the transitory nature of life and death, and for this reason some designers choose to include a skull into more complex designs which represent the infinite cycle of the life and death.
the death (symbolized here by the skull) is a part of the infinite cycle of life
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Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo
Death tattoos: the main depictions of the Grim Reaper
Death Tattoos / Grim Reaper Tattoos: themes and meanings
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals
Death tattoos - various elements which can occur in a Grim Reaper tattoo - weapons
The most common elements in the Death tattoos are, without any doubt, the weapons (for the obvious reason that they are used for killing people).
The scythe is, by far, the most popular choice when it comes to a Grim Reaper tattoo. The scythe can symbolize the cutting of negative energies or influences. Also, as a harvesting tool, it can symbolize hope and prosperity. It can represent the moment of death, when a scythe is said to cut a silver thread. The scythe has a long handle, indicating that it can reach anywhere.
Death tattoo: Death is portrayed as a young woman holding a scythe
Death tattoo: a skeleton praying to Death. If you like this tattoo design you can find it in a larger format on my web site, www.seiza.ro
However, when the Death is portrayed as the Death Angel, the scythe is usually (but not necessarily) replaced by a sword. The sword can be a short, simple, sword (similar to the roman Gladius) or a highly-decorated sword.
Angel of Death tattoo: the Angel of Death is holding a highly decorated sword
Without being very popular, many other medieval weapons can be seen in the Death tattoos: spears, lances and javelins (these weapons can be seen in the Angel of Death tattoos or in the tattoos which depict Death as a medieval knight), knives and daggers (very common in the Skulls tattoo designs), bows and arrows, etc.
Grim Reaper portrayed as an archer / bowman
Increasingly popular are the fire-guns: usually handguns - derringers, old-fashioned revolvers (very common in the Mexican Mafia tattoos and in the Skulls tattoos), semi-automatic pistols and machine pistols (very common in the gang / prison tattoos) but also various long guns (like shotguns or sniper rifles).
Gangsta tattoo: Grim Reaper pointing a revolver. This tattoo was drawn by Peter Coinin Jr., a tattoo artist who works at the Beauty Mark Tattoo, 3356 East Main Street Waterbury, Connecticut. If you like this tattoo and you want to buy it you can send an email at this mail-address: beautymarktattoo@yahoo.com or you can visit their web-page
a very popular combination: guns, roses and a skull
skull tattoo covering a man's chest: a skull and two crossing revolvers surrounded by several gunshot wounds
a vision modern of the Angel of Death: Angel of Death portrayed as a sniper
a vision modern of the Grim Reaper: Grim Reaper portrayed as a sniper
a very popular tattoo theme: skulls and guns
gangsta tattoo design: a skeleton holding a modern semi-automatic pistol
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Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo
Death tattoos: the main depictions of the Grim Reaper
Death Tattoos / Grim Reaper Tattoos: themes and meanings
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals
There are several animals which are often depicted in the Grim Reaper tattoo-designs.
The most common of them is, by far, the Death's black horse. Despite the fact that initially (in the book of the Apocalypse) the Death is described as riding a pale horse, many tattoo artist choose to depict the Reaper riding a black horse (possibly due to the traditional interpretation of the color black representing famine, decay and death.) Another very common tattoo-motif is the Death riding a skeleton horse.
Sometimes, Grim Reaper is depicted accompanied by a dog:
1. The Black Dog from the British folklore. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil or a Hellhound. Its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal dog, and often has large, glowing eyes.
2. Cerberus - the three-headed dog which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping. Cerberus appears especially when Grim Reaper is depicted as a lord of the Underworld. Usually, in these tattoos Grim Reaper is depicted sitting on a throne decorated with skulls and human bones; Cerberus is sitting near the throne.
3. A new trend in the Grim Reaper tattoos is to replace the old-fashioned mythological dogs with Pit Bulls and Rottweilers.
Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld
Birds which are usually seen as bad omens that foretell of death like crows and ravens. Crows and ravens have been long time associated with death, sorcery, evil lords, haunted castles, etc.
Venomous snakes - the old symbol of pure evil is sometimes present in Grim reaper tattoos, but more often snakes are present in the skull tattoos (which have a slightly different meaning than the Grim reaper tattoos).
Increasingly popular some butterflies (especially the moths), bugs, spiders, etc. can occur in a Death tattoo.
Lower back tattoo: a Death's Head Hawk Moth
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Death tattoo: the Death's hourglass
Very often, various symbols of the relentless flow of time (like hourglasses, watches, sundials, old pendulum clocks, timepieces, horologes) are included in the Death tattoo designs. The presence of the time-related symbols is a reminder that the time is running out and the life is slipping away.
Among these, the most popular is the traditional symbol of mortality - the Hourglass.
The image of the hourglass, sometimes with the addition of metaphorical wings, is a symbol of the human life's fleeting, and that the "sands of time" will run out for every human life. The Hourglass also represents the belief that death is not the end, but rather the beginning of something new, as the hourglass can be turned to start over. The hourglass is also a symbol of the patience (the symbol of Death patiently waiting for every human being).
This design often uses the hourglass as the focal point in the tattoo. The hour glass design can be made to look almost as menacing as the Grim Reaper.
Death's hourglass tattoo / Grim Reaper's hourglass tattoo - if you like this image you can find it on my web site, seiza.ro
Death and the standing nude woman; reverse copy after Sebald Beham; Death as a winged skeleton standing behind a nude whole-length female figure in frontal view, grabbing her wrists; in the lower-right corner can be seen an hourglass.
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