I'm back on the trail of my newest tattoo to come. As I stand ready to get my UK citizenship I thought a tattoo that pays homage to my new home, Scotland.
In keeping with the tribal theme that many of my tattoos are I decided to go with a
Pictish motif for the new work. It's also fitting as I've just spent the last year researching Celtic and Brittonic myths for the Age of Albion series.
There's not a ton of Pictish work left these days. As far as we know they didn't have a written language. Eventually the Picts merged with Celtic and Gaelic peoples to form the Scots and their distinct identity was subsumed into the 'Scots' identity and much of their artefacts were destroyed as pagan artefacts. But there are some stone carving (
Pictish stones) and metal work left of their art which is where much of the modern idea of Pictish art comes from. Check out the
Historic Scotland 3D scans of stones!!
I want to eventually form the tattoos I have on my shoulder and chest to grow into a quarter sleeve. The bigger pieces all have their individual meanings and combined will form their own story. The Pictish design will fit in between the Mucha floral tattoo and the Adinkra symbols on my shoulder.
As I want the tattoo to relate to becoming UK citizen I wanted to use the national animals of my home country (the US) and Scotland. They are respectively an eagle and a unicorn! Easy, eh?
Well, thankfully, there are examples of Pictish animals found on various stones. This made the job of stylising the eagle and unicorn (from a horse) straightforward - sort of. I was able to use the drawings of the eagle and the horse (which I think is actually meant to be a kelpie) and adapt them.
The eagle was the easiest. It's pretty identifiable as a bird and I just needed to add more detail to bring it up to a level that I would be happy to have etched into my skin for the rest of eternity. It still took me a while to get it right and I had to tool around with the shape and lines of the bird so that it read distinctly 'eagle' instead of 'sea gull' (I loathe seagulls).
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| some sketches |
So I spent A LOT of time drawing bald eagles and getting the curvature of the neck and hook of the beak accurate. I also wanted to add a bit of zhoosh to it incorporating Pictish triskelions.
The unicorn was a bit trickier. I didn't want it to come off looking too soft (the last thing I want is for people to think I'm a
brony). I also wanted to up the Scottish factor on it. So, I decided that the unicorn, while following the stylisation of the Pictish kelpie horse, would be rearing up (as it's usually seen on a coat of arms) and fashioned after a clydesdale horse. I've also done some knotwork in the tail to add in some detail.
The eagle and unicorn will be placed on either side of my
adinkra symbols tattoo and below it I want to place a band that will go around my arm. I chose a more geometric pictish pattern as I think it will sit nicely in contrast to the more flowing lines of the animals as well as the
Alphonse Mucha tattoo (see above picture). I'm not 100% sold on the swirls but we'll see. Now it's just a matter of discussing the image with my tattoo artist and figuring out placement and sizes.
I also designed an awesome
kraken tattoo for a mate. He's a naval architect and wanted a classic navy tattoo. I really enjoyed the chance to design something traditional with a scene with shading and the like. Also, it's like nothing I've ever done for myself but I think it will be an incredible tatt. I've replaced the traditional roses that come on the side of such anchor tattoos with the flower of York (as he's a Yorkshireman). Now I just need to convince him to hurry up and get it done so I can see! :D
Have a look at
my other tattoos
Hope you enjoy!
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On the left hand version I've turned the figures inward to more closely resemble the Scottish crests I've seen with unicorns gallantly framing a shield. I'm undecided on which triskelion to get (the outline version or the knockout black version). I think the black version is a bit too much given there's a lot in the rest of the tattoo already. However, as a standalone tattoo I think the black is much more eye-catching and fits in more with others that I have. 
