Tattoo art – the deer and the stag

The series of articles exploring my obsession with tattoos continues! This one is about very particular animal tattoos involving deers, antlers and stags.

Tattoos are not just beautiful but they are also meaningful. Tattoos talk. They send a message; they tell a story about you, they are very personal and complicated. From all the tattoos I’ve ever considered at some point in my life, a deer tattoo or a stag tattoo always seemed like a good choice. 

So I decided to search and find the meaning behind some of my favorite tattoo ideas as I may just woman up and go for it. I’m the kind of person that has to know everything that it’s to know about a thing before doing it so this is me getting ride of all the excuses that I could come up with along the way.

  Amazing arm stag and a colorful detailed roebuck

Detail of a romantic framed  hart!

 Two wonderful chest pieces: two stags fighting in a clash of antlers (left), a colorful fawn over a hunter's trophy with birds and jewelry (beautiful contrast)

The deer is one of the oldest ancient animal symbols. Many cultures, all over the world associate the deer with a number of different legends and myths for thousands of years. Some civilizations idolatrize them The stag was the symbol of the sun in many religions. Power and good fortune are the most common associations that people make with a deer or a buck.

As a tattoo the deer also holds deep symbolic value. The many variations of a deer tattoo include the stag, the buck, white tail (the good), black tail (danger and death) , the deer skull tattoo (one of the more popular choices). 

The deer is one of the few animals that can represent both masculinity and femininity but the meanings associated with the male and female deer are different. The Stag is usually used as a symbol of power, spirituality, masculinity and re-growth while the doe is associated with femininity, fertility, beauty, peace, grace and innocence.

The stag gentleman tattoo on her arm looks very cool! Deer tattoos can also mean rejuvenation and rebirth (right).

 

The most popular tattoo design when it comes to deer’s is the hart or the male deer. The buck value is based on the size of its antlers, that’s why most of the times the tattoo portrays a 12 point horn buck, considered one of the highest trophies one can have. Another popular tattoo design is the deer skull tattoo. This tattoo is especially popular among hunters. Many consider deer hunting as a privilege and are grateful for what the deer gives them. 

At a symbolic level this tattoo art represents life and death. Deer skull tattoos have become very popular in recent years. As all skull tattoos this one is also controversial with people finding them macabre or just plain wrong. I don’t share this view! It’s true that I would not get one for myself, it’s just not my style but I have seen tattoo designs with skull stags truly unique.  

These skull antlers tattoos are great and the placement  makes them really hot as well!

Big chest pieces (the stag on the left is really beautifully drawn - I love all the romantic embellishments - loos like a page from an story book I used to have as a kid)

 

One tattoo that women usually go for in the deer variation is the Bambi tattoo. This is seen like a cute, girly tattoo and not a tattoo made with symbolic reasons. Not my style either!

The size of the tattoo is also very important. I’m sure any tattoo artist would recommend the bigger the better especially in this case. The most impressive stag tattoo designs I have seen were big, as the antlers take a lot of space. 

I really like all the positive meaning that a deer tattoo has. I have seen and heard so many people that just get tattoos impulsively and they end up regretting their choice along the way because even with all the tattoo removal techniques out there (even the sound of laser tattoo removal frightens me), not all tattoos can be fixed. So choose carefully because this is a life long decision and you don’t want any regrets. Just make sure it’s what you want or start with some temporary tattoos and work your way up from there.   

 I love this playful, simple roestag tattoo and its placement!

 

 Photos, collages made by Sara

What do you think? Any favorites?

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