How to Create Celtic Anthropomorphic Ornaments (Beard-Pullers)

Celtic art often consists of intricate knots, interlacements, and spirals. One form of Celtic art called anthropomorphic ornaments are those based on the forms of the human body. The made an early appearance in the art of Bronzeage Britain and Ireland. They are usually in conjunction with spiral ornaments, and the leg-joints and rib-forms of the animals in ornamental rendering have spiral terminal treatments. Abstract representations of human male figures with interlacing limbs, bodies, hair, top knots, and beards are used to decorate the sacred pages of the Gospels of the Book of Kells. Here, I show how to design some of the ornaments found on the stone at Clonmacnoise and the Book of Kells.