Snake It or Leave It - Best Snake Tattoos

Snakes have always been a popular theme in tattoos, whether based on a love for the slithery creatures, what they represent, or just for the aesthetics!

We take a look at some of our favourite snake tattoos created by our sponsored artists, spanning a huge range of styles, body parts and meanings!

Japanese Snake Tattoos

Snakes are pretty popular within Japanese mythology, whether they’re man-eating yōkai, jilted lovers gone mad, or eight-headed, eight-tailed monsters.

Nick Noonan’s Japanese-style snake has just the two heads, but is wrapped around the arm of a Baku in this epic leg sleeve! Nick’s work is always vibrant and expressive - just look at that fur detail!

Chris Henriksen’s cover-up piece in a black and grey Japanese style, with the snake’s head and coiled body emerging from traditionally Japanese-style waves - one of his specialities.

Traditional Snake Tattoo

Two examples here that show a traditional design done in a fresh new way.

Adrian De Largue’s engraving-style blackwork piece is a classic idea with a twist. A snake biting an offered hand is symbolic of being wary of making deals, or false intentions - in this piece, the hand has “hope” on the knuckles.

Goldsmith Tattooer inked this super vibrant traditional colour tattoo of a snake hissing, sometimes symbolising self-protection. Done in a tricky spot, the choice to incorporate hearts into the snake’s scales is typical of Goldsmith’s designs!

Medusa Tattoos

There’s no way we could talk about snake tattoos and not discuss this incredibly popular tattoo motif. Another one that’s symbolised many things from protection to female empowerment and resilience, it’s also just a cool image from an interesting, ancient story!

Thomas Carli Jarlier starts us off strong with this incredible black and grey portrait. The nose ring is an unconventional, but not unattractive choice for this Ancient Greek figure; as always, Thomas’ use of light is stunning, and the detail of the shedding skin on the lower snakes is perfect.

Jenna Kerr has previously worked on a few designs of this style, a figure she calls a “doll face Medusa”. This piece incorporates the jewels and ornate detailing for which Jenna is best known with an almost neo-traditional portrait style and inventive use of colour.

Isnard Barbosa’s perfectly demonic neo-traditional take on Medusa shows off his mastery of lighting, depth and contrast for a face that seems to be looking straight at you!

Kati Berinkey’s Medusa is perhaps the most snakelike of all! With a brilliantly subtle approach to colour and lighting despite the almost psychedelic design, the near-symmetry and ornamental details all add up to make this piece unique.

Neo-Traditional Snake Tattoos

Snakes are probably so popular in neo-traditional tattoos because their fluid nature means you can use them in all sorts of interesting ways.

Debora Cherrys has incorporated an almost cheerful-looking snake into this neo-traditional portrait and peony tattoo. Using colour to highlight only the woman’s eyes and earrings along with the snake and flowers really makes this piece pop.

Matt Daniels used an interesting colour combination for this neo-traditional snake which stretches from armpit almost to the wrist, surrounded by Matt’s signature florals.

Snake & Flower Tattoos

Sometimes, this combination of elements in a tattoo can symbolise something along the lines of transformation, beauty or growth - sometimes, it’s just aesthetically pleasing to combine an animal and a plant!

Hattie Cox’s work can be called neo-traditional, botanical, and often looks like it’s been lovingly detailed in coloured pencil. This piece is actually a cover-up, but good luck working out where the original was!

Johnny Domus created an interesting conflict in meaning for this hand banger, with a hissing snake surrounded by chrysanthemum petals. The rich colours are so typical of Johnny’s work, as are clever details like extending the petals over the fingers.

Snake Head Tattoos

These two clever snake pieces are both of snake heads, and tattooed on the heads of their collector!

Lena from Tattoo Art Karlsruhe’s somewhat terrifying black and grey realism snake is angrily hissing directly out of the back of this person’s head, with the forked tongue extending into the back piece. The contrast on this piece is stunning, and we’d be curious to see what it looks like with the hair grown back!

Alex Underwood inked this blackwork illustrative impaled snake head, which is still spitting venom despite being clearly very dead. The framing of this on the face, as well as the gory transition to skeleton at the bottom, are really clever.

Snake mythology tattoos

Snakes are found in mythology and folklore for a huge number of cultures worldwide, and can have both positive and negative connotations. They’re friends to the Buddha, deceivers of men and Egyptian goddesses, so it’s safe to say they’re a rich source of inspiration!

Void Vitriol specialises in Norse mythology and occult themed tattoos, which is probably why he did such a fantastic job on this Brutal Medieval style version of Jörmungandr. The World Serpent or Midgard Serpent is one of Loki’s offspring who circles the globe - his undoing is a sign that Ragnarök is beginning.

Alex Garcia’s neo-traditional cobra spans the entire length of this leg, and incorporates Ancient Egyptian elements like the falcon and hieroglyphics. In Ancient Egypt, a cobra in a raised position represented sovereignty, royalty, and divine authority.

Watercolour Snake Tattoo

A lot of snakes on this list are fierce-looking, but sometimes they can be styled in a softer way!

Lepa Dinis’ black and grey watercolour snake - in Japanese, Hebi - incorporates fine line to make this adorable-looking inner arm snake.

Hettie Baker’s snake might be coming out of a skull and baring its fangs, but combined with an iris and rendered in this soft watercolour and sketchwork style, it’s a lot gentler than you might expect.

Snake Pokémon Tattoos

There are a few snake types of Pokémon - although some of them are more like dragons or serpents - and we love seeing the creativity that goes into making Pokemon tattoos!

Tiggy Tattoos runs a Pokémon Get What You Get offer, so she’s no stranger to inking these little critters! For this Halloween-themed piece, Tiggy inked a baby Dratini in a pumpkin surrounded by bats in her signature cutesy style.

Nick Limpens went for a slightly more epic approach with this thigh piece of Gyrados emerging from the waves - the cool grey tones of this piece are really brought out by the precise use of colour!