Hear ye, hear ye.

I have been on a little bitty bit of a cross-stitching kick lately. I did a Final Fantasy 4 "Rydia" for myself, and then Dark Cecil and Paladin Cecil for a friend of mine. Observe!

These take a godawful long time but compared to the stuff on Sprite Stitch, I consider myself a lightweight.

And then, on Friday, I thought it would be a cool idea of create a coat-of-arms for my family unit. I changed my last name in my early twenties, and my husband took said name, so we really are a totally new unit. I figured it would be a good time to solidify our values and identity in a way that would be both bad-ass and a helpful reminder for the goals we want to strive for (before we get too cranky and old).

I spent some time in the SCA as a kid, so heraldic stuff is not entirely new to me. I think I took to it rather like a fish to water! The hours of research were quite fun and it's really amazing I didn't try to shove more symbols in. There are so many to choose from! I originally meant to put a cool crown/collar and chains on the ox but totally forgot about it when it came time to ink. Oh, well.

The Latin translates (if Google is to be believed) to "wealth (within) skill and knowledge lies". I wanted a real "working class" badge, with a hammer and star representing the quest for perfection through arts/crafts. The star also corresponds to the symbol for a third son, which is what my husband is. The 'X' pattern is a Scottish designation for the first generation of a coat. Shafts of wheat (in place of, traditionally, garish ribbons) and the wheel (in lieu of a helm designating rank) for progress, forward movement, and fruition. The ox represents fortitude/labor and the lion valor/achievement. The owl, of course, for wisdom and learning. Apparently there is a big difference between eared owls and earless owls, so I gave him ears. I will say that the one owl I saw in the wild was earless and pretty damned freaky. Every other culture of the world but the west is into them as harbringers of death.

Jerry says that orange and blue is the best color combination EVER, so what choice did I have there?

What can I say? I love symbolism.

Character designs on both fronts!

You know, I feel like every time I post Long Tom here, I need to make a disclaimer that it's meant to be an outdated black stereotype. Oh, the other disclaimer is that smoking isn't as hip as those new-fangled moving pictures makes it appear. So if you decide to become a racist or acquire lung cancer, please don't send me nasty e-mails.

I'm getting a .3 mm Copic gray in the mail any day now, and I'm happy to say that 0.2 mm less nib will allow me to do tons more detail work – at least in something far less damning than black.

Steamboat Follies?

A steampunk radio drama was written by Joe, but pushed aside for a time. When I asked for something new to draw, he dug it up for me and said that it was destined for visual comicry. I couldn't agree more! It was really fun looking up 19th century costume design, and he writes so purdy that it'd be a fantastic project. Who knows! For now, I dream of hoop dresses.