Engraving Runes

Hi guys! I’ve been hammering away at this Clariel here. Using some new techniques and some old ones too.

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I’ve also been doing some more research on the Shadowhunter runes in order to discover which ones, exactly, appear on the hilts of the blades in the TV show.

Clary Blade Hilt copy

Which rune is that on the pommel? I’ve done quite a bit of hunting and I have not found that precise one in the Codex or anywhere else for that matter. Is it meant to be a rune known only to the Iron Sisters? Something involved in the creation process of the Seraph Blades? Or did the props team simply screw up?

After painstakingly comparing the design on the prop to the runes we know of, I settled on this rune as the one they most probably intended:

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Things can get hairy when working with clay and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a Heightened Speed rune got a little smooshed during the crafting process and then accidentally reproduced that way without the mistake being caught.

What about the rune in the middle of the hilt though? It’s almost totally obscured by the wrappings.

Clary Seraph Blade

All I have to go on is that little Y-shaped stick at the top. That’s not much of a hint. I had about four guesses, and settled on one that would make the most sense for a seraph blade.

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Accuracy. Flexibility might have also worked but it’s C-shaped and would probably be showing the other end of the C above the wrappings and would have to be turned on its side to look like that. Power could have been a possibility but, again, the other end of the Z-shape would probably be showing as well? Stamina was another possibility but it would have had to be tilted diagonally to avoid showing the other part of the “t” above the wrappings. Accuracy seemed like our most likely candidate.

Hang on, but isn’t Accuracy already on the sword at the bottom? Well … as you’ve probably already discovered while studying the runes for yourself, some of them have been re-labeled between adaptations from book to movie, and movie/book to TV show. The rune at the bottom there appears as “Calm Anger” on the Shadowhunter wiki.

What’s an Iron Brother to do? Well, keep doing my research and maintain my commitment to bringing you the very best art I can! I started making Seraph Blades for the sheer love of Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series and that affection has not faded with time. It can be a bit of a struggle to make a judgement call on whether to follow the books or the TV show when a discrepancy arises. I tend to side with the books, personally, because there’s more info available and because it’s closer to Clare’s original concept of the Shadowhunters world.

Do feel free to respond to any of my posts either here or on my Facebook page. It’s just not as fun if it’s only me here talking. LOL! Let me know what you want to see me make! Ask questions! It’s all good. I answer whenever I can on weekdays. 🙂

Ciao for now everybody. I gotta go get painting!

Runes That Stay Put

Hi everyone! I’ve been doing a bit of product testing with the Inkbox freehand tattoo kit. This is a type of temporary tattoo that is very much like traditional henna but black instead of reddish brown. It looks exactly like a real tattoo and it will not come off no matter how much sweating, scrubbing, or scraping you do!

I was curious to see if this stuff was really as robust as advertised so I put it on the most high-traffic area of my skin: the palm of my hand. I wanted to see if Inkbox could prove itself under the harshest conditions. Hand-washing multiple times a day with regular soap, dish-washing, wearing work gloves and operating power tools, sweating, showering … I was not gentle or careful with it.

So how did it perform?

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This image was taken the day after I put the temp tattoo on. Oct. 13th.

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This image was taken on Oct. 17th. Hasn’t budged at all. (The wee smudge of ink over by my pinky finger is marker from a project I was working on. Not related to the tattoo.) As you can see from the rough scrapes on my skin, I was not coddling it at all.

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Here’s a pic from this morning, Oct. 20th. I tried to get a nice close photo so you can see that it’s just starting to fade now.

So how does Inkbox work? Pretty much the same as henna. You doodle it on your skin, let it sit for an hour, then go wash it off with regular soap and water. No special treatment needed. The design will look faded when you first wash it off, but don’t panic. It will darken in a few hours/overnight.

This is because Inkbox dyes/stains your skin but don’t let that put you off. It’s a fruit-based dye that is completely harmless. It will fade naturally over 1-3 weeks as your skin cells refresh themselves.

How long it lasts depends on how thick you put on the ink. The tattoo on my palm is the result of spreading on the “goo” about 2-3mm thick. I did another test on the back of my hand with only 1mm thickness. Let’s take a look at that one.

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After 1 day, Oct. 13th.

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Some barely-noticeable fading on Oct. 17th.

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And this morning, Oct. 20th. It’s noticeably faded but still obvious to anybody looking at it.

So there you have it! Doodle, wait an hour, wash it off, and you will have runes you don’t have to touch up or worry about smudging no matter what you do. No mess, no weird smells, no needles, and best of all no regrets. It’ll be gone in three week’s time.

Are any of you being Shadowhunters for Halloween? I’d love to see your rune-drawing skills!

Engraving in Leather

I’ve had some questions about engraving runes into the grip of the sword. The most frequently asked one is: what does it look like?

Here’s my most recent Azrael style sword with runes for your viewing pleasure.

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Anyone want to guess which runes those are? C’mon, put on a Fearless rune and shout ’em out!

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