The Detective Scribbles, No. 6, Father Brown

In 1910 an English literary critic and scribbler G. K. Chesterton introduced the world to the diminutive Catholic priest, Father Brown. I thought that it was very interesting to find such a character in the realms of detective fiction. There have been other religious detectives such as Brother Cadfael created by Edith Pargeter and Father John Blackwood created by Father Andrew Greeley, but one of my favorites is Father Brown.
The story that introduced Father Brown to the world of detective fiction was a short story entitled "The Blue Cross," and it was published, in the Holmesian tradition, in a magazine titled The Story-teller in September of 1910. In the story it introduced not only the diminutive Father Brown to the wide range of characters that would encapsulate the stories of Father Brown such as the elusive thief, M. Hercule Flambeau. What is interesting about the Father Brown stories, for the time, was that it was an era which was still, blatently, Sherlock Holmes' world. The mind of Sherlock Holmes is analytical and inductive research proved everything, while Father Brown based all of his evidence upon pure, inate intuition. Although Father Brown is the lesser known detective on the spectrum compared to Sherlock Holmes, this scribbler thinks that he the gentler, kinder person on the spectrum, compared to the calculating Holmes. It's best to think of it this way: in Christie terms, Sherlock Holmes is Hercule Poirot while Father Brown is Miss Marple, two completely different detectives that bloomed and flourished at almost the exact same time. That is probably why I enjoy the Father Brown stories as well as the Miss Marple stories, both Father Brown and Miss Marple are characters who are very friendly and kind as well as diminutive but are as sharp as a tack and solve mysteries that virtually baffle the authorities and those around them.
Now, to get back on track, you, being the diligent reader, will notice that I use the word "diminutive" quite frequently, almost to the point of redundancy, in this post, but that is the only fitting word that in my arsenal that I think truly fits this particular detective. In the stories by Chesterton, Father Brown is described as being short, stubby with a large umbrella at his side, hence why I had drawn him looking like he was almost three feet tall with an amiable grin on his aged face. Father Brown was quite a joy to doodle based upon Chesterton's description. Chesterton had written over fifty Father Brown stories and were published in various volumes and they go in order as such:
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Wisdom of Father Brown
The Incredulity of Father Brown
The Secret of Father Brown
The Scandal of Father Brown
The Father Brown stories are also posted online and I have provided links so that you, diligent reader, shall enjoy Chesterton's Father Brown stories as much as I have. As a final note, this drawing was done in the similar fashion as Miss Marple; with a dip pen with waterproof ink and a pencil to emphasize the wrinkles and the umbrella.
Right-o, until next time, keep a sharp eye out for my next post.