Looking for cloud tattoo filler ideas to take to your next session? We’ve got you covered!
Cloud tattoo fillers have been around for a long time. They’re most notably seen in Japanese-style tattoos, which make use of natural elements for fillers and background designs. Smoke, wind, water, and waves are some other elements that are seen across most Japanese tattoos, especially larger pieces like back tattoos and sleeves.
Here are a few more cloud-inspired filler tattoos you could try incorporating into your tattoo design.
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Cloud Filler Tattoo
Regardless of your tastes when it comes to tattoo designs, it’s hard to deny how gorgeous cloud tattoos can be – in any style!
It’s understandable why they’re equally beloved as tattoo fillers. These versatile little puffs can squeeze into any gaps in your design with ease.
The most common cloud tattoo fillers that you’re likely to find are the classic American-style flash ones. These are small, usually simpler designs, usually inked in all black though sometimes they’d be spruced up with a touch of red.
Later versions, such as new school ones, switched things up with the style and color choices.
If you’re looking for cloud tattoo filler ideas to go with your classic style tattoo, these old-school-inspired ones are a perfect fit.
But they’re certainly not the only kind of cloud filler tattoo design around. While cloud fillers can fit in most gaps easily, they’re also quite easy to adapt to various tattoos and styles.
Tattoo Sleeve Filler Clouds
Fillers are most frequently found in larger pieces since their purpose is to fill in gaps in a design or alternatively, connect two separate tattoos. Of these, clouds tend to be one of the most popular choices, especially when it comes to filling in sleeve gaps.
They’re a staple in religious-themed tattoos, such as Christian ones, particularly ones done in the Chicano style of tattooing. In this style, clouds are most often paired with religious imagery, ranging from Jesus and Mary to doves, rosaries, and beyond.
These tattoos have gone on to inspire artists around the world, and you’re quite likely to find most artists draw at least some inspiration from the Chicano style for things like shading and fillers. Thanks to the popularity of the style, cloud filler tattoos now feature across a wide range of designs.
Cloud Effect Tattoo Sleeve Filler
The “cloud effect” tattoo sleeve filler is one of the most popular ways to feature clouds in a sleeve.
In these tattoo sleeves, the filler clouds form a dense background to the design. This mimics the Chicano-style cloud filler tattoos to some extent. But it also draws inspiration from Japanese-style tattoo backgrounds.
Background Tattoo Filler Clouds
There are a variety of tattoo sleeve fillers to choose from. But what makes cloud tattoo fillers unique is that they blend perfectly into a design, forming a backdrop and allowing your main design to stand out even more.
If you choose to, however, you can make a cloud tattoo filler a part of your design itself instead of just having it blend into the background entirely.
Alternatively, you can find a middle ground between clouds as a background or as part of the overall design. Japanese Irezumi-style tattoos are known for their use of natural elements as fillers.
In this style, fillers aren’t separate from the whole tattoo design. Instead, they form an important part of the story the artist hopes to tell with each piece.
Unlike their Western counterparts, Japanese styles preferred more intricate designs. This means dense art with minimal empty space, and often, the use of large blocks of either blackouts or colors.
Their version of cloud tattoos was, of course, no different.
Similar artwork is also visible across other parts of East Asia, particularly Chinese and Korean ones. While each region has its own take on it, you can certainly spot the similarities in how clouds are represented in these designs.
Over time, the distance Western and Eastern styles began to mesh together and now we see tattoos that are a wonderful blend of various art forms.
This sleeve, for instance, mixes new school colors and elements with Chicano-style religious imagery all tied together in an Irezumi style design – with cloud tattoo fillers forming a gorgeous backdrop. Talke about a quality blend!
Every Cloud Has a Bold, Black Lining
Technically, you could get a cloud with a silver lining, if you were trying to be more literal with the expression. But those classic old-school tattoos did adore thick lines in bold black ink – after all, it makes quite the statement!
Whether your hunt for cloud tattoo filler ideas leads you to something new school or more traditional, it’s bound to take your design to new heights.
Like this article? Check out Smoke Tattoo Filler Ideas for more!
