Saturday, May 19, 2012

Don't Panic Coat of Arms Submission

My submission for Don't Panic's Design a Coat of Arms Competition! It symbolises some of the more quirkier aspects of myself!

You can vote on the designs for the competition here and here's my entry :)

The meaning behind it all

CROWN - When I was young I would draw crowns on EVERYTHING. So I figured that was important to include.

ROBIN - Besides the fact that my name is Robyn, I was actually named after the Cape Robin, as my dad is an avid birdwatcher!

DAISY (in said Robin's mouth) - I love daisies - they're my favourite flower! There's something so wonderfully straight-forward about daisies; they always seem so happy and unpretentious! Plus, they feature in one of my most favourite movies, You've Got Mail :)

BLUE CRANE - I live in Cape Town, South Africa and the Blue Crane is our national bird.

PENCIL (in Blue Crane's mouth) - I love to draw; I have a real passion for illustration - one day I hope to illustrate a children's book :) (Note how the details on the Blue Crane's back look like pencil doodles ;) )

BOWL (in the shield) - not many people know this, but if I can, I will choose to eat my food in a bowl rather than on a plate. Weird. I know.

PLANE - I LOVE flying! I love take-off, landing, peering out of the window to see the scenery (a window seat is a must!), watching planes coming and going - I could seriously sit for hours at the airport watching them take-off and land! I'm probably the only person I know that wishes flights on planes were longer (even international ones!) and gets excited every time I see the sign for Cape Town International! I love the airport!

STRAWBERRIES - LOVE them! I can polish off a whole box of Woolies' strawbs when they're in season, no lies! Surprisingly I haven't ever gone strawberry picking - but is something I definitely want to tick off this year on my bucket list!

"EVER UPWARD" - The motto of the place I'd most like to see one day - New York City! I've dreamt of going to NYC ever since I was 13! I would go into detail about how obsessive I am over NYC, but I figure my Pinterest board will clue you in! 

POSTAGE STAMP - When I was young I used to collect stamps. My dad would collect the old school kind, while I was more interested in the children's book illustrated ones! I have stamps that feature the vintage Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations, Alice in Wonderland and ones from all over the world with cute illustrations! Go figure. On the stamp, you can see my tribute to Table Mountain - one of the most amazing places to go visit in Cape Town! (Also the new 7th Wonder of the World, so definitely a must-see!) It's so amazingly serene and beautiful up there, seriously one of my most favourite places in Cape Town :)


Below is some of my process work.


Initial quick scamp of what I was thinking of doing - I tend to work on one spot - so I'll keep drawing and rubbing out until I get to more or less what I want it to be.

Based on the initial scamp, but more refined. Again, I tend to keep drawing on one spot until I get it right!

Then I get cracking on my trusty computer and start playing around with colour and composition.



Voila! And there we have it!