Method

I am often asked how I manage to transfer often complicated designs accurately onto the surface of a blade. The simple truth is that I cheat. My professional work is in the computer based graphics and printing industry. It is very easy for me to take a picture of a coat of arms and typeset the crew and race details around it. A PDF file of this artwork is emailed to the customer for approval or correction. It is from this I that make a number of print outs which will act as my aids in laying out the art on the blade surface.

laserprints and stencil templates	laserprints with pencil markup just visible	pencil markup of coat of arms complete	coat of arms begins...

Once the top coat of colour is applied and has dried I am able to take a soft chinagraph pencil and draw on it. I mark up construction lines for the layout of the text and the images. The printouts from the computer generated artwork are then cut to form stencils for the main components of the coat of arms or crest. Once a few key shapes are in place to provide a frame work it is easy to paint by eye around them. I usually work with a clean copy of the artwork beside me.

...and develops	supporters progress	supporters complete	Almost done...

Completed coat of arms	coat of arms half done	text marked up

The text is applied once the feature coat of arms is finished. It is easier to re-align my construction lines around the feature image than it is to remove text to fix a problem! Again using the printouts as a guide I pencil the text into place before painting.

text markup just visible	coat of arms finished	feature text done

The pencil construction lines are easily erased once the artwork is fully dry. After a quick polish I usually apply a marine clear coat which provides not only some protection but also enhances the gloss and surface finish.

Finished!	text mark up	almost done...

	Completed, just needs a clean	Finished ready for clear coat