the kat ([info]thekat03) wrote,
@ 2005-03-01 13:02:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
(SCA) i found a giant T!

i found the giant T that tod wanted! someone in the west kingdom has a tau cross aka a big capital letter T. now, to toddy-ify it. Edit: i guess by toddy-ify, it means find a hammer that looks like a T and is symmetrical with a slightly curvy head ... kind of hard to explain in words... now searching... something like this hammer, only symmetric and looking more like the side near the moon, i think... or it could just be a T with serifs and a little bump in the middle on top d: /edit

oh, and i found an abacus too.

now, if only i could find a flower that looks just like an orchid. irises are kind of close, as are violets. the only glitch with the violet is it needs 1 more petal at the top; otherwise, it'd be perfect. i doubt i could sneak an extra petal up there, though. a narcissus might be nice if i could only find one affronty instead of sideways.

maybe i should to a cat instead... either a cat courant (running) or dormant (sleeping). actually, i'd imagine that "or, a fess gules and in chief a domestic cat courant sable". though... it probably would need something below the fess as well. maybe "or, a fess gules between a cat courant sable and a cat dormant sable"? or maybe a flower below... though i don't know what color it'd be *ponders*

(Post a new comment)


[info]reasie
2005-03-01 07:27 pm UTC (link)
The Tau Cross roxors. It not only is aesthetically pleasing, it works as good heraldry should- you'll know it when you see it.

:)

I heard of someone doing five fleur-de-lys conjoined at base to make a pretty snowflakey star-y thing once... could you 'manufacture' an orchid that way?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-01 08:03 pm UTC (link)
maybe... i just don't know heraldry well enough yet to know how to manufacture it

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-01 07:59 pm UTC (link)
rough draft of what tod wants:


i probably would submit the device with a normal Tau, but then fudge it to get it shaped this way

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-02 05:04 pm UTC (link)
What are the rectangular charges to either side of the Tau meant to be? I can't quite make them out. Not sure if that version of that Tau would fall within the bounds of reasonable artistic interpretation, but it seems close enough to me. You might want to check the precedents under "fimbriation" -- I *think* a cross is considered simple enough to fimbriate, but I'm not 100% sure and don't have time to look right now.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-02 05:33 pm UTC (link)
the rectangles are abaci, and tod likes the normal Tau enough that if we can't fudge it, that's ok too.

a plain latin cross is simple enough, but fancy crosses like a cross bottony and a cross of jeruselem are not. (reference)

also, if this helps, "[Quarterly... a cross moline voided counterchanged] "This cross appears to be at the very limits of acceptability for voiding and counterchanging." (LoAR 4/92 p.7)." (reference)
i think if that cross can be voided, its not more complex to fimbriate a tau.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-02 05:39 pm UTC (link)
I've just posted the links to both emblazons to SCA Heralds, so we'll see what the folks there have to say. Nice research on the fimbriation; my instinct is to agree with you, but I'm sure that when the other heralds look at these posts they'll have something to say about that as well.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-02 06:42 pm UTC (link)
here's a tweaked version with a normal Tau and hopefully clearer looking abaci:

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-02 06:48 pm UTC (link)
Much clearer. Hey, could you come over on a weekend sometime and teach me how you're doing your searches for clip art and assembling what you find into these great graphics? I've never had much luck with either.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-02 07:22 pm UTC (link)
well, most of the graphics i've been pulling from other people's devices on the west kingdom and an tir's rolls of arms or the heraldic primer. that online SCA ordinary database is really handy, even though it'd be nice if it had images or links to the people's devices if they're posted online. that version of Tau was from a google image search for "tau heraldry" and the clean abaci... well, i drew that pixel by pixel (to get it as small as i could and still look nice). so, that's not really clip-art anymore (though i cut/pasted the old abaci from a device i found, and i needed to see what heraldic abaci looked like before i could draw my own. also, it's a lot easier to draw an abacus than a bat-winged cat rampant or something equally non-square *grin*).

i use gimp (yay freeto edit all the different bits together, but i'm sure any graphics editing software would work just fine.

on the device i made for me, i think i linked where i got the cat and the iris, and the wavy fess is based on the one in the heraldic primer.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-03 02:41 pm UTC (link)
That's the thing -- I've never been able to figure out *any* graphics editing software. If you come over and show me, I'll bake you cookies . . . .

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-03 03:04 pm UTC (link)
ahh. mmmm cookies... would you mind if it waited until after coronation? i could probably bring my laptop to meeting or go to your place (i'm assuming you're west side?) or something.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-03 03:06 pm UTC (link)
After Coronation is fine. I'm in Lakewood, and I don't really get to meeting any more because of my evening job, but I do ususally make it to Muldoon's.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]katerinfg
2005-03-02 06:52 pm UTC (link)
Can I get your e-mail address, to pass along the comments on the list?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-02 07:23 pm UTC (link)
kat (at) thekat (dot) org

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-03 03:54 pm UTC (link)
The second one looks ok, although it's pretty iffy if a Tau cross is fimbriatable. I suspect that it's not. Do a copy-machine check: copy the charge at about 90% of the original size, then put the copy on top of the original. If there is an equal amount of space all the way around, then the item is fimbriatable. You can see that a regular cross would pass this just fine; a complex cross like a cross bottony would not.

Alanna

here are the results of the photocopy (and image-editing) test:

i guess that's a fail. however, i think that a cross moline would fail as well, and but it can be voided and pass.
cross moline tested:

what a cross moline voided seems to look like (google image search):

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thekat03
2005-03-03 05:15 pm UTC (link)
why didn't i think to do this before! here's clear proof that the copy test does not work the way it should. this is what happens when i scale a cross down to 90% of original size and overlay it on the original:

clearly, a plain cross fails this test because there's more space on the ends than on the sides of the cross. however, a plain cross fimbriated is allowable. therefore, the test is not valid for crosses. (yes, i am very fond of doing proofs).

furthermore, the results i get for a plain cross are VERY similar to those i get for a Tau. they fail the test in the exact same way. hmmm..... (:

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…