Jellyfish Tattoo Ideas

Popular Jellyfish Tattoo Styles

The jellyfish tattoo can be fun because it’s a mixture of mystery and playfulness. Popular styles allow for color or clarity. Some off the more popular styles of jellyfish tattoos are:

• Cartoon – The natural shape of a jellyfish lends itself to a design that can fall just this side of Bikini Bottom.
• Floating – With bold lines and strong shading techniques your jellyfish tattoo can appear to be rising off your body.
• Realistic – The jellyfish is a marvel of the ocean and that exploration of its natural construction can drive this jellyfish tattoo design style.
• Simplistic – Using simple lines and shapes a tattoo artist can create a design that works perfectly in smaller spaces.

Best Jellyfish Tattoo Placements

By its very nature, the jellyfish projects a certain fluidity. This leads to some interesting opportunities for where it will be placed on your body.

• It could be a wraparound for your thigh or bicep. Some well-placed use of color could help this design to truly pop.
• You also could consider having it “float” up your spine with tentacles trailing down.
• Placed on your side, the jellyfish tattoo could be included into a broader aquatic scene.
• The back of the neck, behind the ear, and along the wrist are three other places that could be a good place for a simple jellyfish tattoo.

Women’s Jellyfish Tattoo Ideas

The soft, natural look of the jellyfish, along with the motion created by the tentacles, make it a popular tattoo option for women. Some of the most asked for styles include:

• The character – We look to “humanize” many different things and the jellyfish is no different. Adding big button eyes and a slightly exaggerated design makes this jellyfish tattoo something more.
• The dream – This jellyfish tattoo design leans into the ethereal nature of the creature with watercolors and soft lines.
• Jellyfish fields  – Placing a jellyfish amongst the coral and seagrass makes for a fun, transporting scene.

Men’s Jellyfish Tattoo Ideas

The jellyfish has mystified and enchanted people for hundreds of years. Many men choose to have a jellyfish tattoo design that draws on their dramatic history. 

• An angular switch – The jellyfish has a very “soft” natural design. This can be flipped by using hard lines and strong angles to give your Jellyfish tattoo design a more geometric shape.
• The floating fish – Using shading and linework a 3D jellyfish tattoo can appear that it is actually floating off the body.
• An ocean scene – Instead of designing a standalone jellyfish, this design places it into the ocean. You can even lean into legend and put them inside of a shipwreck.

 Jellyfish Tattoo Meaning

The jellyfish is an interesting creature. Everyone has seen a picture of them but it’s not an animal that people really know or understand. This is why you can choose it to make a unique statement. 

A jellyfish tattoo can be a way that someone can show off their ability to:

• Adapt
• Navigate the world with a certain beauty
• Project inner strength
• Have resilience in the face of adversity