The bleeding heart tattoo is a highly recognizable design and an enduring tattoo type in American traditional tattoo, whether etched in color or using heavy black ink.
A bleeding heart tattoo is often aligned with loss and grief. This is most often for lost romantic relationships, but they can also be applied to loss of loved ones, friends, and pets.
Bleeding heart tattoos are most often done in American traditional style, incorporating other elements of popular heart tattoos designs such as the sacred heart, black heart, broken hearts, and even anatomical concepts to individualize each variation of the tattoo.
The following gallery of bleeding heart tattoo ideas showcase an amazing array of easy to ink interpretations and provide you with inspiration for your next tattoo choice.
1. Anatomical Heart Tattoos
2. Black Ink Tattoos
3. Broken and Bleeding Heart Tattoo Designs
4. Dagger Through Bleeding Heart Tattoos
Source: @rec.tattoo Instagram
5. Symbolic Tattoos
6. Bleeding Sacred Heart Tattoo Ideas
7. Small Tattoo Ideas
8. American Traditional Bleeding Heart Ink
FAQs
What does a bleeding heart tattoo symbolize?
A bleeding heart tattoo is often aligned with the pain of loss and grief.
This is most often for lost romantic relationships, but they can also be applied to loss of loved ones, friends, and pets.
They are also elements of other heart ideas such as the sacred heart, black heart, or broken heart designs, but without being the focus of the tattoo.
How much does a bleeding heart tattoo cost?
Most tattoo artists charge an hourly rate which averages $150-$200 an hour for experienced professionals.
For bleeding heart tattoo designs, most are done in the American traditional style and will likely take a minimum 2-3 hours, and double that for ones larger than four inches in diameter.
Most shops have a minimum price (usually between $50 and $100) because even with a small heart tattoo that only takes minutes to complete, the artist must set up, sanitize and apply a stencil before beginning.
Where can I place my bleeding heart tattoo?
While always popular in traditional design, bleeding heart tattoos have become more noticeable recently only because of the increase in visible tattoos.
Hand, neck, throat, finger and ear designs have grown rapidly, with bleeding heart tattoos being an example of the growing visible tattoo trend.
For those with a more traditional placement aesthetic, the chest, upper arm, inner bicep, and ribs are all placements for bleeding heart pieces.
Why do sacred heart tattoos incorporate elements of the bleeding heart?
The Sacred heart tattoo is a traditional tattoo staple and could be considered a reflection of the Christian notion of sacrifice.
You’ll often find in sacred heart tattoos the elements of a bleeding heart, which are usually caused by a heart wounded by barbed wire wrapping around the heart image.
This is a depiction of Jesus’ suffering for all mankind.
It’s a highly recognizable design and an enduring tattoo type in American traditional tattoo, whether etched in color or using heavy black ink.