Check out the tattoos the controversial King of Youtube PewDiePie has inked and what they mean. Explore their esoteric design and the reasoning behind them.
Not too long ago the thought of getting rich from releasing videos about playing video games was nonsense, yet that is exactly what Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg—better known as PewDiePie—has done. Born in Sweden, PewDiePie has built a fortune uploading videos of himself playing a variety of videogames on the Let’s Play platform, as well as comedy shows and skits.
In fact, from 2014 to 2017 PewDiePie had the most viewed YouTube channel on the platform. These days he maintains over 100 million subscribers around the world. With an estimated net worth of 30 million USD it’s no surprise that people have taken notice of PewDiePie.
While most of the attention aimed at Felix comes in the form of commentary on his videos, he has gained a level of celebrity among his devoted followers, and his tattoos have become a topic of conversation in the Bro Army (the name given to Pewd’s fan base). His ink is eclectic in style, although an illustrative approach is evident in most of his work.
Far from fully inked, PewDiePie’s Six tattoos utilize a few different styles to produce interesting designs that are informed by his love of art and pop culture. Here, we will take a closer look at the Swedish phenom’s one of a kind ink.
Frog with Trumpet
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Located on his left upper arm, Pewds has a tattoo of a frog playing the trumpet, produced using a loose, illustrative approach and black and gray ink. Designed and applied by Osaka based artist, Haskey, Pewds got the tattoo while in Japan as a tribute to a lost pet. Named Slippy, this piece is dedicated to the pet frog that Pewds lost. On the Instagram post where he debuted the ink he included the caption, “A tribute to an ol’ pal.”
Swedish Church with Something Inside
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Another interesting piece of ink of Pewds is the Swedish church located on his right upper arm, facing out. PewDiePie got this tattoo done while in his home town of Stokholm, Sweden way back on Christmas of 2016. Designed and applied by Will Pacheco, the piece is a great example of his style that uses a childlike interpretation and manages to be equally innocent and creepy at the same time.
The illustrative approach taken to create the church with something lurking in the steeple is reminiscent of classic children’s fairy tales and more modern illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are. The piece is believed to be symbolic of PewDiePie’s childhood in Sweden.
Skeleton Riding Cat
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Located on the inside of his right bicep, Pewds has a cartoon depiction of a skeleton figure riding a leaping cat. This design began life as a tribute to famous artist Gary Baseman’s dead cat, Stubby. Hit by a car, Baseman painted this piece, entitled DAMN YOU ALL, as a way to memorialize a lost friend, and Pewds loved it.
While the motivation for getting Baseman’s work inked on his body is unclear, Gary had no problems with the YouTube star drawing inspiration from his work. According to his Instagram account, “Tattoo Time with PewDiePie, Seems Pewdie has my painting DAMN YOU ALL on his arm”.
Girl Tattoo
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Another tribute to the art and artists that he draws inspiration from, PewDiePie has a figure of a girl tattooed on his right forearm, facing forward. The design comes from the collection of figures and motifs that American artist KAWS created over the past thirty years. The figure features the cartoonish illustration that typifies KAWS’ works, although Pewds forgoes color and shading in favor of a restrained, black line approach to this piece.
Heart Shaped Face with Crying Eye
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This next piece is a departure from the cartoon style of the previous tattoos that we have looked at. Located on his left forearm, this tattoos uses bold black ink and negative space to create a grimacing face that is reminiscent of tribal totems, while below is an eye that draws inspiration from early tattoo flash.
Applied by artist, Luciano, in London back in 2016, Pewds has said that he found the artist on Instagram and was enamored by his work. Though, when asked about the meaning behind the piece, Pewds admitted, “I have no idea.”
Naked Woman and Skeleton Embrace
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Located on his left bicep, this is PewDiePie’s largest piece and the one design that draws strongest on traditional elements of classic tattooing. Applied using dense black ink and negative space, this piece depicts a nude woman and a skeleton in some sort of embrace. The bold line work and flowing shape of the hair is reminiscent of traditional Japanese tattoos, while the imagery of skeletons and a wild haired witch is more closely related to Western tattoo styles.
Once again, Felix had little to offer in the way of explanations when probed about the significance of this piece: “I think I had a reason when I got them, but clearly I don’t remember any of it.”
PewDiePie: An Eclectic Ink Collection
While some people choose a style of tattoos that fits them and stick with that, clearly PewDiePie has a different approach to choosing ink. His love of visual art and varied tastes have led him to get a variety of pieces that use different approaches to create interesting designs, and while there is surely some meaning behind each of these tattoos, we might never find out just what that is. When asked about the reasoning behind his tattoos from Luciano on his forearm Felix responded, “I swear to God I don’t remember why.”