30 Fierce Wolf Tattoo Ideas

Wolf tattoos are extremely popular today. They capture the loyal yet wild animal and harness its fierce energy. These tattoos can come in a variety of sizes and styles ranging from small and modest to subjects of full-sleeve tattoos. The animal symbolizes power, strength, and loyalty and those qualities make it one of the most requested tattoo designs. Oh, and they’re beautiful which doesn’t hurt things.

We wanted to get a better understanding of the types of wolf tattoos people are getting today, so we turned to social media to discover the latest and greatest designs. We were pleasantly surprised to find a robust variety of designs that all stood out for all the right reasons. If you’re considering getting a wolf tattoo, get inspired by these designs.

Let’s Get Wild With These Awesome Wolf Tattoo Ideas!

Smokey Mystery

Here’s a fairly common wolf tattoo scheme that finds a portrait of the wolf’s face amind some sort of natural element. It can be a forest or something more ethereal like this smokey scene.

Your Entire Back

Just to show you how far you can take things, we find a giant back tattoo that forms the face of a very big wolf. It’s an amazing back piece but we realize that this is going to be too much for most folks.

As a Half-Sleeve

Half-sleeve wolf tattoos are extremely popular. As we mentioned with the first image, a large wolf’s face paired with other imagery is common. We find a wolf howling at the moon in the lower scene of this dramatic tattoo.

Graphic Quality

Work with an artist who has a point of view to come up with different ways of realizing your wolf. We find bold, black shapes here that come together to puzzle together a face of a wolf.

Neo-Traditional

Here’s a neo-traditional wolf tattoo that marries old elements with new ones. If you want to celebrate the history of tattooing while also discovering something new, work with an artist who is versed in this style for something fresh.

Add Some Geometry

We encountered a lot of geometric wolf tattoos with characters in full or partial geometric shapes. This one imagines the best of both worlds.

Framed

The artist has created a romantic frame for this wolf tattoo. It helps ground the design and offers some ornamental elements that sweeten the entire deal.

The Fade

Here’s an interesting concept for your wolf tattoo. We find a silhouette of a hound that fades as your eye moves down the design. It offers plenty of drama and mystery.

Contrasts

We’re not sure what’s driving the wolf tattoos with split imagery but it’s extremely popular to the point of being trite. Nevertheless, this design has been tattooed well with half of it soft and delicate and the other hard and dark.

Traditional

Here’s a rather traditional wolf tattoo design that’s been around in some form or fashion for decades. If you love the history of tattooing, going with a traditional style will serve you well.

Photorealism

If you know a tattoo artist who is accomplished in tattooing realistic portraits, you can walk away with something truly spectacular. This is such a haunting piece!

Like a Portrait

Here’s another portrait-style wolf tattoo that finds the character flanked by lotus flowers. The lotus flower is a symbol of rebirth and endurance. This makes them a good addition to just about any tattoo.

Of the Were Variety

We actually encountered several werewolf tattoos and this is one of our favorites. It’s horror movie-worthy and seems to show a person transforming into a wolf beneath the moon.

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Splashy

We’re not certain that this should be categorized as a watercolor tattoo but it does feature the splashy elements that look like spots of black ink in this example. This design brings so much movement and energy to the subject matter.

Silhouette

Tattoos done in silhouette are very popular for all manner of subject matter. We found it a lot with wolf tattoos. This one finds a howling wolf and a crescent moon.

Radical Color

We’ve seen a lot of black and grey wolf tattoos on this list. Here’s some delightful color that we can confidently categorize as being a watercolor tattoo. Notice that silhouette near the wrist? We’re telling you, they’re everywhere!

Mystical

There are some Asian-inspired elements with these wolf tattoos. The tails of these wolves seem like they could belong to a Chinese dragon. They certainly look like winning tattoos that are touched by magic.

Singular Style

This wolf tattoo looks like none other on this list. It almost looks like a mask. An artist with some graphic design skills will make your tattoo more singular so find someone with a style you really admire to do your design.

Into Ornamentation

People really love splitting these wolf faces! Here’s yet another example that finds a wolf seeming to turn into a mandala. The ornamental elements bring some added beauty to an already beautiful animal.

A Delicate Touch

Here’s an elegant and balanced design that finds a wolf breathing steam towards the moon. The frame detail adds understated sophistication.

Inner Workings

Another popular scheme for wolf tattoos is to take the shape of the animal and fill it with something else. People are really into geometric shapes as you can see in the above example.

Less Is More

We’ve seen a lot of wolves with tons of line-work that produces the texture of fur. This artist has managed to do it with fewer lines and focuses on the shapes of the wolf’s face. It’s an interesting take and a handsome design.

A Mean Scene

Here’s a neo-traditional tattoo that finds a rather scary interpretation of a wolf. The mouth is wide open with a menacing tongue. Find an artist who understands your vision and the sky’s the limit.

Crowned

Here’s one of the smaller wolf tattoos we discovered. This wolf is wearing a crown and sits underneath a charming banner. It’s an original design that celebrates the leader of the pack.

Neon Dream

You don’t see many wolf tattoos like this. It’s full-color and finds a grey wolf surrounded by a rainbow of botanical elements. What a stunning design.

Endless Possibility

Here’s another example of the limitless possibilities that you have when conceiving of your wolf tattoos. We find the split-face once again but at least the other elements are so remarkable that we can forgive it.

Looking to Other Mediums

Here’s a creepy design that evokes imagery produced by woodcut. Turn to old modes of art production be they painting or otherwise for a tattoo that really stands out.

Asian-Inspired

This wolf is holding a katana in its teeth. It’s a clear reference to Asian art and themes. The smokey red element looks fantastic here and we imagine it would work with a variety of wolf tattoo designs.

Additional Elements

Sure, you can get a wolf tattooed and call it quits. To add more meaning to your design, consider other visual elements that will make the tattoo all your own. This one finds a magical book and a pretty crescent moon.

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Kawaii and Cute

Finally, we leave you with a cutie. This cute and cartoonish character could be the perfect style wolf tattoo for you. We shared it to show just how varied these designs can be. Follow your gut and buck trends for a design that will make your tattoo the envy of all.

There you have it! We hope you found some ideas worthy of your wolf tattoo. As you’ve seen, there are several directions you can take a wolf tattoo in, just make sure you’re expressing yourself to the fullest by working with a tattoo artist who can create a singular piece for you. Happy tattooing!