The Grim Reaper can pop up in virtually any context.
Grim Reaper tattoos are usually dark, leering and macabre--though they don't have to be. While many fear death, or have a morbid fascination with it, others see it as a rite of passage. If you want your Grim Reaper tattoo to be distinct from the many others out there, think deeply about what the concept death means to you, intellectually and emotionally.
Transformation
A mystic view of death is that it is merely a period of transition. You could symbolize this graphically by showing a caterpillar crawling through the Reaper's left eye socket, while a butterfly emerges from the eye socket on the right.
Nothingness
While images of hell and damnation may be frightening, the idea that there is nothing after death may be even scarier for some. You artist could render this graphically by creating a Grim Reaper in which the left side of the face is menacing, vividly realistic and alive--but the color and vitality gradually give way to an ashy pointillism as the viewer's eye moves to the right and the image fades to nothingness.
Phoenix
The phoenix, rising from the ashes, is a popular graphic image that symbolizes triumph over death. Discuss the design possibilities of an epic battle between a vengeful phoenix doing fierce battle with an enraged and snarling Grim Reaper.
