Mr. Witchhunter

This is another character that, if you readers remember, I am doing for a gaming friend of mine. This character is an elf and a witchhunter. This was inspired, in part, by the pilgrims from the Salem Witch Trials, well at least the hat, anyway. This was drawn with a dip pen and waterproof ink.

Until next time...keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Check out the Facebook Page for more exclusive doodles and other such nonsense.

A Bibliophile's Short

Although I cannot really put into words how truly nice this short film, but...well...you know what, just watch it for yourself and you'll find out why (if you, diligent readers, are bibliophiles like me).

Do click here.

Oh Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!

This is one in a series of drawings that I am currently working on for a friend of mine. My friend is very into video games and card games (like Magic, a card game that my friends play frequently, I merely collected the cards for the illustrations). What my friend did, as a little side project for fun, was a create different profiles for different characters, this particular one is a knight, although he looks a bit like a astronaut. The inspiration for this particular character was the poem by Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky. I had always had a soft spot for this particular poem ever since I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass when I was a kid. I shall keep this post short, so, until next time.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Notes: this was drawn with a dip pen and waterproof ink, it shall soon be watercolor'd.

The Detective Scribbles, No. 11, Guy Noir

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought that it would seem fitting to start out with a quirky and hilarious detective, a detective by the name of Guy Noir, Private Eye. Although he isn't quite as popular as Sherlock Holmes, he makes up for it in hilarity. The character of Guy Noir was created by the modern-day Mark Twain, Garrison Keillor. Noir is, as his name stipulates, a detective that comes straight from the era of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
The character of Noir premiered in 1995 on the enjoyable radio program called "A Prairie Home Companion", which is hosted by Keillor. What I quite enjoy about the program, in general, is the down-home sort of feel to the entire program and also the pure nostalgia that one feels when hearing a program like this, comparing to the world of today with smart phones and such. The character of Noir has a small little show on the whole program, but it, like the entire show, is quite enjoyable all the same. Click here to view a small tidbit from the Guy Noir program.
The actor Kevin Kline played the humorous detective in the movie version of the radio show, aptly named A Prairie Home Companion. In short, I would highly recommend both the radio show and the movie, they are both nice, quaint little programs that always put a smile on my face, at least.
Not to worry, another "real" detective will adorn this blog soon.
Notes: This was drawn with a dip pen and waterproof ink.

The Detective Scribbles, No. 10, Ellery & Richard Queen

To start off the new year, here is a new set of detectives in "The Detective Scribbles" Series. They are the father and son duo, Ellery &, his father, Richard Queen. I quite stumbled onto these detectives when I was in dire need to find some new detectives that should adorn this series. I thought that they were quite interesting as characters, with the slightly foppish and highly educated Ellery Queen and the retired Police Inspector, his widowed father, Richard Queen. What I think is most interesting is that I think that this sort of team consisting of family is merely interesting, much like how I think that the relationship with brothers Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes is quite interesting, mainly because such a team is considered rare in the realm of Detective Fiction, at least in my opinion. Anyway, I am getting quite ahead of myself, back to the characters that this post is dedicated to...Ellery and Richard Queen.

Ellery and Richard Queen made their way into the realm of Detective Fiction in 1929 with the premiere of The Roman Hat Mystery and although the author in question also went under the pseudonym of "Ellery Queen", the author of these various mysteries were actually authors. The dandy detective was created by cousins Frederic Dannay (1905-'82) and Manfred Lee (1905-'71) (which is probably why the family portion of this detective series is so very evident, I know that I am stating the obvious, but I just thought  that it was interesting). The cousins where very fond of the stories of Doyle's character of Sherlock Holmes and this dandified detective of Ellery is basically the repercussion of such a love for the legendary character. Since the small hype for the first Ellery Queen mystery (mentioned previously) the two cousins collaborated from 1929 in over thirty books and many a short story was written including the foppish detective and his father. To have a little description of the character of Ellery, he was introduced as being a bit of a snob. He is a well-educated, well-dressed Ivy-league graduate and wore pince-nez spectacles, as if he hadn't looked pretentious enough. What is interesting, in the story structure, is that all the evidence is presented to the audience, unlike with most mysteries in which all the evidence which is presented in a quick way, but too quick for the audience to notice, or it is far too minute, and all the evidence in question is kept very close to the chest of the detective and isn't revealed until the end. This is what I find interesting, it is much like an actual puzzle in which the audience has all of the pieces before them, but it is both the detective's, as well with the audience's, task to find the culprit with the pieces before them. The Ellery Queen stories are quite interesting from both a reader's aspect and also from a critical standpoint, inviting the audience to pitch-in, so to speak, with the mystery. I would highly recommend reading some of the Ellery Queen stories due to terrific writing of the two cousins.

The character of Ellery Queen has such a towering reputation in America, he might even be like how Sherlock Holmes is to England, basically. The character of Ellery has been portrayed both on radio and the small screen. An interesting fact is that the father of one Mr. Timothy Hutton, who plays the character of Nate Ford in the TV show Leverage (which is very good indeed), and his father's name is Jim Hutton and he starred as Ellery Queen in the TV show in the 1970's. Also, and I thought that this was clever, is that in one particular episode of Leverage that is entitled "The 10 li'l Grifter's Job" in which the main characters masquerade as various characters of detective fiction, Timothy Hutton's character dressed up as Ellery Queen, in dedication to his father (which brought a smile to my face, at least). Right-o, to finish up the first post of the new year, as this series is drawings down to a close, I simply cannot wait for the last few detectives, I hope that you will enjoy their stories as much as I have.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Notes: The drawing was made in the same fashion as the previous ones, drawn with waterproof ink and drawn with a dip pen and pencil.

From the Scribbler:

Have a Joyous New Year & hope to hear from you diligent readers in the coming year!

Sincerely,

A. Taylor

The Detective Scribbles, No. 9, Mycroft Holmes

See, I am a man of my word, somewhat. Here is a new detective to adorn this set of scribbles. This time it's Sherlock Holmes' older brother, Mycroft Holmes. I have said before in numerous posts that Mycroft is one of my favorite characters in the Sherlock Holmes canon, this is mainly because of how enigmatic he is and how humorously Dr. John Watson describes him in their first meeting, in the short story entitled "The Greek Interpreter". When they meet for the first time Watson describes him as being a very corpulent individual and when he shakes hands with him Watson describes it as grabbing the flipper of a seal.
In the stories Sherlock describes him as being a true definition of a bureaucrat, as stating that he IS the British Government in various situations. Although seven years Sherlock's senior, Mycroft is quite superior to Sherlock in his inductive reasoning and having a pure analytical mind, but has "no energy" for actually pursuing the work of a detective. Sherlock says in "The Greek Interpreter" that "If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm-chair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived." (Note: this quote also describes Hercule Poirot, I think, since he practically sits in his arm-chair and basically goes through all the analysis in his "little grey cells") What I also like about the character of Mycroft Holmes is the look of pure shock on Watson's face as soon as he sets eyes on him. I might have said this before, but it is worth repeating, but I think that it is fascinating that anyone, in the whole of humanity, would have a far superior mind to that of Sherlock Holmes, but it seems rather obvious that that sort of mind lives in an observer like Mycroft Holmes, who sits at his perch at the Diogenes Club basically observing his surroundings, basically gawking and analysing the outside like some sort of obese owl, which helped tremendously in the drawing process (also the monocle bit and his overall structure is based off of astronomer Sir Patrick Moore). Although Mycroft has only shown up (or even mentioned) in four of the stories, he is one of my personal favorite detectives, although he is basically sedentary in his arm-chair at the Diogenes Club. I think that both Mycroft Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Nero Wolfe go hand-in-hand as being the perfect analytical detectives, whose cases begin and end in an armchair, basically.

Notes: The drawing above and below are drawn with waterproof ink and the use of a dip pen. Red permanent marker was used to enhance the second one and pencil to do some minor details, although Mycroft isn't so much the jovial type I thought it would be entertaining all the same, due to the holidays. Also, this is also a good time to have at least one of the Holmes brothers up here considering the amazing movie that recently was released, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, where the incomparable and fantastic Stephen Fry, who is well known for his comedic talents and his reading of the Harry Potter books in the UK, plays the bureaucratic Mycroft, and does a fantastic job. Another lovely British actor has put on the bureaucratic attire for the new, and updated, version of the Sherlock Holmes stories. In the series Sherlock, which has been created by the brilliant minds of Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss (of Doctor Who fame), the co-creator Mark Gatiss stars as Sherlock's stiffly starched brother in the series, and also does a fine job.

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Merely Mucking About

As the title details, I was just wasting some time on the site that I have recommended numerous times on this set of rambling scribbles, picnik. I was reminded some time ago about the poem entitled "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. Noted that I am no philosopher of any kind, for that is not my occupation, but I thought that the last bit of the poem was very inspirational to many, I merely thought that this was good enough to show to you, the diligent readers to set of scribbles.

All right, honestly, as a side note, there will be a detective up here by the end of this year, but until then...

Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.

Thank you.

Happy Christmas & Such

I realize I haven't posted anything in many a moon, but I thought, due to the fact that Christmas is coming up, that I shall devote a post to you, the readers of this set of scribblings and such. I would just like to thank all who have come and seen the various things that pepper this blog and hope that you all have a very Happy Christmas!

Notes: this drawing was actually a birthday/Christmas card to a good friend of mine, this friend of mine is also an avid gamer and I thought that the card should have a warrior-like Father Christmas with his mighty polar bear, named Boreas (aye, 'tis a happy little detail, since Boreas, in Greek Mythology, was the god of the North winds, which I found more than appropriate). This was done with waterproof ink with the help of a dip pen and I then watercolor'd it afterwards. Thanks again to all of those readers and lookers who meander over to this very blog.

Thank you & Happy Christmas.

P.S.: A new detective will adorn this blog soon.

The Cthulhu Hat Advert

This post is a bit of a preview of a possibly new banner that could adorn this very set of scribblings. The drawing that you see before you is an excerpt of the possible banner. This drawing still needs to be tweaked and mucked about with a bit before it can be on this very blog, but it's getting there, slowly but surely. As you can see, I simply couldn't part with my Cthulhu Hat. Some updates are on the way, including a new detective in the next series of "The Detective Scribbles."
This was decorated with black and blue waterproof ink (with the help of a dip pen) and further drawn with a pencil for the minute details.
Keep a sharp eye out for my next post.