Some people change their favorite season every time a new one rolls around. People who say, "Ohh, I wish it weren't so hot! I miss sweaters!" every summer, wish it were autumn in the spring, and complain about the dark days all winter. And then … then there are the season-loving die hards. People who pick a season and stick to it — whether that season is summer or winter, spring or fall, taking the good with the bad. For those who are as completely summer-obsessed as we are, these tattoos are for our tribe.
From beachy vibes to the foods of summer, there are so many themes to pick from. It could be summer camping or Independence Day fireworks that speak to summer the most. Whatever it is, find inspiration for that next piece of ink.
While summertime tattoos are some of our favorite things we've seen in a while (just check out #14 and say it doesn't bring back some great memories), we're all about tattoos that are meaningful to people for a ton of different reasons. For instance, some are empowering and beautifully meaningful, and honestly inspiring to us. For those wanting only a cool micro tattoo or tiny tattoo that can be covered or shown at will, as a starter tattoo or simply because a large one seems like too much, a summer-themed one might be just check all the boxes. And for moms who want to get inked, they may want to pay tribute to either their motherhood or honor their kids, and pay tribute to what matters most in life — family.
Summer is obviously the best season to us — sure, it's hot and sticky, and yes, we sweat more, but we love it for the beach time, ice cream, the long days, and time spent outside — it's totally worth every inconvenience and annoyance that could possibly come up. We are die hard fans of summer — so much so that we're willing to get it tattooed!
A Totally Perfect Sparkler Tattoo
This tattoo reminds us of one of our favorite treats in the summer — playing with sparklers before the fireworks on the Fourth of July! We love celebrating this moment all year long with a beautiful black-and-white linework tattoo!
This Sweet Pineapple With Sunglasses
How totally cute is this tattoo?! We love a pineapple anyway, and then add those little violet heart-shaped sunglasses to it… we're pretty much dead. Plus what kind of extremely cool pineapple is wearing little pink flowers in her hair? We're fully into this one.
The Campfire Marshmallow
If an on-fire marshmallow on a stick doesn't make someone nostalgic, we don't even know what their childhood was about. We love this classic summertime image, which is beautiful and well-executed, but also really just makes us totally crave s'mores (like… all the s'mores).
An Excellent Rocket Pop
We loved crowding in front of the ice cream truck when we were kids, and the rocket pop was always a summertime fave. Sweet and delicious, it's a patriotic treat that we can pretty much always get behind (although sometimes those chocolate eclair Good Humor things would win).
This Smart Dolce Vita Tattoo
That's right — whether or not we actually live the sweet life in terms of our lifestyle, we can definitely, definitively choose to live the sweet life and be happy with ourselves and what we have. This tattoo is such a great reminder of the fact that we can always choose to be happy (and have an ice cream).
This Delicate Shell
One of our favorite summertime moments doesn't cost a thing — we just love walking along a beach picking up seashells. It's something even very young kids can participate in, and it's also something we love doing on our own. This shell is a great reminder of vacation hours well-spent.
A Cool Palm Tree
We love this beautiful palm tree because it's just a tiny oasis we can always come back to. How soothing would this be to look down on once in a while! It's always a good idea to tattoo an entire perfect vacation right on our arms — this is super-cool self care!
An Amazing Starfish And Sand Dollars
Whoa, how realistic and gorgeous are these? We love the detailing on the starfish, but it's remembering picking up sand dollars that really hits us. This is the kind of tattoo that's perfect for the summer season, but will last as a really lovely reminder of a great time for years.
These Excellent Sunglasses
Check out how totally freaking cute these are. This reminds us so much of a sunshade for the car we used to have — and we mean that as a compliment! This is adorable, and we even love the bits of whitework, which are notoriously difficult to pull off!
This Old-School Camping Scene
We love how this scene encapsulates some of the best parts of summer all together — and does it in this fun, old sailor style, too! The tent, the campfire, the canoe, the trees stretching up, and the moon shining down … it's so peaceful.
This Cool Drink of Lemonade
Whether this is about life giving us lemons, which we turn into lemonade or it's just an ode to summer sunshine and a moment of relaxation, we adore it. The neotraditional style is so pretty, and we love the clearly paper straw!
A Fun Beach Ball
Sometimes tattoos should be really meaningful, and sometimes they just need to make us smile when we look at them. We don't know this person's life — perhaps the beach ball is a really important symbol to them! — but if it's just fun, we love that, too.
Absolutely Stunning Peonies
Peonies are only in season in the beginning of summer, and are basically impossible to find the rest of the year — they're not great in hothouses, and cost a ton (instead of being like $5 at Trader Joe's). We call that about as seasonal a tattoo as it gets — and an ode to one of our favorite summertime visual treats.
A Super Classic Sprinkler
The simple linework of an "ignorant style" tattoo (that's the name of the school of tattoo art, not a diss!) is really compelling for a lot of people — us included! We love that the person who got this tat said it reminded him of summers with his grandfather.
This Incredibly Detailed Ladybug & Flower
Whoa, that flower is basically so alive we want to slip it into a vase full of water! We love this hyperrealistic tattoo and how it basically makes summer pop out at us — definitely the tattoo we want to be around once winter comes and we're all shivering and cold.
A Jar of Fireflies
Whether we grew up calling them fireflies or lightning bugs, we all love to watch them dancing and lighting up for us, whether we noticed them in our community gardens or right in our own backyards. Such a beautiful part of summer!
This Charming Picnic Basket
We love a good picnic more than pretty much anything in the summertime, and this picnic basket wrapped in Christmas lights reminds us of all things good, really. Apparently it's a memorial piece for the client's puppy, which is sweet and sad — and a lovely way to honor their relationship.
A Beach Bucket Tattoo
What's better in the summer than a trip to the beach? When we were kids, we loved playing with sand and creating everything from sandcastles to mermaids — all with the help of a trusty beach bucket, of course! This is a great way to encapsulate those memories.
This Amazing Windmill & Beach Scene
These tattoos, based on photos the client brought in, are so incredibly artistic and stunning. Apparently, the client wanted a sleeve to represent their grandparents — and we think this is beautiful, summery way to honor them.
A Road Trip Tattoo
What's more summery than a road trip? We love that the whole scene is set with a particular POV, so we can see inside the car and out — with the feet on the dashboard, the dog excited, and the scenery rushing by. Perfection!
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