Postby Michael F. McCartney » 07 Mar 2016, 18:57
Not fimbriated? Well, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
Seriously, at least in English, this sort of outlining is - has to be - more than just artistic license, because without it the design just flat doesn't work. If there is another term for it, swell, but I'm not aware of it.
I suppose it could be considered as just "what one does" when the blazon is silent - I would say deficient - but to my mind it's more than just a "default" like blue claws on a red lion and red claws on any other color lion, because either one of these defaults is optional unless stated in the blazon - that is, the artist can leave the claws the same color as the rest of the lion, if he prefers, unless the blazon specifies a different color, and still have a perfectly acceptable emblazonment. That's definitely not the case here.
Michael F. McCartney
Fremont, California