[antir-heralds] highlighting help

[Britt]

On 10/7/07, chrisact at qwickconnect.net <chrisact at qwickconnect.net> wrote:
>
> Or, for examples of plummety, see:
> http://www.badger.cx/heraldry/roll/display.php?id=122
> http://www.badger.cx/heraldry/roll/display.php?id=123
> http://www.badger.cx/heraldry/roll/display.php?id=124
>
> Yes, they are numerically adjacent; no, I don't know why.

ıecause when Badger gets working he uses similar themes to render
different pieces of armory and loads them up in a block.  So he was
working on plumetty one day, and...  :)

I'd like to note here that the black outline is something we've
perpetrated in the SCA but it is NOT a part of the correct, period
design in displaying armory.  The requirement for line drawings for
submission and the need for several colored copies as well started
heralds telling clients that to save effort, just run off ten copies
of the line drawing and color half of them.  This is a great idea and
guarantees that the line drawings match the colored emblazon perfectly
(a line drawing that is different from the colored emblazon is grounds
for return, matching is required).

HOWEVER, this has also led to black outlines around everything.
Painted renditions, sewn, anything.  If you want to be really
authentic, do not outline anything in black when you render the
armory, or if you do, make it totally minimal, just to pick out
detail.  The black outline is a SCAdianism and not part of 'real'
heraldry. I was shocked when someone once asked me how thick the
outlines on her embroidery project needed to be, she was shocked when
I replied, "Nonexistant."

Which brings me to this plumetty.  All three of the examples have too
much black outlining in the plumetty.  AElfgifu's and Jolyon's are
acceptable for submission, barely, while AElric's would be borderline
enough that it might be returned for a fimbriated field treatment,
which is not allowed. An excellent way to render plumetty is with each
trait colored in, no outline around them, and highlighting picked out
either in a darker version of the tincture of the trait or in the
tincture of the other traits. Hence AElric could make that little
'rib' mark on his gules traits Or, and the ones on his Or traits could
be gules.  That's a period depiction of such things, as well.

And for submission forms, metallic gel pens make nice highlight marks
on the colors. Test your pen first, but if it doesn't fade out in 48
hours, it'll probably last well in the Laurel files. (Yes, this is the
Marker Kommissar saying this - I found to my surprise my silver gel
pen survived 7 years on a submission form.)  Great for sable, azure
and purpure charges and keeps them from looking like stencil
silhouettes.  So does fine-line white-out, of course, but use
sparingly because anything that adds weight to the lines might
eventually flake off.

Eschew quasi-fimbriation! Eliminate black outlining! Get that mascara
off your wolves and dragons!  :)

- Teceangl