For committed fans of the art of tattooing, there’s no better way to show your love of ink than getting a full sleeve tattoo. What’s a tattoo sleeve? A tattoo design or a combination of smaller tattoos that take up the majority of the skin’s real estate on an arm. Because they completely cover the arm, they look like and are called sleeves. We said “committed” because these tattoos take a ton of time and a high pain tolerance to complete. Usually, these incredible tattoo designs take several sessions to finish. By breaking the job up into smaller segments the tattoo artist can take a break and the person getting the tattoo can recover. Generally, full sleeve tattoos start with an outline and then the next session or sessions involve revisiting them and adding the desired level of detail. If you’ve ever experienced the difference of getting a line tattooed versus getting color added or shading done, you understand that each part of the tattoo process comes with its own particular type of pain. Giving your brain and nerves a reset after they’ve processed pain for hours on end is always a great idea! If you’re considering getting a sleeve, be sure to talk to a tattoo artist that can explain their strategy with you. It’s a big deal and takes a ton of time and patience, but as you’ll see the results are well worth it. Here are 25 astonishing sleeve tattoos for true lovers of the art of the tat.
25. An Eye-Catching Sleeve
Did this picture of a photorealistic tattoo break your brain for a second? This black and grey tattoo is pure perfection and the large, tearful eye is uncanny. A true artist tattooed this and we’re big fans.
24. A Natural Sleeve
This gorgeous wooded scene stars a deer and fox and was inspired by this person’s love of the outdoors and hiking around Portland, Oregon. This tattoo uses color in such an interesting way. The colors have been blocked into shapes giving the deer, for instance, an almost geometric look. What a stunner.
23. A Howl of a Sleeve
For nature lovers, you can never go wrong with a tattoo of animals and wildlife. This one takes it further and builds a narrative by having a wolf cub staring into a pool at a reflection of what she’ll become. This haunting tattoo has a lot of incredible details like the way the fur has been rendered using shading.
22. A Japanese Sleeve
This Japenese-inspired sleeve is still a work in progress. The artist shared this image of the tattoo fresh from adding color to the fish, the lotus, and some other elements near the shoulder. We wanted you to see that it’s a process that takes a lot of time, but as it goes on the excitement builds. We can’t wait to see the end result.
21. A Samurai Sleeve
Japanese-inspired tattoos are extremely popular for sleeve designs. Japenese tattooing is called Irezumi and is traditionally done by hand and not with a tattoo gun. Irezumi takes even longer than contemporary methods of tattooing, but its masters are truly some of the best in the industry. This black and grey tattoo looks like it is composed of smoke. Just wild!
20. A Narrative Sleeve
In case you need a reminder that time is precious, take a look at this sleeve. Time seems to be this sleeve’s theme with clocks and important dates featured throughout. There’s also vague religious imagery present with doves and celestial rays of light near the shoulder and roses near the wrist.
19. A Floral Explosion Sleeve
What is black and red and white all over? This sleeve tattoo. The tattoo artist has laid down so much ink here giving the sleeve such a dramatic effect. The red petals of the flowers really pop against the black background. There’s also a great deal of movement from the bold lines in it that mimic the shapes of clouds.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 25 Photorealistic Tattoos That Will Make You Say, “Wait, That’s Not Real?!”
18. A Jag Sleeve
This portrait of a jaguar looks like it could pounce at any moment. If you’re getting a sleeve on a bare or mostly bare arm, as opposed to one with tattoos already on it, you’ve got tons of space to play with. You can think about scale in a completely different way and a good artist will know what will look best where on your arm.
17. A Neon Snake Sleeve
How many pink, purple, and blue snakes have you seen? The color really makes this tattoo design pop. As you can see the design starts modestly near the wrist and gets more detailed as your eye moves up the arm. According to the artist, this tattoo was completed in the traditional Japenese style. We don’t even want to think about how long this took.
16. A Classical Sleeve
This black and grey tattoo sleeve has a lot of imagery that evokes the Classical era. The portraits of people in the design look like stone statues, and the lack of color really adds to that effect. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist did not share the inspiration for the tattoo but we are definitely intrigued.
15. A Red Illusion Sleeve
This does not even look like a tattoo. Because the artist has created a design that looks like several pictures superimposed it feels like it belongs to the medium of Cinema rather than tattooing. The tattoo artist who created this, Walter Montero, is a genius.
14. A Camping Sleeve
If you thought you loved the great outdoors, you probably don’t love as much as this person. This hiking and camping enthusiast wanted a sleeve that communicated her adoration of camping, hiking, kayaking, and fishing. The scenic tattoo makes a stunning sleeve.
13. A Neo-Traditional Sleeve
Neo-Traditional tattooing is a style that incorporates elements of American classic tattoo artists like Ed Hardy and Sailor Jerry but pushes their design constraints to the limit. This absolutely insane viper tattoo with roses is on a whole new level.
12. A Mandala Sleeve
The tattoo artist who completed this design has the steadiest hands in American and should consider a career in brain surgery. This mandala-inspired sleeve tattoo is so crisp and there’s not a single line out of place. This sleeve is an achievement.
11. A Wine Time Sleeve
Cheers! This person took inspiration from an old-world winery. Because green and purple contrast so well and are the two dominant colors in this design, you get a very eyecatching look. The showstopper, of course, is the vivid grapevine, but there’s a whole vineyard scene on the inside of the arm as well.
10. A Pop Art Sleeve
In the 1980s, Keith Haring took pop art to new heights by incorporating elements of graffiti and street art into his works. This half sleeve uses familiar Haring symbols and is so cool we had to include it on the list. A sleeve doesn’t have to be one huge design, it can be made up of lots of smaller ones too.
9. A Heavy Metal Mama Sleeve
This mom describes herself as a “heavy metal mama,” and we think that sums this tattoo up pretty well. It’s equal parts witchy, creepy, and playful and the abundance of color really makes this tattoo sleeve a blast to look at.
8. An Adventurous Sleeve
We did not set out to find one sleeve with symbols of time in it, but we did find two! While an hourglass has a place here, there’s also a compass, a gyroscope, and a lighthouse which makes us think this tattoo has more to do with sea travel and sailing than anything else. This stunning black and grey tattoo gives us sea journey vibes.
7. A Hokkaido Sleeve
The person with this sleeve tattoo explained that they were inspired after a trip to Hokkaido, Japan. The sleeve includes many natural wonders of Japan, like the Japanese Cherry Blossoms. You’ll also spot a Shinto shrine and a samurai.
6. A Cheyenne Sleeve
This stunning sleeve was inspired by the Cheyenne of the American plains. Delicate shading gives this tattoo a photorealistic look, but it still retains a stylized interpretation. The eyes of the Eagle and the woman are the only two objects in color and both match in pale blue.
5. Two Sleeves Are Better Than One
Two half sleeves equals one whole sleeve, right? These complimentary sleeves are exploding with intense color. A true artist and creative devised these designs. They are both visually arresting and full of symbols and various objects. The stars of the design are the two faces that are gorgeously obscured by a black and teal element. Feel free to take a moment.
4. A Toon Sleeve
This cartoon fan took her love of animated characters and ran with it. We’re used to seeing many of these toon personalities in color, and they’ve been reimagined for this sleeve in black and grey. It makes the cartoons look they are sketches, which is so playful and fun.
3. A Sea Shanty Sleeve
This sea-inspired tattoo looks epic. If you wanted to find all the elements of an ocean adventure look no further than this tattoo sleeve. There are sea monsters, turbulent waves, a ship in peril, and much more to unpack. There’s a somewhat muted color palette used here that gives the entire design a weathered look.
2. La Última Cena Sleeve
This tattoo sleeve is a reproduction of La Última Cena by Renaissance painter Vicente Juan Masip (AKA Juan de Juanes). Of course, the Renaissance masters weren’t working on skin, with ink, or in black and white, but this interpretation is a pretty faithful reproduction.
1. A Bionic Sleeve
This tattoo sleeve is so ridiculous we couldn’t leave it out of the list. Have we been watching too much Westworld? Probably. This arm looks like it belongs to The Terminator. If you are into robots or mechanics, you could do no better than this robot tattoo sleeve. It certainly makes us question the nature of our reality.
Tattoo sleeves are not for the faint of heart. These stunning tattoos take a lot of time, money, and healing to complete. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, dear reader. If you want to cover your arm in tattoo ink, you should consider these designs or at least use them as inspiration to come up with your own sleeve. You can get a bunch of small tattoos that aren’t really relative to each other or you can build a narrative or scene that encompasses your entire arm. Either way, you’ll end up with a stunning sleeve and look as tough as nails.
Contents
- 1 25. An Eye-Catching Sleeve
- 2 24. A Natural Sleeve
- 3 23. A Howl of a Sleeve
- 4 22. A Japanese Sleeve
- 5 21. A Samurai Sleeve
- 6 20. A Narrative Sleeve
- 7 19. A Floral Explosion Sleeve
- 8 18. A Jag Sleeve
- 9 17. A Neon Snake Sleeve
- 10 16. A Classical Sleeve
- 11 15. A Red Illusion Sleeve
- 12 14. A Camping Sleeve
- 13 13. A Neo-Traditional Sleeve
- 14 12. A Mandala Sleeve
- 15 11. A Wine Time Sleeve
- 16 10. A Pop Art Sleeve
- 17 9. A Heavy Metal Mama Sleeve
- 18 8. An Adventurous Sleeve
- 19 7. A Hokkaido Sleeve
- 20 6. A Cheyenne Sleeve
- 21 5. Two Sleeves Are Better Than One
- 22 4. A Toon Sleeve
- 23 3. A Sea Shanty Sleeve
- 24 2. La Última Cena Sleeve
- 25 1. A Bionic Sleeve
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.