Sugar Skull Tattoo Variations

Sugar skull tattoo designs generally feature petal-like decoration around the eyes, which are sometimes rendered as heart shapes to emphasize an animated quality. Dots and curving line work is also included as well as simple flower shapes. More realistic designs can use realistic images of flowers, most often roses but any flower can be chosen. The favorite bloom of the ancestor or family member can be used, if the tattoo is dedicated to a specific person. Flowers can be placed in the eye sockets of the sugar skull, or other pleasing symbols like diamonds or jewels, Catholic symbols, or stars.

Geometric Sugar Skull Tattoo

Geometric designs work well with the sugar skull because the elaborate and colorful decoration is easily fragmented into simple shapes. The sugar skull can be designed very simply in this way and therefore be rendered much smaller and more delicately creating a feminine appearance. Additional roses and other flowers are often included in the background to achieve a fuller look and larger piece that is still kept simple.

Masculine Sugar Skull Tattoo

In masculine designs, sugar skulls decorations are done on a female face rather than a skull in order to include the feminine form. This can be done very simply as well or very realistically. These designs are often made to appear ominous and include symbols of horror like spider webs, skulls, skeletons, and kept in dark hues. These women can be rendered like ghosts, ghouls, or zombies to deemphasize the celebratory nature of the sugar skull and emphasize the death on which it relies. In other cases, the female form is used with the sugar skull for aesthetic appeal rather than a to make a definite statement. But no matter how it is used, the sugar skull is always a symbol of death, taken either positively or negatively.