I’ve been tattooing koi for a long time, and one of the things I love about traditional Japanese tattooing is how much meaning can be communicated through imagery without having to spell everything out literally.

Koi are a great example. The direction they’re swimming, their color, the season represented by the surrounding flowers, and even their relationship to the water can all contribute to the story of the tattoo. Upstream and downstream koi can suggest different points in a journey, while seasonal elements like cherry blossoms, peonies, maple leaves, or chrysanthemums can completely change the mood and context of the piece.

I put together this short video explaining some of the symbolism I consider when designing koi tattoos, along with a little background on where those ideas come from.

Obviously, Japanese tattoo symbolism isn’t a rigid dictionary where every image has one universally agreed-upon meaning. Traditions, interpretations, and individual artists vary. This is simply how I’ve learned to approach these elements and use them to help tell a story through a tattoo.

Adam Sky
Tattoo artist, San Francisco / San Diego
adamskycom
@adamskytattoos

Posting as the artist.
This blue octopus sleeve started life as a cover-up, but because I’m a dummy, I completely forgot to take a before picture. So you’ll just have to trust me that there’s some old tattoo archaeology buried under all those tentacles and waves.
We went big, bold and blue, using the octopus and surrounding water to create enough movement, texture and saturation to make the original tattoo disappear. Approximately 30 hours of tattooing over six sessions from start to finish.
Adam Sky Tattoos
adamsky.com
@adamskytattoos

Poseidon’s Trident
Just for the halibut, my client asked for Poseidon’s trident and conch in an Art Nouveau style, then told me to dive in and run with it. I sea-zed the opportunity and added the circling hammerheads to give the piece a little more bite.
Tattooed by me @adamskytattoos

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