"Ship's computer back online."

Art as a symbolic language is a fascinating subject to me. It's something I think about a lot as I'm drawing.

It's the wrench I'll draw your attention to. I spent a good bit of time debating whether it was an open-ended wrench or a close-ended wrench. both read pretty easily and make for a strong graphic of 'this is a person working on something'. In the logical world, a wrench is a major tool for fixing a computer. In graphical space, a wrench reads very cleanly as 'there I fixed it'

The open-ended wrench is probably a little clearer graphically. It is a repeated pattern mirrored. The close-ended is a variant on a pattern (one open hex, one closed) Graphically, either could be stronger depending on situation. Since the closed-end wrench is slightly more complex and creates an imperfect pattern replication, it reads as a slightly more sophisticated device.

Mechanically, the two types of wrenches also say some interesting things. Open-ended wrenches are more commonly one size at one end and another size at the other. Whereas a closed wrench is the same size at both ends. The closed end is used to work on things that need to go flush to a surface and it provides the best grip so you're least likely to wear the corners of the nut. Therefor in some sense, the open-ended wrench implies the user is less certain about what they'll need or in more of a hurry or that the environment they are working in contains a mix of bolt types. The closed end implies certainty, doing a job with care, or a carefully designed uniform bolt type environment.

Mr. Scott is the open wrench. Mr. LaForge is the closed wrench. This isn't rigid of course. I'm talking only about my personal interpretation of the two similar devices and the story they convey. This character got the closed wrench because she is competent, confident, and working on a space craft which I imagined to have a uniformity of parts to make repairs quicker.

In the abstract space of graphic story-telling, the wrench also serves another purpose. It is a closed-loop connected to an open loop. One story is complete, another is open. My initial intent in drawing this piece was that it is from the view of the ship's computer. This isn't entirely successful. I need to figure out a better way to convey this but the wrench was in part also meant as a device to show the connection in those stories. The closed loop, 'the computer is fixed'. The open loop, 'The computer is aware and looking at the one who brought it back to life.' All in all, the picture fails here. It's very hard to get the context . Probably something like a system log message printed backwards on the view port might help tell the story better, but it's always nice to have subconscious cues that re-enforce the conscious ones.

This isn't just me, of course. Most artists do this to varying degrees and it's always an interesting thing to look for in someone's work and see what are they telling you about themselves though the choices they've made in their work.