Plate 138:  Adding a souvenir mug to the collection, Part 24: using a computer to create a blue background for the lion rampant guardant
(This plate added OCT 2004)

In Plates 131, 134 and 135, we showed the two heraldic supporters (a lion rampant guardant and a unicorn rampant) trial-fitted on either side of the mug. The supporters had been physically cut out from a small photo-quality print (see exhibit 6 in Plate 127). Our intention had been to glue the cut-outs of the supporters onto blue paper rectangles, and then to glue the blue rectangles onto plaques. When this was done experimentally for the lion rampant guardant, the result was entirely unsatisfactory. "This is atrocious!" said the Collector to the Photographer, as the two gentlemen examined the failed results of their experimental plaque. "Presuming you are probably using the word 'atrocious' in the colloquial, as opposed to the literal, sense, I must agree," replied the Photographer. "I am ashamed to display this abomination to our readers and viewers," said the Collector. "Let us discard this unfortunate object and begin anew." --more--

The two gentlemen were contemplating their unsuccessful experimental plaque, which was embellished with a cut-out of the lion rampant guardant. The thin blue paper behind the cut-out of the lion had been improperly glued to the laminated boxboard plaque. Prominent ripples, resembling the surface of a pond disturbed by a breeze, revealed where the glue had dried unevenly. Bright afternoon sunlight, slanting through the tall windows of the spacious library at the Collector's country estate, where the two gentlemen were waiting for the caterer's man to deliver a late lunch, mercilessly revealed every offensive detail of the botched plaque, which was propped upright upon the Collector's antique desk. "Perhaps we should be using a computer to create an agreeable blue background for the lion," mused the Photographer. "If we created a blue background for the lion in a computer, and then printed the result on heavy photo-quality paper, the unpleasant rippling effect would be minimized, if not entirely eliminated." The two gentlemen hurriedly consumed their lunch of Grilled Chops, Roast Potatoes and Steamed Asparagus, which the caterer's man had just served upon the sideboard. Putting off coffee, tea and desert for a later time, the Collector and the Photographer collaborated over a computer program known as a bitmap editor. Using the bitmap editor, they created a blue background for the lion rampant guardant. The pleasing results are shown in the accompanying picture. "We must show our readers and viewers how we went about this!" exclaimed the Collector. Go to top of page