I am looking for some advice on these arms. I am almost set to put the final color to paper for both and I don’t want to miss anything. It is very important to me that I get these arms dead on, so please fire away with problems so I can address them with both of them individually and go from there. I just can’t see anything I don’t like with either and that makes me very nervous, as I always have problems with my own work…

Fr. Archer

http://img280.imageshack.us/img280/286/frarcherarmscolorsketchiv5.jpg

Fr. Guy

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/3103/frguyarmscolorsketchlq8.jpg

Again these are small images from Image Shack and that combined with my scanner do not show the darker Azure in Fr. Archer’s arms and the darker Or in Fr. Guy’s arms. For example you can not see the knots in the cords, nor the white highlights, etc… very, very frustrating…

OK off to class again and will check back.

edited by member

Hot d@mn Denny!!!  You have evolved into a GOOD heraldic artist!

Wow .... I’m very impressed with your work.

Regards,

—Guy

[edited for proper grammar]

Well just very very nice nothing to report from my side, except that the cross in Fr. Guy arms seems to be a bit off centre. About the nervous bit you are not alone I always see or suspect wrongs in mine to.

Thanks Guy. I appreciate it much! And I think any good artist, which I most certainly think you are Ton, should see problems with their work. I would suspect any artist who did not see fault(s) in his own work. I think that is what drives me constantly at whatever art I do; a strong drive to better the work always. I know good ol’ Michael was like that… in fact if I recall correctly he did not like his statue of David at all and that is my favorite piece of work from him in any medium!

I think I nailed Fr. Archer’s arms dead on. I like the shade of blue and the layout and all of it really. As for Fr. Guy’s, I like it as well, but I may use a darker green. And because I like them both so much I just thought I was setting myself up for blinded by pride viewing of them and wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something. Thanks fellas.

I agree with Guy…..Denny is certainly getting to grips with the heraldic artwork

Keep it up!!

Donnchadh,

I have to agree with all of the above statements…your artwork is really excellent! I especially like the look of the galeros and tassels. Nice work! :D

What caused you to go with the chamfrons instead of heater shapes?

Take care,

Thanks Phil.

I use the horse-head shape as it is IMHO distinctively Roman Catholic. One look at it speaks volumes to the Catholicity and in particular of the Roman nature of the arms. Plus I just love the style. It creates the impression of movement and long with the movement of the cords it just ‘works’ for me.

Now, granted Fr. Archer is a Scotsman. But, he, and I believe Fr. Guy as well, but I could be wrong, are Latin Mass Catholic priests.

So, I wanted something that was obviously Roman in that regard. It is the same with the rounded top galero.

The cords, however, I tried to make differently. Fr. Archer’s I based on the knot-work done by Dennys - I believe - in his wonderful little Scottish Heraldry booklet. In that you can see the knot-work resemble IMHO Celtic Knot work and in particular the Trinity Knot in Cardinal O’Briens. As for Fr. Guys, I wanted to bring some looping into the cords, which I just don’t see in the arms of priests. Usually these seem to just drop off on the sides. So, I tried to fancy it up a bit, hence the loop and the ‘bubble’ knots in the cords.

Quote:

Now, granted Fr. Archer is a Scotsman.

Actually, I am an American of mostly Scottish and English ancestry (Archer is English).  However, I am an American first and foremost.  I know that’s what you meant; I am just giving you a hard time.

edited by member

*****OK… I just posted a reply and instead of going to the bottom of the line like normal it went in the middle… is there something up with the MB? ANd now this one is here instead of in the middle… what gives?*****

Donnchadh wrote:

*****OK… I just posted a reply and instead of going to the bottom of the line like normal it went in the middle… is there something up with the MB? ANd now this one is here instead of in the middle… what gives?*****

I think there’s a bug in the message board in that a number of posts have been tagged as having been posted "1 minute ago", despite having been posted over several hours- the "1 minute ago" hasn’t changed all day.  So these posts have been bumped to the front of the line (or the bottom of the page).

Really very nice!

It has been wonderful to see your progress as a heraldic artist.

I can only regret that I’m not able to order a rendering of my own arms, but students of theology on loans sometimes has to prioritize food over art… A shame, really, but I think it’s better to complete my degree first.

Good father, I get ya. So am I. American first. Irishman second. Coloradoan third. So, I got ya. I love the Latin Mass myself. I try to attend one every month; it is hard to get there, as it is about a 45 minute drive each way with good weather and no traffic. More’s the pity I can’t get one closer to home… so be it.

Claus, thanks for the compliments. I didn’t know you were a student as well. How did I miss that… hello D! LOL. Anyway good luck with the rest of your studies. I totally understand the economics of being a student! This is my third, and hopefully final, go around and when I am an Interior Designer/Interior Architect I will be employing heraldry into my designs. I know people will love it as they love it now. Plus why not have a growth of personal heraldic art in interior designs? I see it as a growth industry with a field just waiting to be developed and promoted. I hope to have a website soon, so when I do you can always check in there and when you’re ready place an order. Until then I totally understand how tight money can be while in school… Because of the cost of everything else I am usually choosing between cheaper food I need and skipping the better food I want… oh well… good thing is it has helped me to keep weight off the old belly! LOL.

Donnchadh wrote:

Thanks Phil.

I use the horse-head shape as it is IMHO distinctively Roman Catholic. One look at it speaks volumes to the Catholicity and in particular of the Roman nature of the arms. Now, granted Fr. Archer is a Scotsman. But, he, and I believe Fr. Guy as well, but I could be wrong, are Latin Mass Catholic priests.

I do say the Traditional Latin mass about four times a year as I’m on rotation with several priests in my diocese. However, I still employ Latin in the (so-called) "new" mass because it is still the mother tongue of the Church.

I’m half Irish and on my father’s side I’m Italian so I appreciate the horse-head shield as looking particularly Italian.

IMO & as Fr Guy notes in passing, the horse-head shield design is more Italian than strictly speaking Roman Catholic, though of course that’s largely a distinction without much real difference for most Italians (nominally at least RC).  I don’t believe (based on what I’ve seen in books & online) that it’s particularly indicative of religious calling—it could as well be an Italian layman as a cleric.  (I am curious - has it been used by non-RC Italians?  e.g. the occasional closet Protestant, or perhaps by Italian Jews?)

But in any case it is an interesting shield variant which Denny has used to good advantage!