Grim Reaper Tattoos – Good, evil or neutral?

Grim Reaper Tattoos – Good, Bad or Neutral?

Some people think that Death is saddened by human suffering and reaps the souls of those dying in order to relieve their pain. In this case, an Angel of Death rather than the diabolical Grim Reaper will be the main character of the tattoo. Anyway, this is not a widespread conception and consequently there are only few tattoo-designs on this theme. In these tattoos the Angel of Death is portrayed with an earnest or saddened facial expression.

Other people think that Death is only a psychopomp. Psychopomps - from the Greek word "psuchopompos", literally meaning the "guide of souls" - are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to provide a safe passage. Because Death has no feelings and simply does his job as he has been eternally damned to do, his face appears expressionless or neutral in tone.

However, the most popular grim reaper tattoos are those of evil nature. These tattoos feature Death taking souls for pleasure as he reveals an evil smile, laughs or gloriously stands over his trophies (human skulls and bones).

Related posts:
Various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo: skulls and skeletons (1)
Skulls and skeletons tattoos (2)
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo
Death tattoos: the main depictions of the Grim Reaper
Death Tattoos / Grim Reaper Tattoos: themes and meanings
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals
Grim Reaper tattoos - coloured or black and white?

Grim Reaper tattoos - coloured or black and white?

Many grim reaper tattoos are created using only black ink and intricate shading to make various shades of grey; however, monotone tattoos are not for everyone. On the other hand, if you decide for a coloured tattoo, you should inform yourself about tattoo colours and tattoo inks, because there is no such thing as "universally-good-tattoo-colours"; in fact, when you decide for a certain colour for your tattoo, in the first place you have to consider your skin tone. Besides that, remember that some tattoo colours are difficult to maintain and they have the tendency to fade faster than others (in this post you might find out some useful information about this subject). Anyway, if you like coloured tattoos and you really want to incorporate some vibrant colours into your Grim Reaper tattoo, here are some suggestions that might help you:

  • Blue and cyan are probably the most common colours used in the Grim Reaper tattoos, excepting, of course, black and grey. You can use blue and cyan to fill with color the schyte's / sword's blade, the night sky, the clouds and the moon, the mist (if the Grim Reaper appears surrounded by mist) and even the Death's robe.
  • Brown: one could hardly find another colour that suits a Death tattoo. Because brown is the colour of the wood, there are lots of elements which can be filled with this colour: crosses, coffins, dead trees, old books and papyri, etc. Anyway, a brown tattoo isn't appropriate for any type of skin, so you'd better ask the tattooer before choose the brown colour for your tattoo.
  • Red: a powerful and violent colour, red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with war and violent death, danger, strength, power, anger, etc. There are many elements which can be coloured in red in a Grim Reaper tattoo: the Death's eyes; the flowers (the red roses, as a symbol of the ephemeral are very common in Death tattoos); the Grim Reaper's robe; the drops of blood dripping down the Death's scythe.
  • Green (especially the so-called "poison green" or the pale-green): when Death is depicted as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (as mentioned in the Christian Bible) Death is riding a pale-green horse
  • Purple: This color is commonly associated with royalty. Death is sometimes portrayed as the King of the Underworld, so you can use this color for the Death's robe.
  • Silver: the blade of the Death's scythe (or the blade of the sword, if the Death is depicted as the Angel of Death).
  • Yellow and orange: these two colours are not so popular in the Death tattoos. Anyway, there are some elements which can be filled with orange and yellow: thunders, flames (the Flames of Hell); sometimes Death is riding a fire-horse; the fire in the Reaper’s eyes; the Moon; the light of the Death's lantern.

Related posts:
Various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo: skulls and skeletons (1)
Skulls and skeletons tattoos (2)
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo
Death tattoos: the main depictions of the Grim Reaper
Death Tattoos / Grim Reaper Tattoos: themes and meanings
Death tattoo - various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo - animals

Skulls and skeletons tattoos (4)

Click on the links below if you want to read the previous posts:
Various elements which can occur in a Death tattoo: skulls and skeletons (1)
Skulls and skeletons tattoos (2)
Skulls and skeletons tattoos (3)


As it can be seen from the previous posts, a skull / skeleton tattoo could have various meanings:

Butterfly tattoo design

A new tattoo design available on my website, www.seiza.ro. For this tattoo design I've combined some swirled elements with a tribal butterfly design. Because the butterfly is both a symbol of the ephemerality and a symbol of the joy of living I've also included a Japanese expression: 今を楽しめ (reading: ima o tanoshime; meaning: enjoy the present / the present moment; this expression is equivalent with the famous Latin maxim "Carpe Diem").

This tattoo design was drawn using Adobe Illustrator. If you like this tattoo design and you want to draw a similar one, you might find some useful informations in the tutorials available on my other blog, http://123-graphic-tutorials.blogspot.com




Butterfly tattoo design. If you like this tattoo design and you want to use it as an inspiration for a future tattoo, you can find it in a larger format on my web site www.seiza.ro

Angelina Jolie tattoos

Angelina Jolie is a famous actress with a serious love for tattoos, she's regularly featured in celebrity news magazines and websites with one of her new tattoo designs.
Angelina Jolie is best known for her lead roles in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", "Gia", "Girl, Interrupted", "Hackers","Mr. & Mrs. Smith".The focus on her many tattoos began when she embarked on a whirlwind romance with actor Billy Bob Thornton.
Angelina Jolie currently has 13 known tattoos, including scribings of the longitudinal and latitudinal location of the birth place of her four children, three of which were adopted.Angelina Jolie tattoos
Angelina Jolie Brief Biography
Born June 4, 1975, as Angelina Jolie Voight to parents Marcheline Bertrand and Jon Voight, this Academy Award-winning actress (Best Supporting Actress, 1999, Girl, Interrupted) has also won three Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. Before getting into acting, Angelina made her living as a fashion model.
Angelina Jolie is a well-known humanitarian and philanthropist, supporting several causes across the globe, including working with refugees through UNHCR (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees).
Tattooed actress Angelina Jolie and her husband Pitt have two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara, and a biological child, Shiloh.
Jolie achieved international fame for her portrait of videogame heroine Lara Croft in 2001 and since then established herself as one of the best known and highest paid actresses in Hollywood.As Lara Croft in Tomb Raider or the female assassin half of Mr. and Mrs. Smith you won’t see a single tattoo. Her tattoos are covered with makeup for her movie roles. Multiple sources report that during the Tomb Raider shoot, the makeup applied wasn’t doing a good enough job of covering the large “Billy Bob” and black dragon on her left upper arm and a digital artist was hired to go frame by frame through the film and make sure no trace of skin art could be seen.
Angelina Jolie's tattoos are perhaps just as well known as her trademark pouty lips and her performances on the silver screen. Angelina Jolie is the "world's most beautiful woman," according to the "100 Most Beautiful" issue of People magazine in 2006, and a large part of that probably has to do with her tattoos.
Angelina Jolie has had several tattoos done over the years, and she continues to frequently add new ones or change existing ones. They are not there purely for cosmetic purposes either, as it is said that each tattoo has a special meaning behind it. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does give you a bit of insight into the personality, thinking, and preferences of the popular actress.
Angelina Jolie's tattoos have been edited and added to over the years.

Angelina Jolie and her famous tattoos .
On her left arm, she once had "Billy Bob" for her ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton. This is now covered by co-ordinates for where she adopted her Maddox and Zahara. These are N11° 33' 00" E104° 51' 00" (Cambodia) and N09° 02' 00" E038° 45' 00" (Ethiopia), respectively.
Angelina Jolie & Bob Thornton  tattoos
A dragon tattoo on her left arm can still be seen faintly on her left arm, though she has been getting it lasered for months.
A dragon she got in Amsterdam while drunk, now covered by the Latin cross. This dragon tattoo with blue tongue on Angelina's hip is covered up by the cross tattoo.
angelina jolie tattoos
A large black cross tattoo on her left hip. This is a cover-up for a small blue dragon she says she got while drunk in Amsterdam. « Quod me nutrit me destruit » Latin words meaning "What nourishes me also destroys me".
Angelina Jolie Black Cross tattoo

Gothic letter tattoo between her shoulder blades says "Know Your Rights". It's the title of a song of her favorite band.
Pali Incantation, position: Left shoulder.
It is a Buddhist Pali incantation written in Khmer script, the language of Cambodia. It is there to protect her and her adopted Cambodian son Maddox from bad luck
Here's the translation:May your enemies run far away from you.If you acquire riches, may they remain yours always. Your beauty will be that of Apsara. (Celestial dancer from Khmer mythology.)Wherever you may go, many will attend, serve and protect you, surrounding you on all sides.

The letter H on her left wrist. This tattoo, on the inside of Angelina's left wrist, is reminiscent of a rune, and is the letter H. It is alleged that Angelina got it to signify her then boyfriend, Timothy Hutton, but now she says it is for her brother, James Haven.
Angelina Jolie tattoo -The letter H on her left wrist.

Tattoo she and Billy Bob got "a copy" of. Not clear what it means. Currently covered by "strength of will."
Angelina Jolie tattoos

Arabic phrase "العزيمة" (strength of will) This is an Arabic tattoo saying "Strength of Will", located on the inside of her right forearm. This tattoo covers a tattoo that Angelina had done with Billy Bob Thornton.
angelina jolie tattoos

The 12-inch long Bengal tiger is situated on her lower back and was done in Bangkok (Thailand) by tattoo artist Sompong Kanhphai
Two pointy black tribals on the lower parts of her back
A dragon under the tiger
A window on her lower back. On Inside the Actors Studio, she explained that she covered this tattoo, because, while she used to spend all of her time looking out through windows wishing to be outside, she now lives there all of the time.
Angelina Jolie Tattoos
The Roman numeral 13 (XIII) is tattooed on her left forearm. She had it done because she doesn't believe in superstitions.
Angelina Jolie tattoo  XIII

On her left shoulder, she has had her tattoo with the Chinese word for "death" (死), covered up by a large prayer for her adopted son Maddox.
Angelina Jolie death tattoo gallery

A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" (fromTennessee Williams, her favourite poet) on her left forearm.

Angelina JolieTattoos gallery

Japanese for "courage". Matches one of Johnny Lee Miller's. She got it after she got "death". Says she wanted to get another but didn't know what so she decided to match her husband's.


Angelina Jolie, Japanese for Courage


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Angelina Jolie tattoos gallery