Koi Fish Tattoos
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A koi heading upstream is a tattoo classic. It's also a big one to commit to for life. With a temporary koi fish tattoo you can test the size, the direction of the swim and the spot first, without a needle. Everything here develops into a deep blue-black, the shade of a classic tattoo, and nothing else.
The koi families
Most designs follow the Japanese tradition: koi climbing through curling waves, scales drawn as neat arcs, sometimes with small five-petal blossoms or a tribal border. Then come the outliers. Koi with a skull in pure linework. Koi under a spider lily, painted in a sumi-e wash. Koi and dragon in an engraving style, light lines cut from a solid fill. And if you want two koi, there are pairs circling each other, either minimal or in detailed linework.
Sizes and spots
The pairs stay compact, a good fit for a wrist, an ankle or the back of the neck. The climbing koi need room: forearm, calf, shoulder blade, thigh or back. Where you put it also decides how long your koi tattoo stays crisp. Up to two weeks on a forearm or a shoulder; less on hands and feet.
It goes on in two minutes, then needs 8 hours without water or rubbing. At first it looks faint. The blue-black comes up over 24 to 36 hours and stays waterproof, though repeated swims, sweat and friction speed up the fade.
Koi belong to the wider fish family. If it's the whole aesthetic you're after, see Japanese tattoos, and read the story of the carp that becomes a dragon in our dragon tattoo guide.
Picturing a lone koi in one line, a koi with a lotus, or a pair with a name? We'll draw your koi from your idea as a custom design, have the artwork approved before printing, and make it in 3 to 4 weeks. Orders start at 3 copies.
Koi tattoo questions
What does a koi fish tattoo symbolize?
It's usually read as perseverance: the fish that keeps swimming against the current. According to a Chinese legend, the carp that leaps the Dragon Gate turns into a dragon.
What does a 2 koi tattoo mean?
Two koi circling each other are often seen as balance, or as a couple. Some simply like the way the pair closes into a circle.
Should a koi fish tattoo face up or down?
A popular belief says a koi swimming up stands for a struggle still underway, and a koi heading down for one already behind you. It's a reading, not a rule. Our koi climb or dive depending on the design, so pick the direction that feels right.
