ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY

pen and ink, color added in Photoshop



PALE

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “party per pale” (or, simply, “per pale”) is a term used in heraldry to describe the division of the field of a shield into two equal parts by a perpendicular line.

There is a lot of interesting information at www.americanheraldry.org. To quote from the Heraldic Primer found on that site: "Heraldry has been very much alive and well in America since the first Europeans set foot on the continent. It is as much a part of our heritage as our language, laws, or any other part of the common Western culture in which Americans share."

This was all news to me. So I decided to try my hand at heraldry design. Periwinkle Gardens is my first effort — but most likely not my last. Everyone in my family might just get their own personal design next Christmas. Try it — it’s fun!