Compass tattoos generally represent direction and guidance in life. Over the years we have tattooed many sailors and navy men with compass or ship tattoos. However these tattoos appeal to sailors and travelers alike.
Compass tattoos can be created in simple arrow-based design or a 3D representation. Below are some of the interesting compass as well as ship tattoos from our portfolio.
1. Compass and Anchor Tattoo on Biceps
This is an amazing Compass and Anchor Tattoo with a message “May the Journey never end”. It represents guidance, following dreams, wanderlust, sailor, explorers, constancy and faithfulness and protections & good luck charm. This tattoo also represents Christian faith as anchors are an archaic symbol used by the early Christians. We have inked this tattoo on the client’s biceps. This combination of compass and anchor is quite common in tattooing because the compass gives direction and the anchor gives stability.
We made this concept tattoo in the shades of black and grey colours although beautiful colour options are available if you are interested in getting a coloured tattoo. Here we have given a 3D look to the anchor and the background is a world map so it completes the image. This tattoo is a great choice for anyone who loves being out on the water or traveling in general.
2. Crisp Looking Compass and Arrow Tattoo
Compass tattoos are always a popular choice among travelers, marines and military personnel. The client works on a ship so we suggested to him various designs about compass, arrows and other ship related elements. He especially liked this design and was very impressed with our custom work, styles and patterns.
As the client was on a tight time schedule, we completed this in a short span of 3-4 hours. This is a black and grey tattoo and we have used dot patterns, shadings and black colour fillers. This tattoo symbolizes guidance, protection and safety. It gives the message of moving forward in the right direction in life. The client liked the tattoo very much and so did we.
3. Life of a Pirate on Forearm Sleeve
This tattoo is one of a kind and it totally shouts that it is made for a sailor who has his heart at the sea.This is a full forearm sleeve tattoo. There are so many elements in it like a pirate ship, an anchor, an old school pirate captain, a lighthouse, waves, mountains and the sky. You name it!
It took us 3 sittings to finish this beautiful tattoo. In the first sitting we could only make the outlines and do some shading work. The ship itself took around 7-8 hours to be inked. If you’ll zoom in, you will see the minutely done detailing. In the backdrop we have shown a captain navigating the pirate ship amidst the rough water of the sea. Beneath the anchor we have inscribed a message saying, “love anchors the soul”. We have used black, grey and red colours and shades in this. This is indeed a mesmerizing tattoo and the client loved this a lot.
4. Trash Polka Compass Tattoo
This is a highly customized tattoo made for a special client by merging many elements and designs in a trash polka concept. The client loves to travel so wanted a compass and an arrow as a direction pointer, secondly he wanted a Zen Buddha circle along with Yin and Yang which represent the male and female energies in the Chinese culture and lastly he wanted a customized script which says, ‘Be here now’.
This tattoo also leverages different methods and techniques. We have added a cube pattern here in combination with Trash Polka style which is basically done using watercolor and brush effects of red and black colours. It took a complete day to customize this tattoo and the inking process took around 7-8 hours. Overall this tattoo has turned out to be an amazing piece.
5. Mariner’s Favourite Ship Tattoo
This old school pirate ship tattoo was done for our client who is a mariner. He works in the merchant navy and wanted to have a small tattoo related to a mariner’s life. So we suggested to him this vintage wooden ship sailing on the sea. He liked it a lot and wanted it inked on his biceps.
We have also added a small message beneath the tattoo which says “Sea is my world, Ship is my home” because they literally spend half of the year on a deck so a ship is a second home for them. It took us around 7-8 hours to complete and the client liked the final tattoo a lot.
6. Ship in the Ocean Tattoo on Forearm
This is a pirate ship tattoo which we have inked on our client’s forearm. He works on a ship and wanted a customized tattoo of something related to his profession and sea. Ship tattoos are always the topmost choice of tattoos for sailors. These tattoos have both visual and meaningful appeal.
After receiving initial input from the client, we customized a design for him with a 3D compass, a world map, sea and a big wooden ship with lots of minute detailing done on its sail curtains, windows and doors. The tracing of this tattoo was quite tough and took around 2 hours and we inked this in 7-8 hours. We have used black and grey colours and shades for this tattoo. The resulting tattoo turned out to be very beautiful.
Compass tattoos are indeed a popular choice
