Parsons, R. J.; 1989

Robert John Parsons, heraldic painter at the College of Arms, «The Herald Painter», is an article derived from the lecture given by R. J. Parsons at The Heraldry Society on January 18, 1989, at the premises of «The Society of Antiquaries» at Burlington House, London, and later published in Coat of Arms, COA, An Heraldic Quarterly Magazine, issue 146, The Heraldry Society, Baldock, Hertfordshire, summer of 1989.

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This article presents a historical review of the heraldic painters at the «College of Arms» and analyzes the creation of coats of arms and other objects like badges, flags, stained glass, seals, etc. It is especially interesting for its view of the current stage of heraldic art and, even more, the description of the author's own working method.

I highly recommend reading this article and, here, I present some of the ideas that I highlighted while studying this text by R. J. Parsons, who is «herald painter to Her Majesty's College of Arms».

Tradition and innovation in heraldic art

Creativity, innovation, and achieving a unique style are fundamental characteristics of any self-respecting artist, but when artists enter the realm of heraldry and, especially when working for institutions like the College of Arms, the weight of the norms and rules of heraldry, its long historical tradition, the reverential respect towards it, the language of blazon, the need for a long initiation process, etc. can cause artists to curb their natural impulses, become intimidated, and adhere strictly to rules to avoid criticism, which hinders the introduction of new proposals, ideas, and styles, risking making heraldry a static and time-bound field.

R. J. Parsons' working method

Robert Parsons explains that the first phase of his method is to create the complete drawing of the coat of arms and its ornamentation on tracing paper, starting with the coat of arms and then outlining all the external ornamentation.

He does this considering that the main problem he must solve is reconciling the two-dimensionality of the coat of arms with the three-dimensionality of the external ornamental elements, such as the supporters, mantling, crest, etc. which must be designed as if enveloping the coat of arms. The extent to which this is achieved provides an idea of each artist's skill.

Silhouettes, expressiveness, and balance

R. J. Parsons believes that the silhouettes of the figures probably characterize each artist and their designs the most. For him, each silhouette must be bold and express emotions, and the silhouettes must maintain proportions that give balance to the whole, as there are no rules that guarantee a good aesthetic result.

To achieve boldness and expressiveness in the figures, especially in natural ones, the artist must emphasize certain features and stylize others, resulting in, for example, in beasts and birds, representations that diverge from natural reality.

Shape of the coat of arms and space

All delineation must be done within the chosen mouth shape for the coat of arms. These shapes have evolved over time, and the artist must consider that some shapes facilitate the internal composition of the coat of arms more than others. For example, he highlights the difficulty of fitting the pieces and figures within lozenge-shaped shields, traditionally carried by unmarried women.

Regardless of the chosen shape, pieces and figures must be arranged to use the entire internal space correctly, neither too small to leave space nor too large to make the whole crowded.

External ornamentation

Robert J. Parsons observes that nowadays the protocol rules that used to govern external ornamentation have been greatly relaxed, for example, regarding the shapes, positions, and orientations of the helmets depending on who would be the holder of the coat of arms, and this relaxation has favored art, aesthetics, and the balance of the whole coat of arms.

He states that of all the external ornamentation, and many heraldic artists will agree with him, the most complex to create are the supporters and tenants, and of the three, the tenants, i.e., human figures, are the most difficult.

Human figures do not have a proper heraldic characterization as lions, unicorns, boars, etc., do. The characterization of women and men in heraldry is done through their attire and the objects they carry or accompany them, with ancient attire and objects being the easiest to characterize, while the more modern and, even more so, the more naked they are, the more difficult and challenging it becomes to create heraldically attractive tenants.

As a general rule, Parsons advises that the visual weight of supporters, tenants, and tenants be similar to that of the coat of arms, so that they neither draw all the observer's attention due to their excessive size nor look ridiculous and incapable of performing their function, which is to support the visual weight of the coat of arms.

Tinctures, shadows, edges, and highlights

When he finishes the drawing phase, R. J. Parsons explains how he transfers it to a new paper support and, then:

• he starts by applying the tinctures for the metals,
• the first he applies is gold using gold powder, although it is known that other artists use gold leaf,
• then the metal silver is left as the white of the paper,
• then he proceeds with the colors, using gouache, an opaque watercolor, following the order from light to dark,
• so the first color he applies is gules, which he tends to make somewhat translucent,
• then the mid-tones, azure and vert.
• ending with sable, which he makes warmer with a touch of burnt sienna,
• after applying the tinctures, he adds shadows to suggest forms, noting that some schools say everything should be in flat inks, without shadows or highlights, and even without delineated edges as can be seen, for example, in Norsk Heraldisk Forening,
• then he delineates the silhouettes and
• finishes by adding highlights to bring the composition to life.

The motto or slogan is the last element with which Robert John Parsons completes the creation of a coat of arms.

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Bibliographical reference of century XX.

Author: Parsons, Robert John.

External resource:

• The Heraldry Society.

Internal resources: ParsonsRJ1989.TheHeraldPainter.docx.

Rafael Nieto y Cortadellas, «La Generala Santander y sus parientes habaneros los Pontón», 35 pages, 25 centimeters, about the family Sáenz del Pontón, National Archive of Cuba, reprinted edition by the National Archive Bulletin, volume LVI, 1957.

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Bibliographical reference of century XX.

Classification: Castilian language.

Author: Nieto y Cortadellas, Rafael.

The following article cites this bibliographic reference:

• Anonymous; 1800a

External resources:

• Bibliographic reference in Google.
• Bibliographic reference in Hathi Trust.

William Cecil Wade, «The symbolisms of heraldry or A treatise on the meanings and derivations of armorial bearings», 186 pages, 95 black and white pictures, Robert Holmes Collection, published by George Redway, London, 1898.

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Although Romanticism sought the symbolism of the heraldic elements, I believe that the meaning of the elements of the coat of arms, if they have it, is provided by its creator or first bearer. In any case, the content of this symbolic book is the following:

• The origin of armorial bearings; page 11.
• The symbolic side of heraldry; page 13.
• Heraldic colors and metals; page 35.
• The furs of heraldry; page 38.
• The meaning of heraldic lines; page 40.
• The symbolisms of the ordinaries; page 43.
• The division lines of the shield; page 55.
• The colors of the common charges not symbolical, chapter with 2 paragraphs only; page 57.
• Symbolisms of the common charges; page 59.
• Crowns, mitres, episcopal hats, etc.; page 138.
• Examples of symbolisms of colors and armorial bearings; page 149.
• Cadency and differencing; page 154.
• Alphabetic index; page 162.

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Bibliographical reference of century XIX.

Classification: Symbolism, In black and white and English language.

The author is Wade, William Cecil.

Bibliographical reference mentioned in the following article:

• Owl beaked and armed, process

External resource:

• Book in PDF format.

Internal resources: WadeWC1898.SymbolismsHeraldry.pdf.

Baron of Valdeolivos Emblematic Chair, of the Fernando el Catolico Institution, of the Centre of Scientific Research (C. S. I. C.) and of the Government of Zaragoza, «Emblemata», Volume 8^th, Emblemata Aragonese Magazine about Emblems (E. R. A. E.), 454 pages, 58 pictures, ISSN 1137-1056, Legal deposit Z.3.937 1996, printed by the Cooperativa de Artes Gráficas Librería General, Zaragoza, 2002.

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Bibliographical reference of century XXI.

Classification: Magazine and Castilian language.

Author: Cátedra de Emblemática Barón de Valdeolivos.

External links:

• Abstract in the Fernando el Catolico Institution.
• Index in the Fernando el Catolico Institution.

Internal resources: Emblemata2002.Volumen08.pdf.

My heraldic art is a mixed of techniques that combine the manual realization with the digital process. The reason is that, for each specific creative activity, I try to choose the technique that best suits the goal I intend to achieve.

Drawing freehand

The natural motives are especially suitable to drawing freehand. I go through this job straight with black ink, without previous pencil schemes, with as long as possible ink traces, without lifting the pen, using 0.1 mm thin feathers, making scrolls automatically, without passing twice through the same point with the same movement. This technique comes from the automatic tracing as referred to in the third stage of the article entitled pictorial evolution and influences.

In figures with an eye I always by it and then follow by the right ear, the hair of the head, left ear, neck, back, tail, circulating at the maximum possible speed in the clockwise direction, skirting the figure to the left front leg, where I stop. Then, I do return to the right ear, down to the nose, mouth, tongue, chin, the lower part of the neck, circulating at the maximum possible speed counterclockwise, bordering the figure until the left front leg, where I stopped in the first round.

This tracing technique has the advantage of generating long lines, which seem to circulate freely, but it has the disadvantage of admitting neither mistakes nor retracings. In case of errors, the suitable choice is to finish the figure, to see the final result and be able to detect possible points of special difficulty towards the end of the tracing and right after to trace the whole figure again in a blank sheet, using the previous one as visual support. The reiterated result is to have to follow this process several times up to reaching a satisfactory level of execution. As a curiosity, I've noticed that the 1^st figure often contains errors of ink path, the best is usually the 2^nd and in some cases the 3^rd, but from the 4^th on, although there is no longer errors, the result is often more baroque.

Technical outlining

For the tracing of some figures, especially geometric, I use classic technical drawing skills. In this way vair, vairy, divisions, geometric ordinaries, bordures, checkys, etc. are calculated and outlined technically.

In some cases figures that are delineated technically are also hand-touched in order to compare techniques and be able to select the most suitable technique for the ongoing coat of arms.

Tincture of elements

In order to tincture field, ordinaries and charges I always start with plain colors and metals. In fact all my shields always have a version in plain colors. Then I build the volumes by means of lightings and shadows and applying appropriate finishings, by adding and removing hues and texturing surfaces. In some cases I do this process on the whole shield, in other, more laborious way, each field, ordinaries and charge is treated separately. This technique of working on flat base colors for later lighting and texturing follows my previous graphic work on color coated paper, which are described in the first stage of the article entitled pictorial evolution and influences.

In the final stages I try and choose the best of two options as applied to the already tinctured and finished charges:

• Represent them outlined in sable with its original layout.
• Let the tincture of the shield's field give them their final delineation.

Working process

I perform the workflow mainly over sheets size DIN, in vertical orientation, attaching to drawings annotations, metadata, samples of color, etc. I make and archive these DIN forms sequentially as I go through the steps described in the section entitled heraldic creation methodology.

At the end of the work, all of these DIN forms together, make up what could be called a «making-of» of the coat of arms, that is, the history of their creation process.

Appleton Studios

David B. Appleton studies, researches, teaches, and writes about heraldry, and through his blog, he shares his heraldic knowledge with us, as well as through publications and presentations.

David B. Appleton is open to questions from his readers and provides advice on heraldic topics in which he specializes.

His blog is Blog.AppletonStudios.com and his website is AppletonStudios.com, from which he offers his services related to the world of heraldry, its dissemination, and knowledge.

Since 2009, David B. Appleton's heraldic blog has been an endless source of knowledge, images, ideas, curiosities, original reflections, and links to heraldic sites selected by him.

Heraldry: Musing on an esoteric topic

David B. Appleton stands out for his continuous analysis of all types of heraldic manifestations, which he finds everywhere, in the world we live in: from those we have inherited from ancient times to the fiercely current, from books to cinema, from fashionable clothing to urban furniture, from east to west and north to south, including those that appear in logos and emblems, those using traditional techniques and those created or disseminated through new technologies, on ships, sports cars, and airplanes, on porcelain, facades, and stained glass, on television, on t-shirts and coins, in auctions and universities, in comics and sports, etc. with a systematic publication rhythm, more than 2 posts per week, nothing heraldic escapes the record and genuine analysis of David B. Appleton on Blog.AppletonStudios.com, which I highly recommend.

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Categories: Link, Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Without divisions, Freehand, Soft metal, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Canting, Heraldry and heralds, Argent, Azure, Gules, Vert, Chevronel, Between, Apple, Slipped and Leaved.

External resources:

• Interpretation of his coat of arms.
• Interpretation by Xavier García at Appleton Studios.
• Interpretation by Xavier García at Dibujo Heráldico with his blazon in English and Spanish.

Root: Appleton, David B..

Canting arms, apple ~ appleton.

Argent, two Chevronels Azure between three Apples Gules, slipped and leaved Vert.

Escudo de plata, dos tenazas de azur acompañadas de tres manzanas de gules, talladas y hojadas de sinople.

Coat of arms interpreted by me with: a round-bottomed shield shape; the field in flat tincture metal Argent; the figures outlined in Sable and illuminated in Azure, Gules, and Vert; and all with a rough finish.

A summary of the heraldic blog of David B. Appleton can be found among my recommended links on the heraldic universe.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Argent, Azure, Gules, Vert, Chevronel, Between, Apple, Slipped and Leaved.

Style keywords: Rough, Illuminated and Outlined in sable.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Canting and Heraldry and heralds.

Bearer: Appleton, David B..

Sigue por: David B. Appleton, slipped and leaved.