What do you think of my latest creation? I’ve actually been working on it for months now ever so slowly in between school, work, and clients I’m rendering for.

It is my arms with the arms of my four grandparents and the symbols that mean most to me (Cross = Catholic Christianity; Shamrock = Irish; Columbine = Coloradoan; Rose = American [yes, the rose is the national flower of the USA]). I placed them in the shape of a cross in terms of how I identify myself going top to bottom and then left to right.

The arms in the upper left are my dad’s (MacGoff), the one’s in the upper right are my mom’s (O’Meskel), the one’s in the lower left are my grams Pacheco-O’Connell (O’Meskel), and the one’s in the lower right are my grams Hyde (MacGoff).

The two small symbols on the sides of my shield are for being a fourth degree Hibernian on the left and for being a third degree Knight of Columbus on the right.

I’m thinking of joining them all together with Celtic knot-work, but I just don’t know; it has taken me a long time just to get these done. We’ll see.

Feel free to fire away the critiques.

Your work is really maturing into something quite special, Denny. Gosh…a critique…ummm…the balance of the piece is kinda static. If you enhanced the Shamrock and Columbine a little (so they were aort of at the termini of an unseen passion cross), switched sides on the Hibernian and KoC emblems, and made the lambrequin appear less symmetric (as if the wind was blowing it a little bit, perhaps) the whole of the design would have a bit more life. I know that the Hibernian emblem on the Shamrock side makes sense, but it looks like two shamrocks next to each other. Don’t get me wrong; the design is quite nice as is, but I’d like to see it have a little more movement.

i didn’t even think of the two shamrock’s partick. good catch. i wonder what others think about that…

the mantling does look a little stiff after you say that. normally i get a great swooshing motion with the mantle like this, but for some reason it does sort of look a little stagnant.

as for the cross effect, well, that was actually what i was looking for. i wonder if that is not kosher or not…

thanks for the tips Patrick. and thanks for the compliments.

do you think something drawn in the margins connecting the different devices would be cool or what? Celtic knotwork, or maybe a vine of some kind… i don’t know…

The arms of the KofC (I’m a fourth degree member) while not a very good design doesn’t have a plain blue shield. You left out all the charges. if you’re going to use it you should show it as it actually is.

Thanks good Father. I tried to show the charges as well as the ‘KofC’ in the chief. However, the scale was so small that it came out horrible every time. So, I thought about showing a ‘rough’ rendering of the badge. Of the two this one looked the best, as it didn’t have terrible gold blobs in the field (how my previous attempts came out on this scale) and the ‘KofC’, which was so distorted and sort of unreadable.

Can I bounce this off your own artistic eye? Given this would you, as a fine artist yourself, make the badges bigger though not as big as the devices on the sides so as to allow for the detail? For, the Hibernian emblem is missing the gold outline of the ancient Irish monastic round tower as well - same problem as with the KofC emblem mentioned above.

I didn’t want these badges, which are important to me as they signify two things that are very much a part of who I am to become as large as the others. I was trying to do it all to scale.

As you may be able to tell, this is going to be a template for my ‘Ex Libris’ hence all the other extra stuff. I’ve seen many wonderful examples of ‘Ex Libris’ that included many little things about the owner included with his heraldic expressions. Of course I did not want to make it look like an Order or governmental/military decoration(s) of some kind, so I did not suspend them below a shield. I just wanted to illustrate to my future generations - God willing - these things that are so important to me and that basically define me: God and His Church (which includes my strong devotion to the BVM), my staunch patriotism, my pride in my Irish and Colorado heritage, as well as my belonging to these two wonderful, fine Catholic organizations (A.O.H. and KofC). Aside from family, which is illustrated by the shields, and surviving death’s door twice these are the things that define me.

Can you give me a better idea(s) for the ‘Ex Libris’ I am looking for? The only things missing is something relating to art, but since I made them I figured my future kids would know that… although I shouldn’t assume that.

Thanks for the tips good Father. You and Patrick have helped a lot in this design layout in my head. God bless ya.

I think this looks nice overall, but it would look better with a celtic knot which would connect the outer charges only, so that your coa would stand out. The badges should be a bit lower I think and swapped sides this would balance the picture. Perhaps it is a good idea to let the scroll of the upper motto run behind the crest that would give more symetry.

that is all I can think off

Do you normally have red/white mantling? Or is it usually Blue and white?

I think it looks very good Denny

Thanks Ton. Good ideas. I was leaning towards Celtic knotwork as well. Swaping the badges is a good idea and my thanks to you and Patrick for catching that.

Colin, yes I (and my sister - yes I’m form the school that thinks a woman can have a helmet and mantling if they want to) chose Gules doubled Argent in the traditional Irish fashion. My dad, uncle and brother chose Azure doubled Argent. So, I went with the more traditional Irish option and they went with the color and metal of the arms. And thanks for the compliments as well… anything you’d do different?

Ref Mr. Pritchett arms to see another example and this one from the CHoI: http://www.heraldrysociety.us/MemberArmPages/membersarms.php?page=Pritchett

8)

Donnchadh wrote:

And thanks for the compliments as well… anything you’d do different?

I might lighten the tincture of the CO Columbine. I always remember them being more of a lavender/ Blue celeste’ in nature. Other than the suggestions others have made it looks pretty good.

Denny, I think that a knotwork pattern framing the CoA and enclosing (for lack of a better word) the other stuff would look fabulous.

This is probably a bit nit-picky but there is something amok with the helmet… he looks like he has a deviated septum

Yes Colin it is a bit more lavender… good catch.

Thanks Patrick. I like the idea of a Celtic knot-work pattern as well.

Everett, go ahead and be nit-picky; that’s what I want.

Donnchadh wrote:

Everett, go ahead and be nit-picky; that’s what I want.

There’s nothing wrong with a three-quarters view itself, I just think in this instance there is something misaligned, like the top part of the helm is turned more than the bottom…

oops… jut missed ya… LOL. :D

Member Donnchadh begins this string of postings with, "Cross = Catholic Christianity".  I’m not sure if this is meant to imply that a "Catholic Cross" is represented? If so, what distinguishes the "Catholic Cross" from just an everday cross (ie., non-Greek Cross, non-Russian Orthodox Cross)? I’ve heard of a "Cross of Lorraine", but have no notion of what distinquishes it from other crosses?  When I obtained a U.S. government memorial stone for kinsman Maj. David Moniac, Alabama Mounted Creek Volunteers, killed in combat, Battle of Wahoo Swamp, Florida, Second Seminole War; I ordered the "Episcopal Cross" because at an earlier internment, his father Creek Chief Samuel ‘Sam’ Moniac, Sr., had had an Episcopal funeral service. Though reared of generations of Episcopalians (deist now); I’d never heard of an "Episcopal Cross" untill I espied it on the memorial stone order forms. What distinquishes an "Episcopal Cross" from other crosses; at least how the U.S. government uses it? David was West Point’s first or second (West Point website or Bushnel National Cemetery website, says "First") Native American graduate. He was kin of my ancestor, Mrs. Margaret Hollinger Russell, wife of 1815 Mobile, Col. Gilbert Christian Russell, Sr., 3rd U.S. Infantry. David’s wife, Mary Powell,  is believed to be Osceola’s cousin. Jim Miller

Don,

What medium are you using for you depictions?