End-of-year review

Well it’s this time of the year when you look back and forward the same time learning from your faults and making plans.

The last year was a good one artwise; a bad one personalwise; satisfying jobwise; really good I think blogwise.

The blog get a new design twice, there was a birthday give away. I tried to make the posts bilingual and include some more SEO. I let you look over my shoulder during creating and offered a beading course at the Aethercircus.

But what do you think?

Is there anybody reading the english translations? And do you understand them?

Did I annoy you with the Kallaina-WIPs?

I would like to make another tutorial but don’t know what. Any wishes? I really hope you liked the last year here on my little blog and you will stay with me next year, too.

P.S.: The comments should work properly again for everyone!

End-of-the-year review

Coat of arms of the Hessian society of aether voyages

Last August after working on the coat of arms for Frankfurt and Kassel I also did the one for Hesse. But I wanted to give you some rest between all these emblems - and forgot it. Now it comes back to focus.

But let us start wit the original coat of arms of Hessia.

Quelle: Wikipedia

The Lion is nice but these red-withe stripes give me the creeps. Well let’s try a cog to fix it.

I came to a shape which don’t fit the common Wappen shape but nicely goes with the Tartschen (sorry german only, the english version don't give the relevant information) shape.

Steam emblem for Frankfurt

This emblem für the steampunk group Frankfurt is the result of a democratic process. There were drafts, new ideas and elections. This version won:

An airship above an alternative skyline of Frankfurt.

You might think the airship is a little bit cliché but since the visit of the Zeppelin museum in Neu-Isenburg we know there’s been an airship station right beside the airport Frankfurt which has been the starting point of the “Hindenburg” and the “Graf Zeppelin” for their transatlantic flights. The latter also modeled for the airship in the emblem.
The skyline beneath is Frankfurt’s but relegated in time. I changed the silhouette you would see from the bridge “Alte Brücke” in the style of old skyscrapers from the beginning of the 20th century. The cathedral is a little bit closer than in reality and I also have to place the Paul’s Church to the left. This one was requested by Audiovisionär as a symbol for the first - very short - democracy on German ground.

Steampunk Dawn

I've been thinking about doing some cosplay since quite some time now but never found a matching character. It should be visually matching and I have to be comfortable in the costume.

After thinking a lot about this last weekend I got an enlightenment:

Joseph Michael Linsner’s Dawn.

I really like the mythology behind this character and enjoyed the dialogues in the comics. The look of the stories is an interesting mixture of different epochs. So a steampunk variant of Dawn ist truly obvious.

As a basis for my redesign I primarily used Dawn’s main manifestation. The roses and chains stand for anarchy (hell) and strict order (heaven), respectively. As well do the masks.

Whether I implement this design into a cosplay or not I don't know. Earliest next year.

Casseler Steamwappen - Update

Seems like being ill helps my creativity. Because of a serious flu I have to stay at home since one week now and during this time this blog got a new design, the matching business cards are almost ready, I started to draw again, the emblem for the Steampunk Frankfurt group is ready and in the course of doing this I also edited the Cassel emblem

Zu letzterem Punkt hier das Ergebnis in seiner ganzen Pracht:

Textures are wonderful, this one is Chestnut from Wieselblitz. Additionally a added shadows to the vines.