11 - Plaza and transmission center [- JO -]

[Mouse]

I love the bronze of John

I agree with thomrey that the grid is slightly overpowering the delicate nature of your beautiful drawing

[- JO -]

Thanks !
You're right : it sure does look better without the grid...
I thought as I haven't draw much outside the tower of the plaza that it would look completely empty and that we would loose references... but it's not so bad...

Today, I finished to ink the communication tower and the major streets, as well as the outside wall of the city (without details).

I hope to have some time tomorrow to start drawing houses, or maybe the harbour...

### LATEST WIP ###
District 11 WIP 05.jpg

[Straf]

Is that a system of windmills and cog gears on the western side? If so do they power a huge van de Graaff generator with huge globes with sparks jumping between them?

Even if that's not the case this is still great. The plaza is looking wonderful The statue's got a bit of verdigris on it, great for making greeny colours in inks

[- JO -]

No, it's the communication tower, with a system of smoke signal, flags and semaphore... It should be more obvious with the colors (I hope...)

[Straf]

Ah yes, I see it now. Let's hope Reacher Gilt doesn't take it over

[- JO -]

Not a lot of time to draw... but I did a little explainer for the way the signal tower works...

Here's a sketch :
Signal Tower explainer guild.jpg


The principle is quite simple:

- At the top, the presence of a flag with the blazon of a cartographer means that the message is personal. The absence of a flag means that the message is addressed to everyone (some group of persons can have their own blazon : merchant guilds, ambassadors, etc.)

- The presence of smoke means that the message is a question. A single color means it's a basic question: who, what, when, where. The colors of smoke combine for other questions (how much, how, etc.).

- The large panels that come out of the facade of the tower are combined to signify verbs (the panels can be easily changed to mean more verbs).

- The position of these large panels signify the time of the verb. If the panels are at the top of the tower, it's a future. In the middle, it is in the present. Below, it is in the past.

- Finally, on the wheel, a series of little panels are erected. They can easily be changed. Each panel has a special meaning when used alone. When the panels are combined, they are letters of the alphabet. The wheel on which these panels are set turns, so that everyone can read the whole message, from everywhere in the city.

When a message is sent, the horns of the tower send a signal.
The lighthouse is just a way to locate in the city, in order to know where you are. It's supposed to be one of the highest building in the whole city

So... tell me what you think !

[- JO -]

... and I had some time to progress on the eastern part of the district (and the signal tower)

### LATEST WIP ###
District 11 WIP 06.jpg

[Mouse]

Oh wow! I can't wait to see it all being coloured. You've even done the little cobbles in the roads!

beautiful work, Jo

As for the signals - I'm still a bit confused. If you have a windy day it must be pretty difficult getting the message across. Do you have runner to go find people with more conventional messages if it doesn't work?

I have a few lads who might help if you need them

[snodsy]

Jo, this is looking fabulous, the drawing style is really nice. Looking forward to seeing you add

[Straf]

I hope you're going to have security on that tower otherwise there'll be people sneaking in sending messages about dead foreign princes needing bank accounts to have their funds released into (and you get to keep 20%) or offers of marriage from fictitious, beautiful faraway ladies