Knees aren’t the most common placement for tattoos. This is why they can make quite the statement. They’re a versatile spot to get inked on, so you can get pretty creative with your design. Here are a few knee cap tattoo ideas to get you started. From quirky new style to classic hand-poked pieces, there’s a whole lot you can do with knee tattoos.
Speaking of unbridled creativity and hand-poked designs, be sure to whip out your hand-poked implosion marble bong for this one. No better way to bring out your artistic self than with one of these gorgeous pieces by your side.
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Leaf Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas for Women
Floral tattoos are often the go-to for nature lovers. Leaves are their more understated cousin as far as ink goes.
Leaf tattoos are more earthy and often tend to be on the simpler side. They represent the circle of life, yet not quite as dramatically as flowers do. They point to the quieter daily struggles, and our ability to stay strong, even when no one’s really looking.
Owing to such symbolism, leaf tattoos are pretty popular among women. But they’re becoming increasingly popular across all genders since most people can relate to what they represent.
Knee Cap Berry Tattoos
Outside of flowers and leaves, fruits are also a great choice for a simple, elegant tattoo design. Where the former duo represents life and rebirth, though, the latter points toward reaping the reward of your efforts.
Fruits, after all, are formed by a plant after toiling away for weeks, months, and sometimes, years. Much like them, we work tirelessly to reach our goals. And at the end of our struggles sits the fruits of our labor.
Floral Knee Tattoo Ideas
While there is an abundance of nature-inspired elements to choose from, there’s a pretty clear reason why floral designs remain so popular.
They represent life itself. Particularly, its enduring ability to be vibrant and beautiful even amid strife. Beyond this, flowers are also thought to represent contentment and love, among other things.
Black Rose Tattoo
Roses represent beauty and love, while red roses represent passionate love. Black roses, however, represent the loss of love.
Knees are associated with security and feeling grounded. Loss can often be the antithesis of that feeling. Memorializing a loss on this placement is, therefore, pretty symbolic.
Knife Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas
Much like the rose, knives and blades can have a variety of meanings. On the one hand, they represent protection and bravery. On the other, they point to betrayal, being “stabbed in the back,” and even loss.
All of this symbolism placed on, or in this case going through the knee, which represents security, paints a poignant picture.
Skull Knee Cap Tattoo
Skulls on the knees make for some of the best tattoo designs out there. They’re wonderfully artistic. Even more so when paired with blackwork and illustrative styles.
Unfolding Scarab and Skull Knee Tattoo
Tattoos of skulls are great, of course. But when you design a tattoo that starts out as a scarab on the side of your knee cap and unfolds into a neo-traditional style skull knee ditch tattoo? You’ve transcended a statement piece and ascended to pure artistry.
When assessing knee cap tattoo pain, the knee ditch is definitely an extremely difficult spot to get inked on. But it’s hard not to run out and get one when it affords the space for such creative designs.
Shark Jaw Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas for Men
The next best thing to an unfolding skull tattoo would be tattoos of animal bones. In particular, animal skulls or jaws look stunning as tattoos. They can, naturally, work with any style. But classic traditional, minimalist, and blackwork tattoos look especially stunning with these designs.
Traditionally, shark tattoos represented strength, protection, and guidance. They are a staple in Polynesian tattooing, which is a big reason they remain popular among men.
Traditional Knee Cap Tattoos
Tattoos in traditional styles make use of bold black lines and blocks. As tattooing grew as an art form, artists were able to expand into finer lines and a wider range of colors. But the beauty of traditional tattooing endures.
Eye tattoos represent everything from the watchful eye of authoritative entities to the protective eyes of deities like Horus. They can also be spiritual, representing the Third Eye and thus, enlightenment.
Illustrative Eye Tattoo Ideas for the Knee
If you’re looking for something more contemporary, minimalist and illustrative styles are probably more up your alley.
Minimalism takes the bold lines of traditional tattoos and pares them down to thin, dainty strokes. Illustrative styles build on these, blending in elements of rough sketch work and brushstrokes.
Blackwork Knee Tattoo
Blackwork styles draw on traditional elements but blend them with illustrative ideas. The result is often a dramatic yet stunningly artistic piece.
Simple Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas
You might not be quite ready for all the drama and flair of a medium or large-sized blackwork piece. A better place to start would be a tiny tattoo on the knee.
Just because it’s tiny doesn’t mean it lacks symbolism, though. The humble little bee, as per ancient cultures, represents a bridge between our world and the underworld. Other symbolisms include diligence, cleanliness, wisdom, and even creativity.
Honeycomb Tattoo on the Knee
Getting a tiny tattoo might be the endgame for you. But if it’s just a way for you to test the waters of inking, you can take your experiment further once you’re ready. It’s as simple as expanding on your original design. And just like that, your tiny bee turns into a sweeping honeycomb.
Scorpion and Mermaid Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas
The Chicano style blends traditional elements, including bold lines and blackwork, with personal, religious, and communal symbolism. The style began in the ‘50s among Latin American gangs. Most of its designs pointed to group loyalty. But they also held undertones of social commentary, particularly around justice and the human condition.
These scorpion and mermaid designs look absolutely gorgeous on the knee placement. Both these elements are a staple in stoner aesthetics. So naturally, they’ll pair beautifully with whatever vibe you’re going for.
Dotwork Mandala Knee Tattoo
If the idea of spiritualism is important to you, then mandalas are definitely going to be something you get inked at some point. And while they work on several placements, they are especially suited to knee cap tattoos. The more obvious reason is that anything circular sits perfectly on the knee. On a more symbolic level, a spiritual symbol is the most grounding design you could get.
Pointillism, or dotwork, works beautifully with mandalas. The pairing is, of course, on the more painful side. But the results make it worth the struggle.
Neo-Traditional Tiger Knee Cap Tattoo
Neo-traditional tattoo designs are intricate, detailed, and colorful. While some might assume they’re the opposite of traditional styles, they are actually an expansion of traditional American tattooing. They are also stunningly artistic, and may even include elements of impressionism and surrealism.
This tiger tattoo looks similar to Irezumi designs. But it builds on the concept and throws in some cool ideas such as painting the tiger pink instead of its usual colors. This allows the artist to create a pretty striking and unique piece.
Heart Knee Cap Tattoo Ideas
The heart is a classic element in tattooing. While personal meanings and traditional styles might hold artistic and aesthetic value, sometimes the best tattoo for you might be something simple.
This old-school design pairs the heart, a symbol of love, with thorns, a symbol of sacrifice. Tattoos that layer meanings this way can be quite personal. This design, in particular, could represent sacrifice in love, or it could be a representation of grief and loss. And, naturally, it could also have religious connotations. It’s all about perspective.
Ribbons and Text in Knee Cap Tattoos
You can spice up simpler designs with elements like ribbons and text. These are great ways to personalize a design so it’s unique to you.
It’s The Bee’s Knees
Tattooing is an art form rooted in self-expression. But it is also one that is symbolic, deeply personal, and extremely innovative. As these knee cap tattoo ideas demonstrate, there’s no limit to where you can take your artistic ideas.
