Today's client asked to begin a full leg of Pictish symbols, a thrilling prospect for me. We started with choosing totemic animals to represent his young sons. The first is the Ardross wolf, from an ancient Pictish carved symbol stone housed in the National Museum in Edinburgh. But looking through my archives for the bear, we just didn't see a Pictish one that worked. Until we had the inspiration to use the silhouette of the grizzly bear on the California flag, and match his style with that of the wolf. Lastly we copied the spirals from some gold Pictish jewelry I had photographed in Edinburgh and created a custom double disc for the shin center. Altogether a solid day's work, and a great start to an ambitious project.

Pictish Wolf, Bear, and Double Disk Tattoo by Pat Fish

You can learn more about the Picts and their symbols on the PICTISH TATTOO ART page.