ANST - Principality Arms Discussion

[Dennis and/or Dory Grace]

Aquilanne here

Keif wrote:
>I feel that a lion's head erased enhances the visual
>effect of the mane...

Lyonel said the same thing. I guess it's easy to forget that heraldic
animals aren't necessarily drawn the way we think of them as looking.

>>Crowned: I'll write another message about that.
>>I feel it could go either way....either the lion's head crowned or the crown
>"floating" above the head...
>
>>I notice that the crown and the head (and the wreath and the
>>chief) are all gold.  I'd prefer contrasting colors for a
>>head and a crown, for visibility.

I've seen heraldic lions drawn with same-color crowns upon their heads, and
it didn't confuse the lines at all, because of the artistic style; it
actually ended up looking as though the crown was actually floating just
slightly above the head. I guess there's a goodly amount of artistic
license in rendition to keep in mind. People will tend to copy/repeat the
style they see as "official" or "traditional." This usually means how the
original artist rendered the arms for submission, which is not infrequently
the same style used for early regalia. Just some thoughts.

>Good point on the contrast... If the crown remains "attached" then
Gules... If
>the crown is separated, then let it remain Or...

If you're going to introduce a third color such as gules, I strongly
suggest that the lion be orbed and langued that same color, mostly for
aesthetic tie-in. Personally, though, rather than red, I think the third
color should be purple; after all, purple *is* the color of royalty. (Just
think, our lion with violet eyes, just like Liz Taylor! Talk about
glamorous!) ;->

>"Deep Significance" eh..? Degrades...huh..? "Phhhhhhhhhbbbbbbtttttttt!!" So,
>there....!

Oh, bravo!!! good cousin! Well said! Who says you're not the soul of
eloquence?! 

heeheeeheeeheeeheee

Actually, I was playing around with some sketches, and here's something
that I think looks *really* good:  Sable, a lion's head afronte erased and
crowned (or the crown in chief), a mullet of 5 greater and 5 lesser points
issuant from base, and a laurel wreath overall, Or.  A design like this
would also support the addition of a third color like gules for the crown,
or even for both the crown and the star issuant from base. It looks very
nice and balanced and bold on paper. Any thoughts?

Aquilanne
Dory Grace--The Inkwell
denouncer of Tytyvylus & warrior crone
amazing at mail.utexas.edu
============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.