The Detective Scribbles, No. 4, Miss Jane Marple

This is the latest drawing in the series of doodles entitled "The Detective Scribbles," and this time it is the famous spinster detective who lives in the quaint little village of Saint Mary Mead, Miss Marple. This is sort of a sequel to a previous scribble, the one of Monsieur Hercule Poirot, so this is, more specifically, another tribute to the prolific crime writer, Agatha Christie. The character of Miss Marple, however, connects with me on a personal level. This is a favorite character of my father and I can see why. She is a very down-to-earth person who is as sharp as a tack. Marple is basically  a keen and specific detective who takes the guise of an old woman who knits. The character of Miss Marple is sensible, not eccentric like Poirot and that's what Christie must have thought about this character, too. There is an interesting story about Christie with her relationship with Poirot: Christie, much like the author Arthur Conan Doyle with his character of Sherlock Holmes, was sick and tired of Poirot and sick of writing stories about him. Some stories have come about that she wrote Curtain, Poirot's last case, just so she could say a sort of "that's it for you." Christie wanted to experiment with other characters besides Poirot, Marple was one of those other characters.
Miss Marple appeared in her first story entitled Murder at the Vicarage and since then (up until her last story entitled Sleeping Murder) she has sort of enchanted readers with her sharp logic and rapier-like way of solving puzzles. Marple was said to have been inspired by Christie's grandmother, who was said to be scarily like Marple, she could tell when there wasn't something quite right. Marple's surname even fits this character's personality. There is another story about her genesis, of her surname, at least. Christie went to an estate sale, or something of that sort, and bought a chair whose company name was Marple or that the people who owned the chair was the family Marple. Either way, to name a character after a chair just reflects how down-to-earth this character is, but, like I wrote before, she is as sharp as a tack. I love these sort of characters who appear to be one thing, but, in turn, surprise you with their characteristics. This is why Marple is one of my favorite detectives, and I know I say this with every detective, but I have always had a soft spot for Miss Marple because she does remind me greatly of my grandmothers, who could cut you to ribbons with their words. Basically, Miss Marple is a good detective and her stories are well written.
She, much like Poirot, has been adapted in various ways, but this drawing was inspired by the actress Joan Hickson, who I think was a nicely played Miss Marple. Of course, like with Poirot, I found out about Marple whilst watching a program that I have mentioned time and time again, the program is Masterpiece Mystery, which I rather enjoy. Nowadays, however, Marple is brilliantly portrayed by actress Julia McKenzie, who I think is comparable to Hickson in her portrayal. Now, until next time, I shall have another detective adorned on this blog soon, so keep a sharp eye out for my next post.
Notes: She was drawn using water-proof ink and a dip pen with a pencil to lightly outline some of the wrinkles and such.

A Good Brolly (Umbrella)

Here's just a sort of Rembrandt-esque sort of experiment that I did merely to experiment with using a brush instead of a dip pen (granted, I am no Rembrandt, but this was just an experiment, none the less). Here's a small story that is behind these this little doodle: I had recently purchased a nice umbrella from Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite places to go to. The umbrella, on the top, has different quotes from various bits of literature, so it was a favorite utensil of mine quite instantly. This is where the "brolly" part comes in, the term "brolly", if anyone isn't aware of colloquialisms, is a another term for an umbrella and I simply could not fit the word "umbrella" into the format, so I used the term "brolly" and mainly because I love the whimsy of the word itself. What I have here is the edited and unedited version of this picture, but never fear, I will try to not be this egotistical with my future posts, I will have another detective on here for "the Detective Scribbles" series by the end of the weekend.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Glorious Rebellion

This is a caricature that I recently was commissioned to do for a friend of mine who is in an awesome band called Glorious Rebellion. Simply their music is great and the members in this band are truly great folks. Honestly, I was surprised to be commissioned for this caricature, but I am honored to have scribbled this drawing for some good friends. If you would like to sample some of this band's music go to their Glorious Rebellion facebook page by simply clicking here (go to the "band profile" part of the page to listen to some of their music), I would just like to thank my friends for giving me this prestigious opportunity.

Notes: the drawing was done with regular ink drawn with a dip pen (this was a vital ingredient for the ink washing effects that "frame" the picture) I also used the typical waterproof ink to darken it a bit and regular pencil to create the shadow-like effects.

A Couple of Heartfelt Ravens

I have been experimenting in silhouettes for the past couple of weeks, these are only some of the early experiments. These were done with waterproof ink and I used a dip pen to outline the actual ravens and a paintbrush to create the sort of frame around it. I then used a red permanent marker to create the mere hints of red in each of the small doodles. Do comment and tell me what you think.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post

A Mere Piece of Golden Diction

Here is one of my favorite poems that is titled "Ode" by the Irish poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy. It is one of my favorites because it reminds me of a show that I watched as a kid, called The Storyteller, which starred the brilliant John Hurt & Michael Gambon in two grand seasons. In particular, it reminded me of a small part in the episode titled "A Story Short" and when a King is asking the Storyteller (John Hurt) of his occupation he responds thus:

"I am a teller of stories. A weaver of dreams. I can dance, sing, and, in the right weather, I can stand on my head. I know seven words in Latin and a little magic trick or two. I know the proper way to greet a dragon. I can play dirty, but not fair...I am not domestic, I am a luxury and in that sense, necessary."

This is but an approximate quote, but it is one of my favorite quotes. I, being a scrivener, adore stories and think that they are truly the most necessary things that we need, besides breathing, of course. This might seem a bit overdrawn, but I don't. There can be nothing more necessary, but this is merely a love letter to such a profound part of our culture, that is all. I have no scribbles to produce today, just this. A mere poem, but is by far one of my favorite poems that I have read, next to Emily Dickinson's "Hope is a thing with feathers" that is, 

but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

The Detective Scribbles, No. 3, Kurt Wallander

Sorry about the long delay, but here it is, the next in the Detective Scribbles Series and this time it is the Swedish bloodhound, Kurt Wallander. This is, by far, the most disturbed detective that I have ever seen, but he does get the job done. This detective was the brainchild of Swedish author Henning Mankell and his books, along with the British version of the series on Masterpiece Mystery, a program I talk about often in this series of scribbles and meanderings, anyway, the books show a Sweden that is not blissful and beautiful, but it shows the dirty underbelly that is behind this picturesque facade.
Wallander's character was introduced in the story Faceless Killers, which is a story reflecting not only the pure evil of the crime, but of the dark sin of humanity, racism. Since then this detective has enthralled its readers throughout minute parts of the globe. I, personally and unfortunately, have not read the books by this author, but I have seen the series that stars Kenneth Branagh and it is very good. What I liked about the series is that the main character is basically a tortured soul, and you don't commonly find that in any other crime series, at least to this extent. Wallander fuels himself with junk food and has eyes as red as a bloodhound, I think that is how his author described him, and also this character basically kills himself inside and out through every single case, because he always feels personally responsible for every case that is handed to him. Again, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have never seen such a fictional detective become so personal with their cases, take so much of it to heart. Wallander is a perfect detective with more than one vice about him, but that is what makes a good character I think, their graces are only as good as their flaws, and that is what makes Wallander one of my favorite detectives.
Wallander took quite a long time to figure out what he would look like. I thought at first that he should have blonde hair, but I thought it would see too cliche, since Wallander is not the stereotypical Swedish character. Then I thought that he should just be a dark character, since he is very much dark and macabre. He is a bit like the American gumshoe with the sprawling city as their home with the flickering fluorescent lights just outside their windows, Wallander is much like that sort of character. So then, with that in mind, I decided that he should have just very ratty things, since he takes very little care of himself, and just to make him more film noir-ish, I thought that he should have the upturned collar that is mostly hiding his haggard face. So I quickly drew him in pencil as an outline and drew over it with a dip pen, using waterproof ink, and then used the same ink, but instead I used a brush, to darken him, which seemed to fit Wallander quite nicely.
There are plenty more detectives to come in this series, so keep a sharp eye out for my next post.
Note: If you would like to explore the author Henning Mankell's website click here.