Female tattoo collectors are responsible for some of the boldest and most brilliant tattoo innovations currently being implemented at tattoo studios everywhere.
We’ve gathered a collection of dragon tattoo ideas for women that will provide fantastic ideas and inspiration for your next tattoo design, while at the gallery’s end you’ll find useful dragon tattoo FAQs to help narrow down you decision making.
1. Linework Tattoos
2. Back Tattoo Ideas
3. Colorful Dragon Ink
4. Dragon Tattoos for the Forearm
5. Hip, Rib and Side Dragon Tattoo Art
6. Shoulder and Upper Arm Tattoos
Source: @phillygtattoos(artist) via Instagram
7. Small Dragon Tattoos
Source: @dragonwarrior_yoga via Instagram
Source: #blackorchidtattoo
8. Delicate Tattoo Designs
Dragon tattoos and changing tastes for women
Dragon tattoos for women are an amazing example of the change in thought about contemporary tattoo art.
Where previously dragons and mighty beasts were considered a ‘man’s tattoo,’ women’s ink has emphatically put paid to the outdated stereotype in fine style.
Women’s tattoo often goes for substance over style, with brilliant depictions of technical linework and single needle ink being used more than ever.
Your dragon could look like a smooth, wise creature of ancient mythology, or an angry lizard bent on tearing apart a village and burning your town’s crops.
Whether it’s a fully colorized back tattoo of Asian dragon mythology, or the troika of Daenerys’ Targaryen’s dragons from Game of Thrones flying lightly along your arm, there’s an incredible array of stylish dragon ink that women are adopting.
FAQs
What does an Asian dragon tattoo symbolize?
As part of Japanese mythology, dragons represent freedom, balance, and good fortune. They are also associated with wisdom and protection. Traditional Japanese tattoos are known as Irezumi and include a wide variety of traditional images.
Asian dragons are more snakelike and sinuous than their European counterparts and are considered more positive symbols of wisdom and temperance.
Chinese and Japanese tattoos have developed in much the same fashion over a long period. The simplest way to distinguish them from each other is Japanese dragons are most often depicted with three claws, while Chinese dragons have five.
What do European style dragon tattoos look like?
Dragons in European folklore are often dangerous beasts that hoard gold, steal livestock and terrorize villages – scourges for brave knights to hunt down, much like those belonging to Daenerys in Game of Thrones.
They look bulky and mean, with large heads and thick skin not dissimilar from carnivorous dinosaurs. Their physical characteristics (horns, claws, color etc) determine much of the symbolism of the tattoo.
Where should I place my dragon tattoo?
Putting aside the symbolism, the dragon naturally helps in creating fine tattoo art because of the physical characteristics that can be deployed.
Asian dragons – the most popular style – can be entwined down the limbs of the arms or legs or combined with other imagery for vivid chest and back tattoos. Their scales and wings can be etxhed in tight to the body, or fully unfurled as if in flight.
The bulkier, more vicious looking European style dragon can also be etched in traditional positions but have been utilized in single needle and small tattoo designs, a popular style for women’s tattoo. They too can be tattooed anywhere, as the smaller size and commitment to fine detail helps them flow and look sharp wherever there is space.