40 Chest Tattoos for Women & Men

Chest tattoos look great on both men and women and there’s no denying that they look especially intense. Chest tattoos can simply be a tattoo on the chest or more like chest pieces that are full-chest or nearly full-chest tattoos covering the entire chest area. Each has its own merits! Small chest tattoos help break up the vast real estate of skin across the chest. While chest pieces take advantage of every square inch of it!

Whether you are looking for full chest tattoos or just want chest tattoo ideas, we’ve got a little something for every taste. We’ll take a look at designs done only in black ink as well as some colorful pieces that really shine. We’ll show you designs of various sizes, styles, and artistry! Get to scrolling, amazing tattoos await you below!

Check Out These Stunning Chest Tattoos

Chest Tattoos for Men

Full Chest Piece

As promised, here’s a full chest piece that extends below the pecs and all the way up and over the shoulders and upper arms. This is one really big tattoo, which is not going to be everyone! The black and gray certainly looks dramatic!

Stunner on the Sternum

We believe this design is inspired by Japanese hannya from Noh theater. It certainly looks sharp sitting right in the center of the chest on top of the sternum.

Neo-Traditional Style

Tattoo artists working in this graphic, classic style tend to call it neo-traditional. We find a handsome tiger, two swallows, and some red roses for good measure. Notice how the shape of the design here accentuates the natural shape of the chest.

Ouroboros

The ouroboros is an ancient symbol and a popular choice for tattoos. That being said, we’ve never seen one like this. The choice of copper-colored ink paired with black looks pleasantly intense. Again, shapes that seem to open up like this, which is in the shape of a heart, look incredible for chest tattoos.

Geometric Drama

The lines of this tattoo are so sharp that it almost looks fake! Notice that heart or upside-down triangle shape again? It’s the most popular shape for chest pieces because it looks excellent every time.

Just One Pec

Now, you don’t have to go and get your whole chest tattooed! No, you can do just one pec as this person has done or even less! We rather like the color choices for this angry-looking bull.

The Wave

This over-the-shoulder look is very cool, right? We love the way the design seems to spill over and then off of the shoulder. Black and gray ink next to that orange sun really pops!

My Octopus Tattoo

How stunning is this? Octopi are truly remarkable creatures and the tattoo artist has done an amazing job of capturing all of their leggy goodness in this design. See how the tentacles extend beyond the chest onto the upper arms? Feel free to do the same with your design for a cool look!

Medusa

We’re not 100% sure that this tattoo was inspired by mythical Medusa, but it sure looks like it! Cathedral tattoos that borrow design elements from architecture are a huge trend right now. This is art, folks!

The Crow

We told you those architectural elements were big, didn’t we? Here’s another design with a sort of rose window look to it. We find a crow seemingly having one as a halo. A fabulous and inventive design!

Black & Red

The best tattoo advice we can ever give you: go red. Red ink always looks stunning. On one pec we find parts of a heart and the other seems to be a red flower. This tattoo has been done using the watercolor style which looks evocative of painting!

Jaws

Go ahead and get that big old shark you’ve always wanted to get tattooed over a quarter of your body! Why not?

Radial

Chest tattoos that look like very dramatic collars are very flattering. We find another splattery piece, this one extending all the way down the sternum almost onto the stomach.

More Shark with a Side of Alligator

Did you think you’d see more than one shark chest tattoo on this day? We find one in the battle of his life with an alligator.

Mandala-Inspired

Mandala-inspired designs like this one are hugely popular for nearly all parts of the body. These big round designs were an interesting choice and we think the overall look is fantastic.

A Pair of Swallows

Swallow tattoos have been very popular for a very long time. English sailors used to get them as symbols of their seafaring chops! These two are done in a neat style that almost makes them look as if they’ve been drawn rather than tattooed.

Lion Heart

Are there any Leos reading this? This giant lion tattoo is full of color and bursting with life. We don’t know why those two skulls are there, but it’s fine!

Geometry

Here’s another one of the geometric chest tattoos we found. We think this circle on the sternum with radiating lines looks great, almost like the Sacred Heart from religious art that’s been popular for centuries.

Moonbeams in the Palm

We’ve shown you some really big chest tattoos on this list. Let’s take a step back and look at some other possibilities. We find a lovely hand with a crescent moon that sits over the left pec. It’s not crazy big but it definitely makes an impression!

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Space Out

Get weird with it, folks! Here’s an alien-woman-hybrid. Extremely original tattoos like this one always stand out and look fantastic. You should find a tattoo artist you trust to help you come up with something just as creative!

Chest Tattoos for Women

Goth Florals

For obvious reasons, chest tattoos for women tend to sit higher up on the chest, closer to the collar bones. We find these gloriously dark roses resting over the collar bones slightly. It looks great! But, we must take a moment to caution all, that the collar bone is a very sensitive area that hurts to have tattooed more than other parts of the chest!

‘Jewelry’

The person who shared this image noted that she calls this test tattoo her “jewelry.” Indeed, these dainty little dots and swooping shapes really do look like a necklace. It’s beautiful!

Flowery Chest Piece

Here’s a different style of floral motif for this chest piece. Fun flowers brighten the whole chest up, don’t you think?

Moody Moon

Here’s one of the chest tattoos for women that sits a little lower on the sternum. Does anyone else have tattoo envy at this moment? We find a moon shape in the center radiating amazing designs to the outer part of the chest. This is a definite winner!

Small Is Great Too!

Again, you don’t have to go huge! Small tattoos look great on the chest. We are very fond of this minimal broken heart symbol.

Ornaments

We return to another one of the ornamental chest pieces. How fun are these very tiny dots? They seem to dance along the collar bone with a bigger design at the center.

Cherry Blossoms

These dreamy cherry blossoms are so faint they look haunting. You don’t need to get huge chest tattoos to make a big impression. This is some very fine work!

Peony Power

Here’s one of the chest tattoos that runs along the sternum. At the top, we find a decorative piece with a peony blossom opening at the bottom. This looks very feminine and very strong.

Vintage Flower

The person who shared this image explained they were inspired by a vintage illustration of flowers. This definitely has an antique vibe to it which is appealing.

Stolen Heart

Here’s the classic placement for chest tattoos for women. It fits neatly on the chest and floats just below the clavicles. A geometric effect on the heart stone was a very fun touch!

Butterfly Beauty

Butterfly tattoos are exceedingly popular as almost everyone loves these beautiful creatures. Done in just black, this one appears to hold some mystery.

Eye Spy

The Eye of Providence is a symbol that’s been with us for hundreds of years. It simply shows an eye inside a triangle or pyramid. It’s meant to symbolize the all-seeing “eye” of god. We find it looking strange in all the right ways in this chest tattoo.

‘Creation’

Is this tattoo a commentary on our creations reflecting us? We’re not sure and that’s what makes this chest tattoo so fun!

Folk Art

The person who shared this image explained that folk art inspired this stunning chest piece. The organic shapes of the flowers look soft next to those thick, black, decorative lines that seep across the chest. This is brilliant!

Placement Is Key!

This is an example of a hand-poked tattoo that is achieved without the use of a tattoo gun and is instead done entirely by hand. Notice all of the tiny dots? You can’t get them that small with a tattoo gun!

Red, Red Rose

Big, red roses are never going to ruin anyone’s day! This is one of the most classic chest tattoos on this list, with traditional design elements incorporated into every last bud!

Fade Into You

Take a look at this dramatic Mandala-inspired design that seems to fade down into the chest. It almost looks as if this has been airbrushed on!

Over the Shoulder

Chest tattoos that wrap over the upper arms onto the chest are some of our favorites. It’s just a really fun placement. The flowers here are just stunning in simple black and gray!

Inspired by North African Art

The person who shared this image wrote that the design was inspired by “North African art.” The geometric pattern looks gorgeous and we imagine finding it as decorative markings on a fine work of art.

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Leaf Wreath

One of the most common chest tattoos for both men and women are these leaf wreaths that extend from the sternum up to the shoulders. It’s a great look as the shape of the design looks complimentary on everyone!

There you go! We hope you enjoyed these chest tattoos and you got some chest tattoo ideas for your next trip to the tattoo shop! We separated chest tattoos for men and chest tattoos for women because so many people search for their tattoos that way. In reality, most of these designs could be interchangeable for any gender! So, if you see something you like, talk to a tattoo artist about creating an original look of your own that’s going to fit your body type and shape!