A wolf tattoo is one of the most preferred animal-inspired tattoos among men because most of them view the wolf as a symbol of strength. The wolf is a very symbolic creature that holds so many deep meaning in different cultures, mostly with Native Americans, throughout history; to tribes across North America and in other parts of the world.
Native Americans see the wolf as a charming animal or a spirit that is referred to support and guide us through life also symbolizes perseverance and loyalty. In folklore, the wolves were given great powers by the Almighty Spirit.
Facts about Wolves
Like most predatorial creatures in the animal kingdom, the wolves are frequently understood as a harmful creature. Wolves have lived and survived in harsh locations for thousands of years. These creatures are intelligent and skillful hunters that hunt with the pack, they rarely hunt alone unless they’ve been cast out of the pack. Wolf lives and hunts in packs to increase their chances of survival. They are known to travel large distances, perhaps 12 miles a day. However, the wandering space that they have continuous to get reduced. Wolves are carnivorous they prey large animals like deer, elk, and moose this ensures that there is sufficient of sustenance to support the pack.
Other than chasing for food, wolves are typically not hostile but they usually will combat other animals even other of there kind just to defend their pack. The pack gives them territorial advantage alongside other marauders, the members mostly range from around six to twenty animals. These creatures are monogamous so a wolf will mate with only one companion while the couple is still alive. The pack leader or called alpha male and the partner or beta female are usually the only pairs in a pack that will mate and the rest of the members is responsible to care for the young. The wolf packs are also well-known as concerned parents.
Wolf Design and their Meanings
The wolf is a majestic creature that symbolizes fearlessness, family, power, strength, loyalty and more. They have this mysterious kind of vibe around them and stood as powerful as the characters in most literature and films. Since wolves are always associated with the dark it is always believed that it is a symbol that is related to dark things, but it doesn’t have to. It’s actually up to you what you want it to symbolize. Below are the list of wolf designs and their meanings:
The Celtic Wolf: they are known as the protector of the woods, these wolves protect faerie realms from dangerous outsiders. The Celtic wolf has strong connections with nature.
Feather and Wolf: a wolf combined with the feather. This design represents the Native American Culture, it symbolizes the harshness and the beauty of nature.
The Japanese Wolf: in the culture of Japan, the wolf symbolizes the Shinto gods and divine messengers. This design stands for respect and kinship with the heavenly powers.
The Howling Wolf: the one that howls at the moon is the alpha of the pack, the alpha wolf communicates with its members by howling. As a tattoo design, the howling wolf represents free-spiritedness, strength and a connection to the wild.
The Rose and Wolf: this design stands for romantic love as wolves are monogamous by nature, these tattoos also represents a devotion to a companion.
A Wolf Paw: the paw print of a wolf is a design that represents Native American Tradition. The paw symbolizes moving forward or being guided along to the right path.
The Wolf Headdress: another Native American Culture where wolves are respected as spirit guides and they are seen as protectors of souls in the afterlife.
The Werewolf: this mythical werewolf design represents horror and fantasy film culture. The werewolf symbolizes both evils and misunderstood heroes.
Wolf Skull Tattoos: the skull symbolizes the man’s mortality, death, and destruction. A wolf skull tattoo symbolizes your understanding of death. You are fearless when it comes to facing your death like the powerful wolf.
Wolf Eyes: like the famous quote “the eyes are the windows to your soul”. The wolf eyes symbolize that you perceive more than what’s on the surface of things and you deeply understand the world around you.
Tribal Wolf Tattoos: these designs are common patterns for warriors who are identified with the power and fierce fighting spirit of a noble wolf. Wolf warriors are powerful, primal and fearless even when faced with danger.
Wolf Claw: the claw symbolizes an image of a fighting wolf. The wolf claw shows power and strength that dominate your foes. It also means that you are fearless when it comes to emotional, mental, spiritual, or physical battle.
12 Tattoo Tips for the First Timers
As a first-timer, you will most likely have a lot of mixed emotions before receiving your first tattoo. You might feel excited, scared, happy or maybe a little bit nervous. Here are 12 tips to help you put you at ease and to help you enjoy the experience of your first tattoo.
⦁ Think Thoroughly
Before booking an appointment be a 100% sure if you really wanted to be inked or not. Think about it for days to know if you have really set your mind for this. This is to help prevent you from making rash decisions that you could likely regret for years.
⦁ Be Patient
Choosing your design is the most significant part of the session, make sure that you have a copy of your design that you’ll show to your artist. Research design ideas that you like ahead of time and bring complete reference material to articulate description for your tattoo. During the preliminary sketch, make sure that you are completely satisfied by how the sketches projects. Talk to your painter about the details of the design so that they can alter the drawing.
⦁ Research the Tattoo Parlor
Always research the Parlor beforehand when you plan to get inked. Investigate the health criteria, the equipment that they use for tattoos, their past clients and the background of the artist. This is to make sure that you’re relaxed in their parlor and to know if their shop is safe and doesn’t have past complications with their clients from the past.
⦁ Ask Questions
Don’t be scared or shy when asking queries. A decent tattoo artist will reply all of them without any problems and also help you ease your mind to make sure that you are calm before they start the procedure. If they don’t respond with some of your questions or if they appear a bit shady, leave the shop.
⦁ Choose a Fair Price
Do not be thrifty you would never want your first art tattoo to be a failed one. The amount of your tattoo may depend on how big and how long the procedure would take. The smaller your tattoo is the cheaper the price. Choose a parlor that is established in the background, the skills of the artist, knowledge and health standard. A higher fee doesn’t define if the shop is good or not.
⦁ Be in Good Health
Don’t go to the Tattoo parlor when you are drunk, high, sunburned or sick make sure that your skin is perfectly healthy. Eat a balanced meal and consume lots of water to keep yourself hydrated beforehand.
⦁ Dress Comfortably
Depending on where your tattoo would be, wear garments that allow the artist to have an easy access to that portion of your body. If the artwork is too large, you’ll be staying at the shop for a while so wear comfortable clothing while the procedure is on-going.
⦁ Relax during the Procedure
Getting your first tattoo can be a bit stressful and overwhelming which heighten the pain so try to relax as much as possible, if the pain becomes too much then you can bear don’t be afraid to ask your artist for a break so you that you can get yourself together and bracing yourself for the rest of the procedure.
⦁ Follow Instructions
Your artist will most probably ask you to do several things like staying still in a particular position or ask you to move the cloth out of the tattooing area before the session starts. Follow your artist’s instructions so that everything flows smoothly.
⦁ Don’t Forget to Tip your Artist
While giving tips in some countries aren’t customary, tattooing still generally falls under the service industry, therefore, you should tip your artist like as you would with any service industry worker like the waiting staff, for example.
⦁ Take Extra Care
Taking care of your new tattoo is something that you should take cautiously. Letting your tattoo heal is as crucial as the procedure itself. Don’t use any kind of ointment over the tattoo and make sure that you listen carefully to your artist about tattoo aftercare so that your tattoo heals as well as it can.
⦁ When to Remove the Wrap
Right after your tattoo is finished your artist will clean the area before wrapping it with either cloth or saran wrap. It’s important to listen to your artist and only take off the wrap when they instructed to do so. Most tattoos should be wrapped for 2-5 hours it depends on how big the tattoo is. Clean your tattoo with mild and hypoallergenic soap and lukewarm water.
Getting a tattoo is painful but getting a wolf inspired tattoo after learning about its nature and the meaning of the wolf designs would be awesome. Making a research about tattoo designs and the background of the tattoo shop may cost from little to a lot of effort but it is necessary if you want to have the best tattoo for yourself. Some people might not appreciate tattoos because of their beliefs but there are still many out there that appreciate tattoos like an art specialist or an ordinary civilian who just simply loves art, so don’t get discouraged if you are planning to get inked. What matters, is you are happy with having it.
