The most charming of all the Pictish animals is the Pictish Beast, also known as the Pictish Dragon, or Swimming Elephant. Some people even say that it might be the Loch Ness Monster!
This version is from the Strathmartine Castle stone, now on display in Dundee, Scotland. I chose to render him in pointillist dots, to mimic the hand-pecking tapping technique that would have been used to create his image in sandstone so many centuries ago.
The Pictish Beast
The mighty Midgard serpent, the Jormungandr, rendered in the Urnes style to wrap the forearm or leg. A symbol of Nordic Viking power.
Today a musician building a Nordic sleeve asked for Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, on his forearm, that I drew in the Urnes style. After we finished and he prepared to leave... as he grasped the studio door knob a HUGE boom of thunder shook the building. "What was THAT?" he gasped.... "The blessing of Thor" I replied!
The St. Andrew's cross flag of the Kingdom of Scotland, known as the Saltire, is here represented in a clever Celtic knotwork pattern. Bringing together both the nationalistic pride of this ancient race and the intricacy of an unmistakably Celtic piece of art.
Deep within the innermost chamber of the Newgrange passage tomb in Ireland's Boyne valley, 6,000 years old, older than the Egyptian pyramids, this evocative spiral stands eternal watch over the burial place of the high kings.
Newgrange Triple Spiral Celtic Tattoo Design
