Booksketch

Booksmartypants

2009-11-17T20:21:00.002-06:00

Hermione Granger, of the Harry Potter book series. By J.K. Rowling

I've found that a lot of people dislike Hermione. I, on the other hand, figured that if I could be equated to one of the HP characters, it'd be Hermione. Probably because she is very studious and loves books. And has wild hair. And used to have bad teeth until they were magically fixed (by orthidontics, in my case).

You have to sympathize with her because she's a "Mudblood," and the bullies always give her crap for it. I mean, shouldn't she get a medal for becoming a wizard with no wizarding blood in her? That's pretty out-there. You'd think everyone would be a fan of Hermione just for that reason. It gives them hope that even they can someday learn magic. Because, as we all know, magic is real. The Force, anyway.

Pictured is Hermione and her moody cat, Crookshanks.

We Have A Visitor

2009-11-01T23:31:00.003-06:00

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Imagine that you are a psychologist who just arrived on a space station. You are going to rendezvous with the rest of the crew, which only consists of two others. Immediately upon setting foot on the station, however, things take a strange turn. For example, there are others wandering around. They are referred to as "visitors" by the two other crewmen.

I love when sci-fi novels have a creepy, what-the-heck-is-going-on vibe. There were several parts in this story that utterly clenched my attention and will be burnt into my mind. One such moment is what happens in the scene I've illustrated.

Throughout the book, bits and pieces of the mystery are fed to you while the relationship between the surviving crew members becomes very strained. At a point late in the story, Kelvin our main character and psychologist, confronts Snow, the less-reclusive of the other two crewmen, in an attempt to rationalize some of what's going on. At the end of the conversation, Kelvin realizes that Snow has been reaching inside of a cabinet. My eyes widened as Kelvin guessed that Snow was possibly holding the hand of a visitor that he was hiding in the cabinet.

Eep!

The whole book revolves around this giant planet, Solaris, that is covered in a living, thinking plasma-like ocean. Scientists have been studying the planet via the station that is suspended in the planet's atmosphere. Earth has been studying the mysterious planet for years and years, to no avail. Much debate and theories have arisen and been cast down concerning the intelligence of Solaris, and its intentions.

I don't want to give away any more. I just wanted to tell you enough about it to maybe provoke some goosebumps. I recommend it to all sci-fi fans!

Haha, I guess I should mention that Snow was described as thin, sharp-nosed, and having a sunburnt face. In case you were wondering about his red complexion!

WANDering Minds

2009-10-29T23:58:00.003-05:00

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

This series is one where the author made pretty much every character have some sort of stand-out feature. Now, you're probably thinking "Well, that's what all good authors should do to help you with remembering the characters." Yes, well, fantasy series go a little overboard in that they all feature fantastic things and out-of-this-world business. The focus isn't on an accountant who likes soccer, or a paperboy who has acne. The books are about a wizard boy who was almost murdered in infancy by a deadly curse.

Once an author commits to that starting point, things can only get crazier from there.

So you'd imagine it would be hard to single out any characters as noteworthy if they are all noteworthy, right? It's interesting how some characters' personalities still filter through to you. One such personality is that of Luna Lovegood.

Luna is at-once likable, very aloof and adorable. Contemplative, but rather spacey. Always full of surprises, but you can always bet on her saying something wonky. Which is good. The last thing we needed was a pair of Hermiones, am I right?

Anyway, she was a good friend to ol' HP, and he was always grateful for that. A friend that could be counted on. And when an evil wizard is trying to murder you and all sorts of crazy is wreaking havoc upon the school you love, reliable friends are a must.

Book O' Gold

2009-10-21T01:01:00.004-05:00

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
Illustration by Ed Moody III

Rainbows End is the winner of both the Hugo and Locus Awards for 2007. Although a great book, I read it with skepticism. Vinge expects us to believe that in year 2025 most of the world's population will be "wearing". Smart clothing and contact lenses capable of overlaying computer generated images onto reality allow wearers their choice of many augmented realities. AND... a major character in the book is a rabbit.

I definitely found this vision of 2025 hard to swallow, but as soon as I finished reading the book I noticed the release of several alternate reality apps for the iPhone. Although these apps are in their infancy, it is easy to see the attraction of viewing the world with the addition of layers of info and enhanced visuals. Vinge may be onto something after all.

A pencil sketch, photographed, photo shopped, and topped off with a layer of contact lens scifi. Layers. It is all about the layers. Oh, and let's not forget Rabbit.

Speak Up!

2009-09-17T23:54:00.005-05:00

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Speaker is the sequel to the book Ender's Game, which features a young kid owning other kids, adults and even an aggressive alien race. Space, intergalactic war, mind-games and strategy abound throughout Ender's Game. If you haven't guessed, these books are science fiction!

Speaker takes place quite a few years after the events of the first book. It takes a more anthropology-oriented angle of storytelling, as a remote planet's colony has to study a new race of aliens without contaminating the aliens with human culture. All sorts of problems arise, and stuff goes down. And it's up to Ender and his wizardy mind to sort everything out. Culture vs. government vs. science vs. emotion!

I can't really explain much more without giving away either of the books, but I'll just say that they are great. And I love them. Oh, sci-fi.

Well I guess I can explain the title: A "Speaker for the Dead" is a person whose vocation is to learn everything he or she can about a deceased person or group of persons and tell a completely true account of the subject. This could involve revealing once-private secrets to making the audience realize things about their own lives, in relation to the deceased person or group. Ender Wiggin, the main character from the first book, is now a Speaker. And a darned good one!

The illustration is of a Pequeninos (one of the aliens that the colony on Lusitania is trying to study). They are nicknamed "piggies" because they remind the humans of, well, pigs. Throughout the course of the book, much of the piggy culture and their connection to the ecosystem is revealed. It's really interesting!

I should also explain why he's holding a tree branch. The piggie culture is very, very closely tied to the forests in which they live. The trees are held sacred and the piggies communicate with them by means of a percussive language. Lucky for the colonists, no human has ever cut down a tree in fears that they would give the piggies any ideas about saws or technology. That would have been the end of the colony! The piggies love battle.

Bad Hare Days

2009-08-27T23:36:00.004-05:00

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I believe it was Advanced Math class, back in high school, that I was made to read Alice in Wonderland. On a related note, our Geometry class class had to read Flatland by A. Square (Edwin Abbott Abbott). Both of which are awesome books. I've since read Flatland over again!

Now, however, my memories of Alice in Wonderland's story have been a little twisted by movie adaptations and comics and video games and the like. Especially Jan Švankmajer's Alice, a stop-animation movie involving a super-creepy stuffed scissor-wielding White Rabbit.

You know, I always thought the White Rabbit seemed a little cracked out. Always rushing around; worrying about this & that; trying desperately not to be late for something. You could totally pull a druggy motif out of that story.

So, I drew a tweaking rabbit. You've got to ask yourself, "What's in his pockets?" Snacks? Money? Poker chips? Marbles? Sand? Shotgun shells? Half-eaten candles? Sawdust? Chess pieces? Shrimp? Carrots? Lent? More pocket watches?

I'm not telling. And he's too far gone to reveal the secret. So it looks like your imagination will just have to keep!

Hella Tricks

2009-08-24T23:35:00.004-05:00

Continuing the HP illustration series, I present to you the crazy, dirty-hot Bellatrix Lestrange, best known for being dark-haired and nuts. You could often find her leading a few Deatheaters around, spouting threats and being especially wicked towards our young lead characters. Well, what can you expect after being thrown into Azkaban for a while? Best to exercise caution when she's around. Wands at the ready, etc.

It looks like I'm going to draw all the characters that had wild and interesting hair, doesn't it? Hmmm.

This drawing is dedicated to my friend Alexis, who is quite obsessed with Ms. Lestrange.

My friend Matt is also drawing a series of Dobby (the house-elf) doing menial chores. It is quite amusing! I'll post a link after he puts them up on his illo blog.

Dirty Hagrid

2009-08-16T16:01:00.005-05:00

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Everyone loves Hagrid. Maybe you empathize because some look down on him (not literally because he is usually the tallest figure around). Maybe you admire his courage in caring for the Hogwarts students. Or maybe you like him because he gives great hugs?

This illustration shows Hagrid trying to hide his hippogriff, Buckbeak, from prying eyes. Well, I wouldn't say you or I are exactly "prying," but I'm sure he wants to keep BB hidden, just in case. You never know WHO might be checking out Booksketch.

I posted Snape over at Draw, Burt Draw! for some reason. I should have posted it here, eh? Here's a link: Quite A Severe Fellow

I'll probably draw some more HP characters soon!

Jibber Jabber(wocky)

2009-08-11T16:54:00.014-05:00

The Jabberwocky (from Through the Looking-Glass) by Lewis Carroll
Illustration by Brian Jocks

Callooh! Callay!

"The Jabberwocky" is a poem full of nonsense-words about a boy who goes on a quest to slay a monster. It's short and sweet. Here's a play by play:

Our hero is a boy with a vorpal sword. He's out for blood, but so his manxsome foe: The Jabberwock! As our hero tires from his search, he takes a rest by the Tumtum tree. Then here comes the Jabberwocky, with eyes of flame, whiffling and burbling through the forest.

How will it end? Will the beamish boy go galumphing back home with the head of the Jabberwock? Or will the monster grab that vorpal blade and show the kid who the real king of the forest is?

You'll have to read to find out.

My illustration is an imagining of the Jabberwocky as the victor.

Shake, Rattle & Toll

2009-07-07T17:42:00.003-05:00

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Ivan, a middle-aged, upper-class, high-stature Russian judge, lives a straightforward posh lifestyle. He doesn't really like his wife, but hey, who's perfect? He is very content to climb on his social ladder.

Well, one day, while on an actual ladder, Ivan slips while trying to hang some fancy new curtains. He injures his side, but brushes away the immediate pain. After suffering in non-silence for a few days, Ivan is forced to have a physician check on the symptoms.

Cause - :shrug:
Prognosis - Certain death.

Distraught that this is his fate after having lived such a "good" life, Ivan starts to loath his family and friends, who don't seem to acknowledge that the death bell is tolling. The impending doom shakes apart how Ivan defined his life. The book continues on in an intense and insightful study of what could go through a person's mind as he or she is reasoning and struggling with the concept of approaching death.

Reading a Tolstoy book is like peering directly into the human mind. You get to feel and experience what Ivan is going through, whether you are OK with that or not. I can only begin to imagine what would go through my head if a doctor told me I'd be on the outs in a couple of months. I've never really been a "self-searching" kind of guy, but I supposed I'd start looking for something, if that were the case.

Pigs Are Texting!

2009-06-04T22:21:00.006-05:00

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I'm sure if Animal Farm were re-written tomorrow, or made into some hammy Hollywood production, this illustration might become reality. Well, movie reality.

If you aren't familiar with this classic story, here is a very succinct summary:

Some farm animals get fed up and overthrow some farm humans.

I don't really think that's a spoiler, but I won't go any further. It's a short book, OK?

I should probably also explain the text. "Pigs are walking," is a great quote from the novel. Applied to society (and not in the farm animal context of the book), it is used to describe people or things that are trying to be something that they are not. So, a "hipper" version would involve some hip activity, such as hula-hooping or candy-striping. Or texting.

Sheepish

2009-05-22T09:25:00.006-05:00

A sister and brother who love each other dearly are turned into a lamb and a little fish, respectively, by their very jealous witch-stepmother in order to keep them apart.
The lamb is saved from the cook's knife by her brother's song...

"Ah, little sister, up on high,
How sad is my poor heart
While in this pond I lie."

Who doesn't love a fairy tale now and then?

No Boats About It

2009-05-17T16:32:00.003-05:00

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson

The ending of The Underground Man left me thoroughly saddened. In addition to that, I am also reading Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, which brilliant but also mega-depressing. So, to combat this overall wamp-wamp mood, I decided to draw one of the lighter moments in The Underground Man.

The Duke is coerced to participate with all the townsfolk that has congregated to play on the manor's frozen lake. To prevent the townsfolk from knowing The Duke's identity, his manservant, Clement, bundled The Duke with so many layers that he could barely move his limbs or head. With ancient skates in hand, he set off to the frozen lake shore.

There he found a very small child sitting in a boat that was stuck halfway in the frozen lake. They were both equally equipped against the cold weather. Mobility sacrificed for the sake of warmth. The child took notice of him and offered him and apple. "Ap-ple?"

"Good boy," the Duke said, and patted the child on his well-insulated noggin.

About the illustration:
Watercolor with ink overlay. I also changed the black ink on the snow to gray ink in Photoshop.

After I decided to draw this scene, I realized that the other Booksketch I did for The Underground Man (The Apple Tree) also focused on apples. While "apple" can't really be a theme, there were several times where apples where mentioned and discussed. The Duke did have an apple orchid on his property, so they were probably on his mind a lot, haha.

Making a Mockery

2009-05-02T11:56:00.014-05:00

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Illustrations by Brian Jocks

Ever since reading this story I have been trying to illustrate the Mock Turtle. I've painted him, and drawn him over and over. So, obviously I've got finished pieces in a variety of media. Hope you guys like them.

In the book, Alice and the Gryphon run into him on the beach and he's weeping. He tells them he used to be a real turtle and talks about his school in the ocean. He goes on to teach Alice a dance called the Lobster Quadrille. In this dance, sea creatures dance with lobsters and hurl them into the ocean. I really liked the imagery, so I drew the Mock Turtle with a reluctant dance partner. It looks a little more like a crawfish than a lobster, but I figured that Crawfish Quadrille has a nice ring to it.

At the end of the book, Alice wakes up to the sounds of Cows 'moo'ing and this kinda explains the Mock Turtle's strange cries and his cowishness.

More sketches to come from Wonderland

Buggin'

2009-04-21T13:53:00.017-05:00

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Illustrations by Brian Jocks

I really loved working on these illustrations. I've always had a strange fascination with insects, especially beetles. When I read this story, I pictured Gregor Samsa (who wakes up one day transformed into a huge 'vermin') as an awkwardly large beetle stumbling around on twiggy legs.

Unbeknownst to me, he is traditionally assumed to be a cockroach (I still don't buy it). His condition greatly affects his family who were completely financially dependent on him. Oh, and at some point his dad throws an apple at him and it wedges in his back.

A good read for all, especially if you like bug related family tragedies.

Mental Images

2009-04-17T21:31:00.006-05:00

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

It's hard not to picture Jack Nicolson when thinking about this story, right? Good thing I didn't booksketch McMurphy close-up!

Picture above is our not-so-beloved Nurse Ratched (aka Big Nurse) about to go nuts because McMurphy has yet again gotten under her rock-hard skin. The narrator does mention how Big Nurse seems to transform and grow larger when she gets unsettled/furious. I thought that'd make a great illustration! I also drew a single strand of hair gone awry because our narrator (if I remember correctly) mentioned how her hair was rigid and immovable, fixed in place for all time, much like her hold over the ward.

An especially powerful novel about institutions, causes, and bucking the system, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has a lot to offer. There is quite a bit of comedy, provided by McMurphy's rebellious attempts to pull the rug out from under the psychiatric institution. There are darker themes, relating to the patients who don't really need to be in the institution, and those that really do need help.

One major point that the book makes is that the system which was created specifically to treat serious mental conditions aren't necessarily the most effective means of treatment, and could be second to a strong character who could motivate the patients. McMurphy helped everyone in the ward out, while Nurse Ratched kept them rooted in their problems with threats and an icy grip of control.

Of course, a raunchy night with alcohol and poker isn't going to cure the sick, eh?

To sum up the plot: A man (McMurphy) fakes insanity to avoid a prison sentence. When he gets put in an institution, he makes it his goal to upset the system. From what I remember, there are two main struggles: McMurphy vs. The Ward and the Patients vs. Themselves.

Really strong novel. Should be on everyone's reading list!

The Beginning of The Ender

2009-03-30T13:01:00.007-05:00

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

In the future, mankind faces threat of attack from a bug-like alien race. To prepare for war, the government has started recruiting children to train to become war tacticians. At age six, children take an aptitude test in which passing means a ten-year training program on a space station.

In a society that only strongly disapproves of parents having more than two children, Ender Wiggin is born as a Third child, which causes him and his family a good deal of discomfort. It just so happens that Ender, even from the age of six, is an extremely bad-ass strategist.

The illustration above portrays a very young Ender. Every aspect of his education has been a trial since the government is always closely monitoring his abilities. His final "test" to be accepted into the academy was to be confronted by several older children who taunt Ender for being a Third and for "failing" his aptitude test. An educated shrouded in violence and war.

To assure that these children are removed as threats, six-year old Ender effectively neutralizes the leader of this pack to ensure that he would not be confronted again. This act gains him a pass into the next stage of his training.

The book is sometimes surprisingly violent, which is heightened by the fact that most of the characters are children. The book shows us a society that forces war upon children and really takes away their childhood and replaces it with tactics and service to "a greater cause."

Ender is constantly tested, harassed, and isolated from his peers, in hopes of "making him the perfect weapon" against the alien threat. Personal conflict, moral issues, war on all fronts.

It's a great book. I love it.

Underground Man

2009-03-18T16:53:00.007-05:00

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson
Illustration by Blake Lagneaux

I finally started a Book Club (in January) and this quirky novel was our first pick. Great book - the main character was lots of fun. A child-like, geriatric aristocrat, "The Duke" is bewildered and fascinated by the workings of the world around him (which consists mostly of his home and a system of elaborate underground tunnels), and especially by the deterioration of his own body. The book chronicles his quest to get inside his own head ;)

The Duke's intricate comparisons between (and obsession with) maps and medical texts inspired my sketch.

More sketches to come as our Book Club progresses...

An Apple A Sketch

2009-03-06T19:21:00.003-06:00

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson

The first page of the book started with the main character wondering what goes on inside an apple tree to make apples bloom. What sorts of intricate machinery sucks up ingredients from the soil and manufactures such a delightful little treat?

Well, I thought that was just perfect for a booksketch. Such an interesting idea for an illustration, and on the first page! I have a very good feeling about this book.

I kind of got carried away with this illustration. I'd say it took about eight hours to complete, colors and all.

Yes, I drew all of those leaves. I hope you appreciate them, Mick!

'Tis the Seasoning

2009-02-23T12:18:00.002-06:00

The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck

I remember picking this book up at a local bookstore. It was a wonderful old copy. You know, the kind that has a cover retail of 25¢? I love those.

I felt like reading a short war-related book, so this fit the bill perfectly. I read this book, All Is Quiet on the Western Front and Storm of Steel in short succession. Nothing like bleak war novels to scare/depress the heck out of you.

Anyway, The Moon Is Down is about a small coal-mining town that gets overrun and conquered by an invading force. As with all military-occupied areas, there can be no true peace where freedom is taken away. The army that has invaded the town knows it but still tries to keep order. Things come to a slow boil: soldiers go missing, equipment keeps "breaking," some townsfolk are executed.

The novel does an excellent job of showing us characters on both sides of the conflict. They are all people, after all.

About the illustration:
I like how this composition turned out. Steinbeck made certain to not point out any specific groups of people, though he was most certainly targeting the Nazis as the invaders. The book was published and snuck into Nazi-controlled areas.

I kept the faces out of sight, instead focusing on the character's intent. You can see a soldier kicking back and expecting some food. He's not really expecting a dose of poison, however. In my head, the lady making/bringing the food to the soldier (who has taken residency in her inn) just found out that her husband was taken by the invaders and executed for being a "conspirator." So she's taking a little revenge. Maybe she won't give a lethal dose. Maybe she'll just add in enough to make the man sick, and then she'll have some friends "take care of him" when he is incapacitated.

Yikes!

Blingwraith

2009-02-11T18:34:00.004-06:00

The Lord of the Rings novels by J.R.R "Orc-in Man" Tolkien

In my head, the Ringwraiths wore orcskin boots.

They were pretty fly for some dead guys!

Anyway, the Ringwraiths weren't always scary bad-asses. In their former lives, they were "entrusted" with the seven Rings of Power that were given to mankind. Who would have thought that the power would corrupt them? Sauron, of course.

If you killed one, he'd spawn back to "life" in Mordor. His ride, however, would stay dead. So eventually, after their horses were killed, flying creatures were procured to help the evil war effort. Go, team, go!

I want those boots.

Here's what it looks like scanned straight from my moleskine:

Ringleader

2009-02-04T17:30:00.008-06:00

The Lord of the Rings novels by "Fantasy Fire-hydrant" J.R.R Tolkien

Here's everyone's precious: Gollum. From corrupted Hobbit to superstar celebrity, Gollum has come quite a ways to frantically burrow his way into our hearts.

Gollum appeared The Hobbit and kept sneaking around throughout the LOTR trilogy. When he wasn't eating raw fish, Gollum liked to conspire and plot to get his Precious back. Well, half of this character's personality would plot, anyway. You see, all those years under the power of the One Ring had deformed what was originally an upstanding hobbit named Sméagol. Extending his life and ravaging his body, the One Ring asserted itself as Sméagol's master.

After Bilbo happened upon the Ring (it had been momentarily misplaced by a certain slimy little character), Gollum set out in search for his Precious (the One Ring). He was eventually captured by the forces of Mordor and through torture revealed the words "hobbit" and "Shire." This pretty much put events in motion for LOTR.

Anyway, above is a drawing of Gollum being all "GIVE ME MY PRECIOUS. IT BELONGSES TO ME!"

Here's the b/w version, just so you can see how it looked before the coloring process:

Great Write Sharks

2009-01-30T09:21:00.006-06:00

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

Burt reminded me that posts have been lacking lately...and so I am posting a sketch to save Burt from eating sad ham.

The Raw Shark Texts is an extremely interestingly covered book I picked up off the 75% off rack whilst waiting to check out at Barnes & Noble. I don't even remember the other book I was buying, but this one was a very very nice surprise. People are a little mixed on the ending (which I won't spoil), but I felt quiet satisfied when I ran out of pages to place a bookmark in. The story centers on Eric Sanderson, who has no idea who he is.

The only clues he can trust (or can he?) were left to him by himself before he forgot who he was. The clues are not straightforward, however, and are loaded with secret messages and puzzles. As if that's not bad enough, he's being chased by a linguistic entitity on a mission to devour him. Namely, a huge conceptual shark called the Ludovician that swims, in a literal sense, in the figurative flow of language in information. For example, as you're reading the words I've written, information is flowing from your screen to your head, so we're creating an informational flow! Once the Ludovician traces Eric's scent on a flow of information, he can find Eric and quite literally devour him as an actual shark would with the teeth and the ripping skin and bones, etc.

Eric's goal is to avoid the Ludovician until he can destroy it, if he can figure out how to destroy it. He has to change his identity to hide his scent, surround himself with books and letters to throw the shark off (too many linguistic flows make the "water" choppy to navigate), and rely on people he maybe shouldn't trust. As one quick review put it: "Hunting the answers as he is hunted, Eric is led on a journey that will either bring the First Eric Sanderson back to life or destroy both Eric Sandersons forever."

So the sketch is showing how the Ludovician notes the scent of Eric's thoughts as he reads the letter he wrote to himself at the beginning of the story. IE, when he first wrote the letter the Ludovician was present, so it traces his "scent" on the letter from his past self into the head of his present self as he reads it. If that makes any sense.

Wile E. Quixote

2009-01-28T17:57:00.006-06:00

Pierre Menard, Author of The Quixote from "Labyrinths," by Jorge Borges

A French author holes himself up in seclusion for a very long time. He is particularly brilliant, and this trait has allowed him to master the 17th-century Spanish dialect in a relatively short amount of time. He becomes so engrossed in the time period that he happens to recreate (on his own), word-for-word, some fragments of Cervantes' Don Quixote.

The narrator of the story presentsa literary review of Menard's The Quixote. He pulls a passage and describes how Cervantes' version is "almost expected" because of the commentary he was making in his own time, while Menard's work is pure genius because the allusion is thicker, since Menard is a modern author.

When I first read through the story, I misunderstood it as Menard just going off and copying the original text and passing it off as his own "interpretation." And the thought of someone praising this as "genius" just made me roll. After having the real message pointed out to me, however, I think it's a lot crazier. Someone assuming Cervantes' persona to the point he is able to recreate his works? HAHA. And the idea that since the setting of the book is so far removed from the modern day, this new Quixote is oh-so-much more potent a piece of literature. That cracks me up.

So I drew a modern day author (much more modern than when Borges wrote this short story) assuming a knightly persona.

And I also drew this:

Which is, of course, a pencil mace. Writing is a powerful and potentially dangerous sport, my friends.

About the illustrations:
These were done in Micron pen. I'm having fun with this sketchier style!

A Hard Read

2009-01-26T18:12:00.005-06:00

The Library of Babel from "Labyrinths" by Jorge Borges

Let me just cut to the chase. This short story by Borges is one of the best works I have had the chance to read. And let me just tell you know that this is only the first in a series I'll be doing on other Labyrinth stories. They are all great. This one and Pierre Menard, Author of The Quixote are particularly mind-blowing. To be fair, if you don't want me revealing some of the awesomeness, please go ahead and read the story before reading this post. The story is just a few pages long.

The Library of Babel describes a universe that is literally one massive library. This library is made up of an indefinite number of hexagonal rooms. Two walls directly across from one another are entrances/exits and lead to hallways that connect the hexagons. The other four walls are lined with bookshelves with books of uniform build. Each are the same size, each contain 410 pages. Each room contains the necessities for human life, including a place to sleep and a bathroom.

You may be wondering "If every room in the library/universe is filled with books, there must be a TON of them!" Yes. In fact, the thing about this library is that it contains (take a breath) every possible combination of the alphabet. What this means is that everything that is written, or WILL BE written, is in this library.

Side note: While the number is astronomical, there is indeed a finite number of combinations of the alphabet, so the Library is not infinite.

For example, say you are looking for a Labyrinths in this library. Not only does the "correct" copy exist on one of the shelves, but an "incorrect" version containing any number of typos, false lines, or repetitions also exist. There exists a copy with one comma omitted.

Since all possible literature is written, there exists an exact account of your future out there. There also exists a ton of false accounts of your future as well. The people that live in this universe are each designated a hexagon of which they are to be the "librarian," or caretaker. When certain cults or believes arise, these people get swept up in movements that really have no effect on the actual library, since it is so massive. Gosh, the idea of this story is so awesome.

The drawing above represents one of the cult's beliefs. Some elders have claimed that there exists a circular room in this universe. The circumference of this room (the walls) act as the spine for a great book. This great book is God. I just had to illustrate that idea.

I drew someone actually stumbling upon this room. How could you get inside if the walls were the spine of the book? I put a little spiral staircase down from above.

Onto the next part of the post:

Originally I misread the cult's belief about the circular room. I envisioned a book with a circular spine, that one could hold and flip through. Since there is no end or beginning, the reading is cyclical. You could start from anywhere and keep reading indefinitely. That'd be one heck of a story, eh? I drew this book to have a stand, so you could set it down. Or press against your tum-tum, if you wanted to read on the go. It also has a handy-dandy book mark, so you'll never lose your place!

Here's a librarian who happened upon the cyclical book. Boy is HE in for a treat.

Look, I could write ten more paragraphs about all the great things in this story. But then I'd be spoiling pretty much everything for you. It's just great to think about all the things that could be found on the shelves of this universe. If you want to discuss it further, let me know. Please do yourself a favor and read the story. It's only about 6 pages or so!

Oh, let me explain the post title. This isn't a "hard read" in the sense that it was hard to finish, or understand. It's in reference to the library universe: The probability of finding what you want in a library with almost infinite books is equal to a library containing zero books.

I hope you were sitting down for that one.

The Wisest Wizard

2009-01-21T18:11:00.005-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R "Lore-inator" Tolkien

Did you know that the wizards in the LOTR universe weren't human? They are ancient beings of the Maiar, sent by Valar to help stave the forces of darkness in Middle-Earth. The elves called them Ishtari and mankind called them I remember reading about all that some time after completing the series. And I also remember thinking "WHERE THE HECK WHERE THE OTHER LAZY JACKLEGS?" Did Gandalf have to do all the work? Well, apparently not all of the Maiar ventured out into the area that the books' setting. I suppose had Gandalf and the Fellowship failed, Sauron might have run into other wizards eventually in other lands. Radagast the Brown was the one who sent the eagle to save Gandalf at the White Tower, though Radagast didn't do jack besides that.

Anyway, the Maiar took the form of "old humans" to help them blend into the land. They were sent to guide the races of Middle-Earth. There were a few mentioned in the series, but only two were key. Gandalf The Gray and Saruman The White, whom Sauron (the big baddie) corrupts and becomes one of the man foes of the Fellowship.

Anyway, Gandalf was the dude. The illustration above is him delivering his classic line "YOU SHALL NOT PASS." Not many people know that in the book, the next line he says to the balrog is "Your ass is mine."

Two of a Kind

2009-01-19T17:59:00.003-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by J. R. R. "Mr. Fantasy" Tolkien

Is it just me, or do more people confuse Merry and Pippin? Don't shake your head at me, Elise! Or anyone else that loves Merry and Pippin, for that matter. Alright, maybe it's just me. Merry was the hobbit with the most knowledgeable of the four hobbits of the Fellowship, with an interest in lore and such things that for your average hobbit would be a tall order. Of the two, he's also the one I found myself cursing at the least.

"PIPPIN, LEAVE THAT PALANTIR ALONE!!!"

"PIPPIN! Why on MIDDLE-EARTH are you swearing your allegiance to Denethor???

Etc.

Pippin was the youngest, so I'm sure we can just blame it on that. Young people, tssk tssk.

And yet, without a bit of carelessness and mischievousness, things might have turned out a whole lot worse. For example, Faramir was saved because of Pippin being so close to Denethor.

And plus, they became exceptionally hobbit-tall once they drank the Entwine! That's got to count for something, eh?

About the illustration:
Here are Merry and Pippin plotting to do something thoughtless that will annoy Burt very much. Hahaha.

Sam & FroD'oh!

2009-01-07T18:35:00.006-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. "Fantasy Dude" Tolkien

Continuing with the Fellowship illustrations, here are Sam and Frodo, as I remember them.

Look, I'll just say it. I wasn't a big fan of any of the hobbits. I mean, sure, they prove that size and stature doesn't matter, and that you can still stab big things in the feet if necessary, but come on. Come on, seriously. FOUR of them? How about two? Two would have sufficed, right? Well I guess since they are Halflings, the four of them combined would make two normal-sized characters. Why do I dislike the hobbits so much?

Don't even get me started on Merry and Pippin. Well, you won't have to get me started, because they're up next on the list.

Anyways, Sam & Frodo. Best half-buds. Sam stuck by Frodo through thick and thinner, low times and lower times. Through breakfast and second breakfast. Sam is essentially the heart of the LOTR books. He'd do anything for Frodo, and is one of the few characters who had possession of the Ring at one time and voluntarily gave it up. Morals are practically bursting out of this guy. Who could say that Halflings are half-hearted?

Frodo is pretty much the LOTR punching bag.

But he's also Bilbo Baggins' adoptive heir, and was trusted with the task of tossing a little ol' ring into a murderous demon volcano in Mordor, which was also the home of a big ol' bad guy: Sauron. So, in summary: Little dude with a big job.

This booksketch shows Sam piggybacking agony-stricken Frodo, whom Tolkien had just tossed into the frying for the eleventh or so time.

The Fellowship's Tank

2008-12-29T18:49:00.005-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R "Epic Gift To Mankind" Tolkien

I would like to start this Boromir booksketch by saying that if you continue reading past this sentence, you will be subject to a very bad pun. Now, with that out of the way...

I get the impression that a lot of people out there don't like Boromir. Is it because he tried to chase poor tee-tiny Frodo around and take the One Ring? Really? Is that a reason to hate someone? Hobbits are so chase-able. I mean, who wouldn't be tempted? Plus, you have to factor in how tempting the Ring is. I mean, it literally tells you to covet it.

But with the Hobbit-assault aside, Boromir is pretty likable. Let me persuade you:

First, he's a tank. Did you SEE how much of a lickin' he took whilst continuing to tick? And deliver licks in kind, I might add. He had a very proud-warrior upbringing. This was expected, being a son of the Steward of Gondor (who was ruling in the stead of the true king, who had yet to rightly claim his throne), Denethor II.

Pardon my language, but Boromir was a bad-ass. If you don't wish to pardon my language, then replace that last sentence with "Boromir was a bad-mule." He was very passionate about his country and his position, and would do anything to defend both. A very noble noble. He put many a hurt on Sauron's forces.

Second, he loved wind instruments. Well, maybe not, but he DID carry around the Horn of Gondor, which was passed down in the lineage of Gondor's stewards. It makes me think back to the horn in the famous poem The Song of Roland. Or at least I remember there being a horn in that piece of literature. Well, if not, then I remember someone using a horn as a weapon of mass destruction in some story. Sheesh.

Thirdly, he was probably the most realistic character in the series. He's human, for one. He also makes mistakes, isn't immortal, gets pretty angry and is very passionate in his beliefs. Sure, he betrays Frodo, but he also makes up for it in a big way. He did want the Ring, but one big thing about the Rings of Power were that humans were very drawn to them and were pretty easily corrupted. Hence the Ringwraiths. The Ring tricked Boromir into thinking that he needed it to save his country. He probably thought he was Mir-ly going to Boro it.

That was the pun I warned you about.

Tolkien Arrow

2008-12-19T18:23:00.005-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by The All-Powerful J.R.R. Tolkien

Calm down, ladies. Here's Legolas.

I'll start off by saying that this Grey Elf was actually one of my favorite characters. Not because he was an unstoppable killing-machine. For one thing, there wasn't much mention of his battle prowess in the books. The movies turned Legolas into this untouchable warrior after test audiences responded favorably to him surfing down a staircase on a shield and shooting arrows. I'm not going to deny being very entertained by this, as well, haha.

What was interesting about Legolas was how separated he was from the rest of the Fellowship. For example, when the gang was truding through snow-packed mountain passes, Legolas was indifferent to the snow and cold. His endurance was way above any others in the group, as well. He was often off scouting ahead. And he was usually the one to remain in high-spirits. Or, at least, not in utter despair.

I believe the main purpose of Leggy as a character was to show that even staunch enemies can become friends once differences are reconciled. I mentioned in the Gimli post that dwarves and elves had this bitter animosity towards one another. Well, when the Fellowship was forged, Legolas and Gimli were none-to-happy to be in each others' company. But towards the end however, they formed a steadfast friendship and were willing to defend this with blood.

Also, you have to love their little wager. Even if I still think Gimli cheated. I think the fact that there was a high orc-body count on both sides shows that Legolas actually did do stuff in battle, but it just wasn't focused on in the books. I guess they were more of "off-screen" actions. Off-page? Haha.

About the illustration:
'Twas done in Prismacolor pen and then colored in ye ol' Photoshop.

Full Stride

2008-12-12T19:22:00.004-06:00

The Lord of the Rings books by Fantasy Funkmaster J.R.R Tolkien

Since I've decided to draw the entire Fellowship, here's my take on Aragorn, aka Strider. I know that Aragorn was a bad mamma-jamma throughout the entire series, but I personally loved his "Strider" persona. Some dark, hooded figure shows up at a tavern at the beginning of the story and wards the wee hobbits from certain doom at the hands of the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths). Why's he helping? What's he doing? Where does he come from? WHO IS HE? Well, he's simply Strider.

A very strong character. It's interesting how the movie imposed all of this self-doubt upon him. As if he was afraid to take the crown that was rightfully his. I guess they just wanted to add another element? Anyway, he was one of my favorite characters. Maybe THE favorite. I need to read the series again and decide once and for all.

Anyway, here's the rundown on Aragorn:

1) Mostly man, wee bit o' elf. That means he can have a pretty long life (as did all in the line of Númenor), and has other qualities of the elves, and was even raised by elves. But since he's mostly Man, he has the "Gift of Men," which is an eventual death.

2) In line for the throne of Gondor. Which is a large kingdom of Middle-Earth, and has the largest force to stop Sauron (the baddie of The Third Age).

3) Pretty tall and scruffy. All those years as a Ranger of the North add gruff to a character! He befriended Gandalf The Gray during his stint as a Ranger.

On a side note:
I tend to get Aragorn and Lan from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series slightly confused. This being because Lan was modeled very similar to ol' Ary. Both were ranger-warriors, both were rugged and battle-hardened. They share a bunch of qualities, even up to the "slight bit of gray in the hair." Though I think Lan was less of a spring chicken.

4) I think my Aragorn illustration turned out a bit like Russell Crowe...

5) Oh man, I've got to draw a Ringwraith after the Fellowship is penned!

One Sketch To Bind Them

2008-12-02T19:16:00.004-06:00

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, aka "The Fantasy Funkmaster"

Don't mind that faux-title I gave Tolkien. But if you're a fan of epic fantasy (which I am, of course), then you pretty much owe your entire fandom to him.

I've put off doing LOTR booksketches for a while. I thought that the movies did an excellent, EXCELLENT job of portraying the novels. And yet I couldn't go through my life without putting some of the characters down on paper.

Do you know why the brave dwarf Gimli was picked to be illustrated first? He's not my favorite character. I even liked Boromir better! In fact, I was a staunch Legolas supporter throughout their competition. I still can't believe Legolas didn't win. HE HAD ARROWS, for crying out loud.

But I digress. Wait, one more thing. Legolas had arrows. Ok. You don't want to hear me complain about the small stuff. That is not a shot at Gimli's height, by the way.

Speaking of dwarven characteristics: There are only so many ways to imagine a dwarf. I mean, sorry little guys, but you've been stereotyped. Big bushy beards, stocky/muscular, wield axes. You guys like pounding stuff. You like blacksmithing. You live in mountains and are very tempermental. Don't like elves. I think that every fantasy book out there has some sort of prejudice between elves and dwarves. What's up with that?

Alright, so why did I draw Gimli first? Because he's one of the most fun to illustrate. Look at all that stuff! And it's pretty fun to render crazy facial hair. You should try it.

Side note: I have this LOTR riddle book. The first question asked me to translate a sentence from Elven to English. I don't even think they had a codec. What the heck??? That crushed my soul.

About the illustration:
Gimli was drawn with Prismacolor pens and colored in Photoshop. I used a sweet rock texture as well. Textures are so helpful. For a great texture resource, check out www.cgtextures.com. I really like how it came out, and I'm excited to take on some of the other characters!

Beating a Dead Horse

2008-11-18T09:42:00.003-06:00

Ok. The above bookpainting is actually pretty old- probably about 6 or 7 years. I found it in my closet while cleaning and thought I’d post it, since it's inspired by Crime and Punishment.

Even though I’m sure everyone has been forced to read (or sparknote) C&P at some point in your lives, I’ll give a (really) short synopsis anyway:

Main character (Raskolnikov) is fed up with the way people are treated. He believes that God’s law is greater than man’s law- so if he breaks man’s law but it’s cool with God, then he can’t really get in trouble. So he decides to kill this old lady that’s screwing everyone over. Once he does, he starts to feel guilty about it and ultimately gets arrested because this new philosophy of his isn’t how real life works.

To the sketch: Raskolnikov has a dream that he’s a young boy that watches a man beat his horse to death in the middle of town. None of the townspeople care about the horse or the beating or Raskolnikov’s tiny protests. Raskolnikov is heartbroken over the horse’s death and everyone else goes on their way. The horse is HUGE, I know- The disproportionate size is supposed to symbolize the gravity of what the horse represents to the dreamer. Just go with it.

I’ve heard this dream explained a number of times. Raskolnikov = Raskolnikov, Horse = his new way of life, Man = his Guilt, townspeople = cops/townspeople. I’ve also heard it analyzed in more detail as Raskolnikov = 12 apostles, Horse = Christ, Man = Romans, Townspeople = Jews, etc. Or you can combine the two analyses and tie everything together. Yay for reading between the lines.

Whichever way you look at it…it was still a pretty intense dream with some very imaginative visual potential.

What Day Is It?

2008-11-17T13:38:00.003-06:00

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

I'm tempted to forgo the explanation of this booksketch, for comedic effect. An old man hurdling a baby carriage? Vat in ze vurld?

Well, I can't do that to you. The old man above is Professor de Worms, a German professor as old as death and perpetually on his last legs. He is one of seven individuals on a anarchist council-of-sorts, one individual for each day of the week. The main character in the novel, Syme, was thrust into the council as part of an undercover sting set to bust the anarchist and their leader, Sunday. Syme ends up being Thursday, hence the title of the book.

Each of the council members is very peculiar in his own way. Professor de Worms appears to be always on the brink of death. Syme was very surprised to find the Prof tailing him one day after a council meeting. Try as he might, Syme could not shake the Prof. Now, there was no baby-jumping in the novel; I just threw that in there to make myself laugh, but the chase did involve some pretty strenuous physical activity, which perplexed and unsettled Syme as much as it did myself.

I can't tell you the reason for the sudden instillation of life into the old coot, but I will say that that Chesterton is an amazing author, haha. This book has plenty of fun twists.

About the illustration:
Originally inked with Prismacolor pens and then colored in Photoshop.

Conch'd Up

2008-11-06T07:56:00.004-06:00

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

First off, I apologize for the lack of booksketches as of late. I've been having to do a lot of preparing to move into my own house, and spent a weekend out of town, and just have been busy in general. It has been a stressful/down couple of weeks. I'll be trying to move this weekend, so hopefully things will settle down after that.

Lord of the Flies is a novel that places children in an extreme situation and lets animalistic instincts play out and snowball. Without the presence of adults, the children on the deserted island have to cooperate, organize, and communicate to survive. When their makeshift society starts to break down, immaturity morphs into a dangerous tribal sensation. Craving for power and control where there is essentially none. You want to control the conch and the fire and the meat; you don't want the "opposition" to have it.

Once the conch-led democracy dissipated into the more savage tribe-led society, the rules changed. That's because whoever had the power made the rules. And the power belonged to young boys hefting sharp sticks and sporting painted faces.

About the illustration:
Haha, sorry, this image popped into my head and I just had to draw it. The ultimate representation of authority on the island: a conch wearing Piggy's glasses. If this combination would have come into existance, maybe they would have worshipped it! The true "Lord of the Flies," eh?

This illustration was done using Prismacolor pens.

Road Warrior

2008-10-14T21:04:00.004-05:00

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Since the movie is coming out next month, I'd thought I'd revisit the novel. One of my friends recently mentioned how the part of the book where the predatory roamers were first described and how it unsettled him. In a future where food is ultra-scarce and there is no law, roaming bands of dirty, hungry people can't be a good thing. Especially when some of them wear gas masks, right?

I read recently a comment on a message board complaining about how the scavengers looked too "healthy" in the movie stills that were released. Well, my first reaction was that those alarming characters had a source of nutrients that others did not: humans. Yep, they just ate people. No age discrimination, either.

I remember a part in the book where the main character finds a shriveled apple tree that has produced shriveled apples. He was so happy to bit into the bland, dried ghosts-of-fruit that he pretty much teared up. Like they had stumbled upon a great fortune.

Anyway, I drew one of the road-prowlers. Equipped with sunken eyes, wonky hair and gas mask. I like to believe that this character drew the teeth on the gas mask himself. It's something he'd do. He eats people, for crying out loud!

About the illustration:
Done with watercolor and some new Prismacolor pens that I just bought. I like!

Lion Down on the Ground

2008-10-05T21:49:00.003-05:00

A Need For Gardens by Richard Brautigan

To tell you the truth, this particular Brautigan short story from Revenge of the Lawn still has me thinking "What the heck?" But in a good way, of course.

I don't mind tell you something about the story this time, since it can only prepare you a little, haha.

ALRIGHT. So, every year the characters in this story try to bury a lion. Why? I don't know. The Annual Lion Burial has been going on since the lion was itty-bitty. At first it scared and surprised him, but eventually he got used to it and just sat through the process looking rather bored.

What happens is every time they dig, the hole ends up being too small. So only a portion on the lion is covered. Then they give up until next year.

Yep!

About the illustration:
Well, this one was done with that Pentel V5 pen as well. But I also went over it with some Prismacolor pencils and some Copic markers. It's an overhead view of the partially-buried lion.

Update:
Ok, so I just googled "lion" and saw that they don't have big pink noses. Woops!

For The Birds

2008-10-05T21:39:00.005-05:00

The Wild Birds of Heaven by Richard Brautigan

I'm still reading Revenge of the Lawn and have already found a couple more illustration inspirations! Since the stories are quite short, I won't talk too much about what goes on. I'll just say that in this booksketch, a man is having his shadow removed by a blacksmith.

Yep. You read that correctly. Why it was removed is something you'll just have to find out for yourself, eh?

On a side note, I love how placid he is during the whole process. The guy goes to buy a new television and ends up having his shadow replaced...Oh my, I think I might have said too much!

About the illustration:
Haha, this one was just done with an ordinary Pentel V5 pen. I forgot my usual art pens at home and this was all I had on me!

Geese Louise!

2008-09-26T17:55:00.004-05:00

Revenge of the Lawn by Richard Brautigan

"Revenge of the Lawn" is the titular short story from a collection by the same name. I've read a few so far (there are QUITE a few in the collection), and this was the most entertaining one yet. The main bit of humor is about how a once-beautiful lawn has become cursed and barren through neglect, and now inflicts harm upon one of the characters, through various bizarre ways.

In wonderful Brautigan-fashion, a gaggle of geese stumble upon a moonshiner's mash (which I assume is the leftover pulp of apple cider or whatever they ferment) and consume it heartily.

This, of course, gets them drunker than the proverbial skunk. There are no skunks in the story, however.

So the geese pass out, and the moonshiner finds them and assumes they are dead. So she plucks them and puts 'em in her basement. Well, the geese wake up and freak one upon finding themselves naked and hung-over.

Wonderful situation, right? I thought so.

About the illustration:
Done all in watercolor. Quick watercolor. I probably should have pencilled it out a little first, though, eh? Haha, it came out alright. I scanned it and tried to take out the paper wrinkles in Photoshop, but it was just too much of a task because the midrange gets all blown out. And all attempts ended up looking strange. But this way, it looks like the geese are kind of weighing down the middle of a blanket or something, haha.

Lest of the Lest

2008-09-22T13:23:00.006-05:00

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

I started reading this book Sunday morning and finished it Sunday night. It was that good. And, not only did I finish it in a single day, I also was inspired to do a booksketch that same night.

If you're familiar with Mr. McCarthy's work, you'll know what you are in for. Amongst his other (dark) works are No Country for Old Men, All The Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian. Oh gosh, and his latest work, The Road, from which I have also drawn a booksketch.

I won't go into what happens in the book, but I'll just say that it is a study of a human being being degraded and likewise degrading his humanity. Lester Ballard succumbs bit by bit to the hard path that was cut for him in a mountainous region of Tennessee. Isolation conflicting with society when the two are forced to meet. Depravity uninhibited by any moral foundation. Disturbing actions that apparently do not disturb the main character. Things like that. Realistic, sparse dialogue.

The momentum snowballs and when the turning point of the book came, my mouth actually dropped open a bit. Way to go, Cormac!

The illustration above is what I figured Lester Ballard, a man of about 27 years, would look like after a few days cave dwelling and many years of isolation. And maybe reacting to a snide comment from the townsfolk.

About the illustration:
I used watercolor and Micron pen on this one. That seems to be the Burt trend lately, eh?

[tick] [tock]

2008-09-09T07:40:00.004-05:00

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers

Walter Moers is a modern German illustrator/author whose novels tell tales from the fictional land of Zamonia. "Fictional lands" are always much more fun and creative than non-fictional ones.

Anyways, my friend Lauren had told me about a new book by this author, whom I had not heard of previously. The novel, The City of Dreaming Books looked infinitely interesting, but since it is new, I decided to order one of his older books for cheapsies. And a week later Rumo arrived at my house and quickly became one of my favorite books. Top three. It's that creative.

It feels a lot like one of the old Grimm's Fairytales, with its fair share of darkness and more than a fair share of violence. The characters are all unique and many are illustrated by the author throughout the book. Moers takes liberties with the page layout sometimes, in very creative ways. He also messes with words themselves, and speech in general, which adds to many characters' personalities. Such as the Dwarf King of the Underworld. He is so insane that he can't speak a sentence without flipping and jumbling words and letters. So, for example, instead of saying "Help me decide what to eat," he would say "Phel em diedec what to tea!" Luckily, his personal attendee was there to repeat what he said in normal-talk, if you didn't feel like deciphering the code.

Anyways, the story is of a Wolperting (basically a cross between a deer and a dog, that can do anything a person can do) named Rumo that is mentored in his "childhood" by a 14-armed shark/grub hybrid. Lots of crazy stuff happens and there is a good bit of fighting and eating. And love, too! And Non-Existent Teenies. Just read it.

About the illustration:
One of the few characters that was not illustrated by the author was General Tick Tock, who was created by a mish-mash of alchemist, engineers and chemists who happened upon the aftermath of a great battle. They used their respective professions to save what was left of the armies. The survivors were part machine, part human, and were dubbed The Copper Killers. General Tick Tock was forged to be their mighty leader, and soon proved his self to be both mighty and completely evil.

He is always searching for more ways to increase his armaments in more creatively deadly ways. And he speaks like this "Hello. [tick] I am General Tick [tock] Tock. Surrender and you will have a [tick] relatively painless end." How fun!

And that is Rumo he's facing. Rumo is holding his talking demonic cheese-knife. Hahaha.

The illustration was done with Micron Pen and colored in Photoshop. The chain-link fence texture was also added to the cape in Photoshop.

I Do Declare!

2008-09-06T13:51:00.005-05:00

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

My wonderfully well-read girlfriend recently suggested that I read her favorite book, Pride & Prejudice. Honestly, I was expecting girly stuff. And to be honest, there IS girly stuff. It's about a bunch of sisters and their marriage escapades. But it's about much more than simply just that. Other girly things such as flirting, courting, gossiping, jealousy, etiquette and clothing are featured. It makes for a very interesting read.

I had actually seen the most recent movie-adaptation right before starting the book, but I tried not to let the actor's appearances influence what I saw in my head as I poured over the pages. My favorite character was, or course, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. My least favorite character being the little twit Lydia (whom I refuse to draw).

What I illustrated was one scene that was repeated often in the novel: Darcy coming off as proud and indignant to Elizabeth, whom he secretly loved. And of course didn't know how to show his true feelings.

One point that keeps coming up is the social barrier between a few of the characters. The Bennet family is not very rich, but very pleasant. The wealth factor induces both pride and prejudice amongst the characters, especially where marriages are concerned. You can't have people marrying down, apparently. That's just un-classy. Snootyville, England.

Though it may seem like I'm poking fun at the girliness, I'm really not. I rather enjoyed the novel. It was, of course, very well written. Though I did struggle some with the ornamental period language, nothing was really lost in translation. All the rules of etiquette, manners, procedures, and social guidelines in the novel are rather non-applicable to us today, but one can imagine how stringently society adhered to them back then.

About the Illustration
This booksketch was done using Micron Pen and watercolor.

Jump Drive N' Whale

2008-08-11T21:30:00.005-05:00

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

As if I'd pass up the change to draw an airborne whale.

I'll first start off with the title of this particular entry. I think it's a play on the song "Jump, Jive N' Wail," by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The whale pun is obvious, but NOT so obvious is the allusion to warp speed motors, also known sometimes as "jump drives." In reference to a hyper jump, or warp drive, etc. But maybe I'm just trying to hard / not trying hard enough.

Alright, so in the booksketch entry before I mentioned a missile being turned into a whale. That obviously wasn't the entirety of the scene. Another missile was turned into a pot of petunias. Very high in the sky.

Does that explain it? No?

Well, our rag-tag bunch of protagonists had just located this mythical planet, when its defense system sprang to life and launched missiles at them. Guided missiles, at that. Well, their target was none other than the Heart of Gold spacecraft that one of the main characters happened to steal. What's so special about this ship? It runs on an "Improbability Drive."

So, in other words, the harder you crank the engine, the more...improbable things become. For example, a pair of guided missiles turning into seemingly random objects/creatures seems highly unlikely right? Even downright improbable. Luckily, the engine was randomly turned on to a high improbability factor (the main character, Arthur saw this as their only means of escape).

SO, I hope that explains it. And I hope it inspires you to read the book (if you have not already). It is pretty probable that you'll enjoy it!

Mech-ancholy

2008-08-10T22:35:00.006-05:00

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I've actually just read HHGTTG for the first time recently. Until a week or so ago I assumed it was a kid's story about a child that gets hold of some universal guide, and goes romping around the galaxy getting into zany alien-scapades. Apparently I was wrong! There aren't any kids to be found. But there are lots of other things, like death, improbability and manic-depressive super-genius robots. Lots of quirky humor and imagination. Missiles turning into whales, and the like.

I quite enjoyed it.

The aforementioned moribund robot's name is Marvin. He simply loathes humans. And, well, most of everything. Mostly because he is so much smarter than everyone. And everything. At one point in the story, he is assigned to stand around and watch over an entrance to a subterranean passageway. Then the main character, Arthur, calls him up a hill to join him, but changes his mind when Marvin is halfway up the rock face. Sighing in resignation, Marvin trudges back down the rocky hill and returns to his station.

Lots of head-hanging and dropped shoulders. And sleeping, haha.

About the Illustration
This booksketch was done using Micron Pen & watercolors. I had it in my head that Marvin kind of resembled Helper from The Venture Brothers cartoon, haha. One thing I took for sure from the book's description was that he had downward-facing red triangle eyes. And he was humanoid in appearance. And he was metal (of course).

Old Dogs, New Tricks

2008-08-03T02:33:00.004-05:00

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake

Remembering what fun I had reading Titus Groan (and thinking about how many booksketches it produced), I decided that it was time to enjoy the second book in the trilogy. Gormenghast continues immersing the reader into the sprawling titular castle and wonderfully unique characters. At the point of this creating this booksketch, I am halfway into the novel, which continues to chronicle the life of the young 77th Earl of Gormenghast, Titus.

I find it so interesting that these books don't have any real plot. Or, at least none that you can really point out. They are all about exploration. The only thing that remains constant is Steerpike and his desire for more control and power. Such devilish ambition!

In this novel, though, Titus is old enough to go exploring the character of the castle itself. He has this craving to explore both inside and outside it's walls. One point to take note of is how Titus thinks of his title negatively, and feels constrained by his well-monitored heir-to-the-throne life. Everyone else, however, freaks out if he shows any sign of disdain towards his "duty." He's a kid! Let him run around or climb a tree or something.

One rather large focus of the novel is Irma Prunesquallor's soiree. Irma decides to host (along with her brother, the Doctor, whom was previously booksketched) a party where she would invite only bachelors of her choosing. You see, Irma has never, how do we say, has known the love of a man. Or, really, has never flirted or spoken to a man. Besides her brother, of course. And she feels that she is being wasted. That her long, milky neck has been wasted. Or sharp beak-like nose. Etc.

So she convinces her brother (he loves to humor her) to co-host this party. The objective being to find her true love. Whom does she invite? The castle's professors, of course. Scholarly gentlemen, and such.

Except the professors aren't very scholarly, or gentlemanly. A nice portion of the book is dedicated to showing us a dozen or so of the professors and how eccentric and lazy they are. Each one possesses a unique personality and disposition. Leading the pack is the noble and elderly, but not too respected, Headmaster Bellgrove. With his silky white head of hair and perpetual toothache. Keeping up his facade of a dignified noble, has a tendency to turn away or hide his face whenever he feels a smile coming on.

Well, a rumor is started among the professors that Irma is gunning for Bellgrove. Which gets into his head, of course. And before you know it, the two are overdramatically thrown together, and all of this high-school crush stuff starts happening between a 50+ year old lady and a 75+ year old man. It's hilarious.

And that's why I had to draw it.

About the Illustration:

This one was done with Micron pen and Prismacolor pencils.

Crook, Line, and Sinker

2008-07-24T22:19:00.005-05:00

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

First, I would like to point out that I was under the impression that everyone voluntarily read and loved The Thief of Always in junior high. I am slowly learning that this is not the case. Thus, proving my theory that you do, in fact, learn something new every day. Second, I must give credit to Burton for the punny title of this sketch. Many thanks, Burton!

Harvey Swick is a typical angst-ridden ten-year-old that has unfair parents and doesn't like school and can't ever have anything he wants ever. So, given the opportunity to go to a magical house that will give him just that, he jumps at the chance. He finds that if he imagines something he wants, it eventually appears in the house. The day is divided into all four seasons with spring in the morning and ending with winter at night. Halloween and Christmas are celebrated every night and he does whatever he likes during the day- every day.

Harvey meets a girl named Lulu who has lived in the house the longest out of all the children there. She is mysterious and sad, even though it appears she has everything she's ever wanted. When Harvey drops a toy arc filled with little wooden animals into the spooky lake behind the house, Lulu retrieves some of the pieces for him (from the bottom of the black lake). At this point, Harvey begins to realize that something fishy is going on at the magical house...

Doctor Doctor

2008-07-23T23:02:00.005-05:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Here's the aforementioned Part 2 of the DJ&MH illustrations. Dr. Jekyll is all sophistication on the surface, and to his friends. On the inside, however, he has been leading a double life. While he is mostly an upstanding citizen, a part craves to be immoral and indulge in guilt, shady pleasure, and debauchery.

It is mentioned in the story that Jekyll had been leading a secret life to explore some of this hidden displeasure. So when he started stumbling upon some chemical concoction that was able to bring out the duality of man, to separate it physically for some time, he became excited.

At first he reveled in the notion of becoming Edward Hyde, a figure of anti-morals. As he started losing control of Hyde, and sensing the wildness and hatred swell, he became fearful and panicked. Who wouldn't, really?

About the illustration:
For some reason I drew Jekyll as being rather young, even though he isn't really. I guess it was his giddiness to experiment with the potion that made me skew towards a more energetic, youthful appearance. Or maybe I wasn't thinking when I drew it...

This booksketch was done with inkwash, a little Micron pen and made to be a duotone in Photoshop.

Two Hydes To Every Story

2008-07-14T17:06:00.006-05:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

This was my first time reading DJ&MH, and I'm really surprised about how distorted the image of Edward Hyde has become. From the many, many imaginings and re-imaginings of the story through the years, from plays to cartoons to movies, Hyde has taken on a larger-than-life, more-brutal-than-a-chainsaw kind of image. Remember seeing Jekyll clutch his chest and fall behind a chair only to emerge as a monstrous brute with crazy hair, glaring eyes, and an imposing figure.

I remember seeing that! And I was rather surprised to find out that Hyde was actually smaller in stature than Jekyll! He was shorter, littler, but very stolid. The reasoning behind this was brilliant. You see, when Jekyll drank that concoction of his, it allowed his repressed immoral side to take control of his body's steering wheel, for lack of a better term. Since Jekyll had only recently started dabbling in those "earthly pleasures" and, well, displeasures, this "Hyde" part of his persona was rather like a newborn, or smaller in proportion to the rest of Jekyll's "good-natured" self. So this is why Hyde's physical representation was smaller.

Of course, he isn't just smaller and more imposing. He's described as having "some sort of hidden deformation that makes you instantly loath his being, as if he weren't human, or were pure evil. As if he doesn't have a conscience..." I'm just paraphrasing that, but it's the gist of a bunch of eye witnesses testimonies. Since eyes are the "windows to the soul," I just made my illustration have black, shadowed eyes.

One spine-tingling moment towards the end of the novel was the reveal that Hyde had actually grown between one span of transformations. Eeeep!

About the illustration:

Following my recent stylistic trend (well, except for my last one), this booksketch was done in watercolor and Micron pen. Edward Hyde is looking smugly at the key to the rear entrance to Jekyll's house, which is through the old, unused lab/dissecting room.

The Lover Bearing Gifts

2008-07-09T10:27:00.007-05:00

"The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira
and Her Heartless Grandmother"
Gabriel García Márquez

Her life was a tale of sadness
until she met Ulises.
A young man
bearing gifts of oranges —
the most beautiful oranges
with diamonds hidden inside.
He waits outside her tent
where her grandmother has
imprisoned her.
An owl's call
is her sign
to escape into his waiting arms.

I Love The 80s

2008-07-04T16:23:00.008-05:00

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

It's about time I did an illustration from American Psycho. I'd say it ranks in my top five novels. It's a rather brilliant, if extremely shocking satire on the materialism and disparity of New York upper class in the 1980s.

Our psycho, Patrick Bateman is doing pretty well for himself as an investor on Wall Street. Living a rather high life, with an expensive apartment and extravagant lifestyle, Bateman describes to us his daily routines. These routines show us how shallow the environment is: drugs, sex, lies, etc. No one can remember anyone's name, even their "friends." Everything is disconnected from everything else, and people just focus on themselves and their credit cards.

But that's not the entirety of it. Bateman is also a serial killer. He knows it; he factors it into his schedule. He detachedly leads the reader through some very intense, very graphic scenarios. As the novel progresses, his cravings increase and so does the danger of being discovered. But in such a calamitous and uncaring society, who will take the time to stop a killer? Probably no one, as long as their is money left to spend.

This novel was adapted into a movie, starring Christian Bale. It's about a third as shocking as the book, maybe even a fourth, but still gets across the same effect. You have to love that scene near the end with Bateman frantically leaving a voicemail.

"Tonight I, uh, I just had to kill a LOT of people..."

This illustration was done with Micron Pen and a dab of red watercolor.

Knight In Snoring Armor

2008-06-25T22:46:00.005-05:00

Don Quixote by Cervantes

These past couple of days have brought two or three Don Quixote references to my ears, which spawned the desire to do another booksketch tonight.

While I don't think this particular illustration is directly taken from any scene in the novel, I could picture ol' Quixote insisting on sleeping in his ratty armor to always be at the ready, should danger or villainy rear its ugly head. Lest any windmills sneak up on him.

Now that I'm thinking of this illustration, I guess there's another layer to it. The novel (or two novels, technically) is mostly about The Man From La Mancha's spiral into his dreamworld, losing sight of reality and becoming enamored with chivalry and knighthood. It's interesting to picture this dreamer actually dreaming, wrapped in his armor. Armor from what? Reality.

The illustration was done with inkwash and Micron Pen.

Picture Perfect

2008-06-16T12:27:00.003-05:00

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I first read this novel (Wilde's lone novellular work) in early high school and then again within a couple years of graduating college. I remember my friend Tim mentioning how it was one of his favorite books, which led me to recall how excellent it really was. Please discount any reference to Dorian Gray in the movie version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Blyuck.

Anyways, I'd consider this a "Gothic Horror" work, being that the setting is nice "turn o' the 20th century" London. You know, when people still had names like "Lord Henry" and stuff. Sherlock Holmesy in nature. Goings see many plays and wearing frills and flippery and all that fancypants stuff. I'm doing a great job of describing it, I know. Wait, I have it: The Late Victorian Era. Voila!

Alright, so Dorian "I'm young AND handsome!" Gray has a portrait painted by an artist, and it turns out quite nice. The artist falls in love with Dorian's beauty. Mr. Gray, meanwhile, becomes enamored with the world view of another character: Lord Henry. Henry ol' chap believes that one should only pursue beauty and pleasure in the world. And Dorian readily jumps on that ship.

This is really a classic and you should read it. And I shouldn't spoil it. So I won't. The book does deal with a few topics, the most important being "Inner vs. Outer Beauty." If one pursues worldly pleasures and looks, he may have to sacrifice his soul in the process.

This is a pretty dark book, as you can see! If you've read the novel, the sketch will make sense to you. And if you haven't then it should make you want to read it, right? Or make you have nightmares. This illustration was done with watercolor and Micron Pen.

On a final note, I will say that I wish it were titled "A Portrait of Dorian Gray," because "portrait" has a stronger connotation than "picture." Especially in this case.

In Y'Orr Dreams

2008-06-08T22:17:00.005-05:00

Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin

Have you ever had a dream from which you wake up disoriented, thinking "Yikes, that felt so real!"? And come to find that your dream actually changed reality to accommodate what your mind had created in its sleep? No? Well, then you might not be able to relate to this story.

But you COULD imagine what it'd be like, right? The main character, George Orr, has the ability to dream alternate realities for the world. And he fears it. Because no one can really CONTROL dreams. Not even under hypnosis. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The novel opens up with him being busted for using too much sleep-related drugs to stave off his dreams. He is forced into therapy with a dream psychologist, Dr. Haber. After a few hyno-dreamy sessions, Haber actually manages to suggest something to Orr that changes reality. And it doesn't just change the present day. It changes the whole history of the world, in relation to that dream. And only Haber and Orr know of the change. So now they have two sets of memories.

Haber refuses to believe what has happened at first. Once he comes to terms with Orr's power, he sets out to try to "improve the world" through suggesting things to the hypno-dream-induced Orr. Which never really works out the way it is intended because no one can fully control dreams. What you end up is kind of a genie-in-the-bottle effect:

Say you want to stop your neighbor from blaring loud music at all hours of the night. You want to dream that the neighbor stops playing music. In the dream, that end is met by you not living next to that individual. Instead, you now live across town in a penthouse apartment. Or, your neighbor has been struck by lightening when he/she was ten years old. Now he/she is deaf, and therefor can't listen to music.

Stuff like that.

Well, possibly much WORSE stuff. Lots of huge effects come out of Haber trying to "improve the world" through Orr's latent power.

And Orr just wants to be cured.

About the illustration:
Through a series of events (and dreams), aliens are introduced into our reality. They are nice, and left a good impression in my head. They are about nine feet tall and their perpetually-worn bodysuits make them appear turtle-ish. They are assimilited into society and everyday life, and have become good salesmen (sale-iens?) and shop-owners!

They haven't mastered communication with humans, but they understand the power of dreams and the trouble Orr is having. Near the end, when things REALLY get crazy, they give help to Orr by means of a gift. It's a vinyl of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." And it really is a help! You want me to spoil Lathe of Heaven for you? In your dreams!

Sketch done in Micron pen and inkwash. Oh my, I am proud of this entry's title!

Deer God

2008-06-03T22:56:00.002-05:00

Cenotaph is a book of poems by Eric Pankey. Although I wouldn't describe the poems as particularly excellent or earth-shaking, its a nice read. The above sketch was inspired by the poem The Kingdom of God Likened to a Deer Carcass.

I don't know what else to say about it that the title doesn't already explain. Its a short poem that describes the deer's sun-bleached bones to the ruins of an abandoned church, whose pieces are subject to destruction by carrion birds and wild dogs. While I could probably dissect the poem for symbolism and hidden meanings, etc., I just thought the image of a deer skeleton as a church was sort of neat.

Not all of the poems are morbid, but most are sort of dark and resentful of certain things like parents and lovers and religion. There is one about spring, but that one didn't have any distinct imagery that stuck in my head. Besides, I already knew what a deer skeleton looked like.

Brautigan Again!

2008-06-01T02:06:00.005-05:00

The Abortion is another Brautigan work. I'm sure that frequenters of this site are becoming quite familiar with Brautigan's work and if he were still alive today, perhaps he would be grateful for so much publicity. I digress...

Despite the controversial issue of a title, The Abortion: A Historical Romance 1966 is a sometimes light-hearted, sometimes pleasantly sad, mostly happy story about a couple traveling to Tijuana for an abortion in 1966. The woman, Vida, is a woman so beautiful, that men have been killed trying to stare at her. She hates her curves and good looks because she doesn't feel like she fits her own body. The man, whom Brautigan modeled after himself, I think, is one of the only men that doesn't stare at her lustily...so they fall in love. She finds out that she's pregnant and they make the decision to have an abortion in a very calm and cool manner and make a very non-regretful trip to Mexico.

They met at a library where the man (if they say his name at all in the book- it's not often and I don't remember it if it was indeed mentioned) is the librarian. He never leaves the library and has lived there every hour of every day for the past several years. The concept of this particular library is that all of the books in it were brought in at any hour of the day, by any author, and about any subject the author desires. One man wrote an entire book about the history of leather clothing on a leather bound book made entirely of leather, a five year old wrote a book about his tricycle, another teenage girl writes a book about her cat- and all are admitted into the library and placed on whatever shelf the author chooses. Once every few months, a man named Foster comes down from the desert in his van, picks up a number of books, and brings them to the "caves" for storage. None of the books are ever destroyed and the whole operation is funded by this organization called "The America Forever, etc.", which is never really seen.

The sketch is inspired by the opening chapter of the book, which introduces the kooky nature of the library. An old woman rings the doorbell at 3 in the morning to submit her book, "Growing Flowers by Candlelight in Hotel Rooms". She's described as old, approximately eight, and very shabbily dressed. She lives in a hotel and walked three hours all the way to the library as soon as she finished after five years of writing her book- in crayon, complete with illustrations. As she turns the book in and its registered, she tells a little story of her life and how she loves to grow flowers- but her hotel room has no windows. After a short chat, her book is registered, she places it on a shelf full of mostly children's works, and leaves at 3 am for her three hour trek back to her hotel home.

I think that this part of the story struck me for several reasons. First, I have a soft spot for old people, especially those that live alone. The old woman seemed to have such a sad life, living in a hotel room with no windows and whatnot. The book that she'd worked on for five years seemed like a sort of validation and a great triumph for her, even though probably no one would ever read it. Her book, like many of the others brought in to the library, was something that meant volumes to the author, but most likely wouldn't matter to any other person. The librarian's job is to make certain that it does matter, or at least make the various and quirky authors feel as though their work mattered. I think thats nice and fuzzy.

So, as the sketch shows, I pictured the old lady sitting all alone in a dark hotel room tending to her flowers growing by candlelight, feeling proud that she'd written an entire book about them. I think that the image inspired by the description of the old woman and her book set the tone for the entire story: a little bit sad, but pleasant and satisfying at the same time. I read the book from cover-to-cover in one sitting, as I've done with a couple of other Brautigan works. Having said this, I will declare this as one of my favorite Brautigan works. Then again I would probably say that about all of them. I will still declare it a favorite, however.

Starting On The Wrong Foot

2008-05-28T22:28:00.007-05:00

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Continuing my lighthearted illustration streak, I decided to booksketch from one of the nine or so Vonnegut books that I have read. Going through my library, Cat's Cradle was the first one I happened upon, so here you go.

To be honest, I remember liking it, but couldn't recall anything but the ending. So, flipping through the book helped refresh my memory. Like how the story is narrated by a fellow who wants to write a book about the direct kin of the man who (fictionally) helped invent the atomic bomb. Through investigation, he learns that this scientist had also invented a deadly substance called "ice-nine," which turns all water it touches into solid form at room temperature, by means of a molecular chain reaction. As you can imagine, this would be bad news if it were real. Well, in the novel, it is real. Deal with it, Earth!

Trying to track down more information on the substance, and ice-nine itself, our narrator is lead to a third-worldish island that is run by a dictator. This dictator wields a hook. Which was my initial booksketch thought. But the island isn't ALL dictator-centric.

On the island is an interesting religion called Bokononism. It focuses on people working together as a group (karass) to do God's will. And to spread love in general.

And finally coming to the illustration:

One way the Bokononians spread love is an intimate ritual that involves rubbing the naked souls of the feet together.

I know, right? The narrator participates in this ritual, boku-maru, with a rather captivatingly beautiful woman (who happens to be the daughter of the island's dictator, I believe). She was offered to him as a wife, should he wish. But because of culture clash, he instantly demands she cease foot-loving anyone else and only share her love with him. This, of course, goes against her religion and hurts her.

Kind of a jerk thing to do to a potential wife, eh?

Anyway, I thought it'd be kind of humorous to just draw the woman in an alluring foot-love pose, and just allude to a male's presence. Maybe he's shy. Or has his doubts. Or maybe he's already done!

Well, whatever you pull from the sketch, I think it stands on its own feet.

This illustration was done using a Micron pen and Copic markers.

A Chirp in Time

2008-05-18T16:03:00.011-05:00

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

After posting my first illustration from Einstein's Dreams, the wonderfully well-read Alison Moon mentioned that she'd like to see a drawing from the chapter that features a world where Time is embodied in the form of nightingales. I hadn't yet gotten to that part, but anxiously awaited it. Of course, it turned out to be the final chapter (except for the short epilogue, of course)!

So, picture a world where people are able to pause any moment in their life. How do they do this? Well, they trap nightingales under a bell jar. Nightingales in this world are the embodiment of Time, and if one catches one, Time is caught as well. This freezes the moment, and the trapper can essentially live out one happy moment for a good while.

In an interesting note, elderly people can't catch the nightingales because they are just too slow. Which is rather unfortunate, since the elderly are the group that most desires to hold onto moments. Children really have the best chance of trapping the time-birds, but they don't really have a will for it. What need do they have of pausing Time? They just want to play and such.

There is one more important point to the chapter, but I will not go into it. I'd rather not spoil the entire world for you, right?

Additional Thoughts

This book was a brain-massage. It makes you think about all of these short little "what if" universes, but doesn't require you to analyze much or dive into research or theory. Lightman just flows the ideas over you, and you can wade in them if you'd like.

I'd like to add a little time-world theory of my own for you. Well, I guess mostly for Alison, since she suggested this book to me, haha.

Imagine a world in which Time moves like the turning of a page.

In this world, people live their life in sections, much like a page spread in a book. While your life is open to a certain page, you can view everything that has happened on the two pages facing you. You can skip around and revisit anything on those two pages for as long as they are visible. You can reread parts over and over, or skip whole paragraphs if you'd like.

Time moves in brief spurts, so you are free to "reread" parts from your life that are open. Re-experience graduation, or getting a raise, or spending the night with someone you love. Experience everything you've felt when your son scored three goals in his soccer state final, or how good you felt when someone you've had your eye on complimented your sense of humor.

Gloss over any parts you wish, as well. Who would want to experience a nasty bout of food poisoning again? Getting rejected while asking a crush to a high school dance is no fun (at least I assume... I never asked anyone). When your long-time pet passed away, just leaving you with a few pictures and a memory.

But eventually the page would be flipped. You would not be able to revisit anything from the previous page of Time, because Time decided it was time to have another spurt. Now a new spread is open for you. You can look ahead and see what will happen a few sentences down. You can begin to read through, or even reread passages once again. Don't be afraid to try new things! If they turn out well, you'll be able to experience them often. If you fail at something, you'll be able to pass over it in memory.

This world would make passionate readers of us all.

Get Off Your High House

2008-05-14T20:55:00.004-05:00

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

I don't know if you're a fan of science fiction (or science in general). I am, but then again, I own a Star Wars belt. You don't really have to love sci-fi to really enjoy this book, since it is really more about thinking than testing laws of physics and whatnot.

Actually, I haven't finished the book yet. Immediately after soaking up the chapter that inspired this booksketch, I broke out the inks. Einstein's Dreams is a delightful collection of short chapters where the author kind of just bounces these neat ideas off of you. What if time in our universe was just one big loop, and we'll forever repeat our joys and sorrows? What if there were two sorts of "time?" What if there was a city that worshipped the flow of time?

One chapter mentioned how scientists measured that time actually is ever-so-slightly slower at high elevations, and quicker nearer the Earth's core. The author poked my brain when he suggested that in an alternate universe, people took this idea and ran with it (or climbed, rather). They began to migrate to the mountains and build their houses on tall stilts as to prolong their lives. Height becomes a status symbol. People hate lowering themselves to the Earth's surface to run errands. So when they have to do that, they really RUN errands. As fast as they can.

Height matters, I guess!

Invisible Ink

2008-05-06T20:00:00.008-05:00

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

This novel kicks off with a surreal bang, with our "invisible" narrator going around and busting heads because his invisibility grants him freedom from being held accountable. He wants to explain how he became this way, and the majority of the rest of the novel is his story.

Starting out as a young and exceptionally talented speechmaker at a southern university, the narrator relates to us the trouble he gets into as a young black man dealing with racial issues, catch-22s, and tradition. After a particularly disastrous incident involving one of the rich white university trustees, our narrator is first admonished for fouling up the reputation of the university and then sent out to New York to work.

Having always looked up to Dr. Bledsoe, the university administrator (and also one of the few black men that the narrator has seen in a position of power), our narrator is crushed to find out that he was actually expelled and exiled from the school. Facing his anguish and anger, he decides to strike out into New York by enlisting in a paint-making factory.

After another incident, this time involving an insecure mentor figure at the factory and pressurized machines, our narrator ends up at a hospital. His mind and identity gets erased due to an experimental treatment by white scientists.

Let loose upon the streets, he is taken in by a wonderfully kind older black woman named Mary. She tends to him and won't hear anything about taking rent money until he can find a job.

Well, he does find one, eventually. After making a potent speech at the site of a rather public eviction, a man approaches him and asks our narrator to join up with a Brotherhood, which fights for the unity of all people, regardless of race. The rest of the novel tells about the narrator's struggle up the ladder, his success, ideas and thoughts, cautions, betrayals, and much more. Dark humor, provoking thoughts and actions, and excellent plots abound.

So, only at the very end does he explain what it took to make him realize he could be invisible, and what that means for him and society.

This sketch is of the character Ras the Destroyer, an powerful speaker who embraces his African heritage and spurns oppression. At the end of the novel, he changes his name from Ras the Exhorter to Ras the Destroyer because he's done preaching his words and starts tearing down society as he sees fit. Throughout the book, Ras has opposed the Brotherhood that our narrator has championed. He staunchly believes that since the Brotherhood was started by white people, it was only a sham and affront to black people everywhere. In his eyes, the only way to help his race was to fight those that always brought the boot down upon them.

Amid an all out race-riot, Ras leads an army while mounted upon a great black steed, brandishing a shield, spear, spurs, and pistol. Very visual, isn't it?

Other issues that are explored:
- Women's sexuality as a tool/danger
- Manipulation and deceit under the guise of "good"
- Using emotions and ideas to unite people
- The creative and destructive power of organizations
- Destiny in relation to class/race
- How different societies see thing in variation
- Trust and Betrayal
- Action as opposed to religion

On a side note, the majority of the book takes place in New York city, which is where I read the last third of the book! I just happened to be on vacation and visiting friends up there, and I got to walk on some of the same streets the narrator walked on! Haha!

Barred Window Chords

2008-04-17T23:57:00.003-05:00

The Music of Erich Zann by H.P. Lovecraft

A couple of days ago I found the urge to do an illustration featuring violin. Mostly because violin takes up a nice chunk of my time these days. So I racked my brain to think of something I've read that included a violin, and I remembered a wonderful short story by Lovecraft that I lit upon when pouring over a collection of his works.

The story is only about ten or so pages long, so it is hard to explain the booksketch without giving away major points. But I'll try my best not to ruin the story for you, should you want to read it.

A university student in a European city finds a cheap apartment on a strange little street. He meets another one of the residents, a lean, bent old man named Erich Zann, who plays violin in a small cheap theater orchestra nearby during the day and cranks out some eerie/mystifying notes at night.

The student is intrigued and eventually befriends Erich. One evening he gets invited in to Erich's room for a bit. The conversation stops as a distant musical note enters from the curtained window. Erich Zann immediately zones out and breaks out his violin, as if to compete with the approaching ghostly music.

I'm going to stop there. Lovecraft considered this amongst his favorite works produced, and I can see why. While many of his works tend to go overboard in ghastly detail of supernatural (and just plain other-wordly) creatures, The Music of Erich Zann is more subtle, and it strikes an especially eerie note. No pun intended. Ok, maybe a little one.

The illustration above is of Zann playing feverishly to fend off what waits outside his window.

Num num num

2008-04-13T20:59:00.005-05:00

Blood Relatives is a short story from the book The Littlest Hitler by Ryan Boudinot. I bought it because the synopsis online for the title story was about a little boy and girl who dress up as Hitler and Anne Frank for Halloween and become friends. The actual story (and book, for that matter) is much more depressing and dark and sometimes funny at the same time. This is OK though, because the short stories are also completely awesome, for the most part.

Blood Relatives is actually a combination of two stories involving a family member being a serial killer. The first story (pictured above) begins with a mom and her son shopping for food with the usual happenings. He asks for sugary cereal, she says no, he wants pizza pockets for dinner, she says no, etc. The mom is somewhat of a health nut, but only cooks a meal from scratch on Wednesday nights. This meal is labeled "the fancy meal."

The story sounds normal enough in the beginning, but we soon find out that the "fancy meal" involves ax wielding and the phrase "go fast...my mom used to run track." Ultimately, the crazy antics end with everyone living life as normal, as though the crazy and morally inept "fancy meal" is business as usual. A very entertaining little story! The second story is equally dark and comedic and also involves more dark humor.

Note: no. She is not doing the "Rock-out hand" while holding the ax. I just thought it looked really dainty for her to have her pinky out.

Chalk Up Another One

2008-04-11T06:40:00.003-05:00

Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan

My second imagining of a section from Trout Fishing comes from a chapter where our narrator recalls the time he was a sixth grader. He and a posse of his classmates devised a plot (out of boredom) to write "Trout Fishing in America" on the backs of all of the first graders they could find at recess.

So, armed with pieces of chalk and a sixth-grader mindset, they set off on their tasks and swept the playground. Complaints started arising from the campus, as well as confusion. What did this phrase mean, and why was it on the backs of every first grader? Was it some sort of evil plot? Who did it?

Well, the principal eventually got around to grilling the sixth graders. I won't spoil the outcome for you, though. I will, however say that I loved the paragraph that you could tell which of the students' mothers didn't feel like washing clothes every day. The day after the mass-chalking, you could still see the faded remains of the graffiti on some first graders' backs!

Brautigan books are chock-full of fun imagery, so you can expect more booksketches from them!

Watership Drown

2008-04-02T22:24:00.005-05:00

Watership Down by Richard Adams

It was brought to my attention that I had a nice bleak illustration streak (rhyme!) going there, so I decided it'd be best for everyone if we brought some color back into the equation. And bunnies. Easter just passed by, so why the heck not? The title of this particular illustration is purely for pun purposes, so don't get all worked up about the rabbits' welfare. They're fine. Well, most of them. My rabbits do look rather sleepy. Well, what do you expect! They're tired from laying all those Cadbury eggs.

And the best bunny story I know is Watership Down, hands down. This is my second booksketch inspired by it. The illustration actually was supposed to be much simpler, but I kept adding things because the rabbits and the watercolors were giving me a tough time! But I think it turned out pretty interesting.

At one part in the novel, Hazel and company are hastily escaping down a river when their small raft becomes stuck, and they have to swim for it. So, there you have it. Rabbits swimming!

Rabbits = cuter than rats = cuter than post-apocalyptic cannibals?

You decide.

The Road Ahead

2008-03-25T22:15:00.006-05:00

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Oh, I've been wanting to do an illustration about any McCarthy novel for a while now. But it has been a meandering road, and I've only just gotten to it.

That pun is the only lighthearted thing that will be ever be associated with this book. Be forewarned.

The Road is a gripping, haunting post-apocalyptic story about survival, humanity and the lack thereof.

To start off the novel, the main character learns that America has just been nuked in various places. He immediately goes fill his bathtub up with water. That gave me an indication of what lay ahead. Without rules and something in place to keep everything in check, things basically go nuts.

When most of the crops fail, when all the energy goes out, when food goes scarce, what will become of society? This book paints a pretty...bleak picture, but you can pretty much believe it. Heck, I believed it instantly after that bathtub was filled with water, turning it into a large canteen.

I'm trying to give you the impression that this book is a brutal account of a man and his young son trying to make their way south to the Gulf of Mexico while traversing a dead, bleak, dismal and dangerous land. It is always cold in this world, because the sun is blotted out. Very cold. You have to scrounge for whatever food you need to get by on (I remember one part when they find shriveled, pathetic apples, and they are SO relieved and revived). Shoes are very important, and you should worry about their condition. People are dangerous because, well, they might be cannibals. There are several scenes and situations which push this upon the reader.

But what makes this book, and Cormac McCarthy, so genius is that it's not REALLY about all that bad stuff. It's about digging through it and finding the hope and humanity. The dialogue (all done with no quotation marks) between father and son is startlingly straightforward and heartfelt. Here's a sample that takes place right before the section that my illustration is from:

(son speaks first, then father, then you can follow from there)

We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we?
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving?
We're starving now.
You said we werent.
I said we werent dying. I didnt say we werent starving.
But we wouldnt.
No. We wouldnt.
No matter what.
No. No matter what.
Because we're the good guys.
Yes.

You read this book and you sigh relief along when the characters when they find respite from their environment. They find food one day, and you smile because they smile. In the illustration above, they by chance happen upon an underground bunker/storeroom behind some abandoned house. And it's like heaven. And it is heartbreaking when they have to leave it to continue on. Because, as the father says, everyone else is looking for the same thing, and it wouldn't be good to be caught unawares there.

Upon finding the bunker, they are cautious about opening it. When the father finds that it is chock-full of supplies and empty of hazards, he can barely contain himself. And when he tells the boy to come on down, the boy hesitates. Which is the moment I tried to capture. I can picture him just looking around and checking to make sure no one is watching them. They had just come from a rather traumatic encounter in another house...

:shudder:

This is probably one of the "happier" moments in the novel. I've also read Blood Meridian and All The Pretty Horses, both of which have that same wonderfully dark, dangerous feel to them. Bad things happen. Good things happen. Really great stuff. Must have more.

Year of the Rat

2008-03-18T22:25:00.006-05:00

1984 by George Orwell

Ah, the dystopian genre. While definitely not uplifting (at all), these bleak looks at humanity and society and control are often great works of literature. And, being a great work of literature, 1984 has been promoted on high school reading lists for a while now. So, it's pretty interesting how many people you know that might have read it!

I actually didn't experience it in high school; I waited until I was somewhere in the middle of my college branding. To make matters more dystopic (I love messing with words), I read Brave New World right after that. It was a very bleak period! Hahaha.

Anyway, this novel is about how the world is divvied up under the control of three huge super-powers. One of these, Oceania, is where the novel is set. Specifically, in London. The government tells everyone that they are at war with one of the other super-powers, and that terrorists are constantly trying to sabotage daily life. Big Brother watches every citizen's ever move. Oh, you just have to love hand-in-fist propaganda. Whatever the government deems "unsafe" is permanently deleted from every record, and thus from history. This is one of the tasks assigned to the Ministry of Truth.

Yes, the Ministry of Truth. There's also a Ministry of Love that... well... makes people like the government. By any means necessary.

One citizen, Winston Smith (who works at the Ministry of Truth) ends up straying from the set path and finds out all sorts of chinks in the machine. This leads to a whole mess of events, one of which may involve rats and psychological "conditioning." Definitely stuck in my mind!

So yeah, if you are deathly afraid of rats, I apologize. And you probably will want to skip a chapter or two of this book. On second thought, just take my word that it's a good book (KIND OF a downer), and go get some ice cream.

Rock Credentials Validated

2008-03-09T22:48:00.005-05:00

Never Mind The Pollacks by Neal Pollack

A fictional account of a the world's greatest unknown fictional rock critic. Funny, lewd, zany, rockin' and most definitely rolling something at any given point in time. Usually followed by smokin'.

Alright, enough with me trying to be witty in describing this book. I'll just paste the disclaimer from the copyright section of the book. It does an excellent job of giving an idea of what this book is like to read.

This is a work of fiction. References to real people, including the author's friends whose lives have been ruined by major label record deals, as well as events, establishments, organizations, or locales, are intended only to let you know that corporate rock still sucks. They are all used fictitiously or satirically, but especially the stuff about Kurt Cobain. All other characters and all incidents and dialogue are drawn entirely from the author's fertile imagination and are not to be construed as real, even if they, against your will, stir up unbearable waves of sexual desire.

After I finished the book, I went back and pored over the copyright page and all the credit information for little gems like that. It's something that I'm pretty sure a lot of people glossed over. It's like in great comedies (like my personal favorite, Top Secret) they'll hide funny stuff in the credits for people who look for that sort of thing. Well, yay.

Never Mind the Pollacks is an over-the-top helping of rock culture, served up to you by a journalist searching for the true story behind Neal Pollack, infamous rock critic. We find out a million unbelievable things about Pollack, such as being run over and befriended by Elvis. And giving many now-famous and well-known artists their start. Like getting the Velvet Underground their first gig. And letting Iggy Pop find is identity. And being in the Ramones for a short time. And becoming a father figure of sorts to Kurt Cobain.

It's a book that's purely for entertainment, by means of a satirical kick in the teeth. Laced with vulgarity and outlandishness for comedic effect.

This booksketch illustration has a little conceptual twist up at the top. Hope you like it! Ahhhhh, rock.

The Morel of the Story

2008-03-01T16:42:00.007-06:00

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares

I found out about this novel from a friend. He suggested The Invention of Morel to me because he had heard it had a similar feel to the spectacumondously awesome television show LOST. Since I'm a huge fan of that show, I ordered the novel on blind faith.

I chose it as a booksketch inspiration because on the "Eggtown" episode of LOST, one of the characters happened to be reading the novel in one scene! I also sent Ben and Ralph over at the Dharmalars LOST Podcast an email saying that I'd try to do an illustration inspired by the book.

And it was excellent. I can't really tell you anything about what happens, without giving anything away. The entire 90-or-so page novel builds up mystery and mood until the ending. I guess I should try to explain a little so I can justify doing a sketch about it, right?

OK, so the main character is a fugitive who has been hiding out on a deserted island. The island is made up mostly of swamp and marsh, but has some high land, on which a museum, chapel, and swimming pool sit. There are tales of some mysterious disease associated with the island, but the fugitive doesn't really have a choice of better living conditions.

One day, he finds that some strange tourists appear on his island. He doesn't want to be seen (and maybe turned over to the authorities), so he hides and spies. He observes numerous weird and puzzling things, and as the novel progresses, details are revealed pertaining to the nature of the "tourists."

A scientist, Morel, is among them. He seems to be their leader, and it is revealed that he has invented a great machine. I refuse to tell you what the machine is; no spoilers allowed. I don't believe they ever really described the invention, just various parts and workings of it and related inventions.

This sketch is my imagining of Morel's invention.

Also, if you like LOST, you'd probably like this book. And probably the Dharmalars podcast! Check 'em out.

Oh my, God.

2008-02-24T19:34:00.003-06:00

God is Dead by Ron Currie Jr.

When I was given this book, it was actually described to me as a comedy- so I decided to look past the title and give it a shot. The premise of the story is that God comes to earth as a starving Sudanese woman in search of her brother. In his/her travels, he/she ends up murdered (hence the title).

The humorous part is that the world doesn't know quite how to deal with the revelation that God is dead so all sorts of wacky things start happening. The chapters are ordered in a short story fashion so each one is about some different wild and crazy thing that goes on because of God's death. For example, adults start to worship their children and the animals that ate God's dead body start speaking in tongues, etc. I actually haven't read it all yet, but so far it's fairly interesting and it gives you the opportunity to tell all of your religious friends how hilarious things would be if God were dead.

The sketch is God as the Dinka woman. When I first showed it to my friend that gave me the book, she was appalled that I pictured her happy and bubbly (and white) since the story is set in Darfur (seriously, this book is a comedy) and goes into the atrocities that are occurring there. However, I wasn't quite in the mood to draw a lady getting raped with a torch or something like that. I also felt that no one would really be in the mood to view any pictures of a lady getting raped by a torch, so I decided to go with the happy, bubbly lady instead.

Rocketman-oh-man

2008-02-21T22:12:00.004-06:00

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

As I mentioned in the post below, this is one tough cookie to read. Not that you read cookies. Anyways, there are 400+ characters and countless subplots and tangents, so it is basically like reading 15 different books at once. Which isn't the best for a straightforward storyline, but is quite good for illustrating!

The aforementioned Slothrop is rather special: Apparently, whenever he "gets intimate" with a female, a bomb strikes whatever location the action took place soon afterwards. This "ability" sets off a number of things, one being that people want to keep tabs on him. Another is that he gets dubbed "Rocketman" and sort of has a superhero status.

I'm sorry, I don't think I mentioned that this takes place during World War II, and Slothrop is a young (and promiscuous) lieutenant in the British army. There we go; consider it mentioned.

People send him off on various missions. The sketch above depicts Rocketman, in his Rocketmannish attire (a white Zoot suit and a helmet made from the nose cone of a rocket), stealing a bag of hashish for one of his fellow soldiers. He runs into Mickey Rooney there, in a comical scene where nothing is said, and pretty much nothing happens. But how random is that? Imagine stuff like that for 800 pages. I didn't draw Mickey Rooney because I really don't know what he looks like. Or what he looked like during World War II.

All that being said, I think I might have one more Gravity's Rainbow sketch in me. It will be from a very small part in the book (maybe three pages) that made me laugh out loud. Think three stooges, but in fighter planes. Check back soon!

Wait, What?

2008-02-19T23:25:00.008-06:00

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

If you manage to read this book, you automatically enter an elite brotherhood (sisters welcomed, too). As soon as you flip over the final page, sigh, and ask "What the hell?" a courier arrives with a shiny medal emblazoned with a flaming book. This signifies your burning love for literature.

Gravity's Rainbow has been hailed (by some) the 20th century's greatest postmodern work. It has also been branded (by some others) as "unreadable." And while there are over 400 characters, oh-so-many plots and subplots, uncountable references to science and culture and history, you could get your kicks out of just reading the wonderful prose (and not actually trying to draw anything from it.)

It is about 800 pages of...topsy-turvy this-and-that madness, topped with humor and crazy scenarios and images. It is the hardest book I have ever read. I have also read Pychon's The Crying of Lot 49, which I found was a little easier. Maybe that was because it was a LOT shorter?

OK. So, anyway. This sketch is from one of the few scenes that I was actually able to retain. One of the main characters, Slothrop, aka "Rocketman," aka a bunch of other things, drops his harmonica in a restroom at a ballroom. He really doesn't want to lose it, so he dives in the toilet after his beloved harmonica. He enters a world inside the toilet, with all sorts...toilet world things. There are all sorts of symbols and parallels and what-have-you down there. The movie of Trainspotting even pays homage to this with a similar scene!

Ah, my head hurts just thinking about this book again. But as I type this companion text to my sketch, I look up at my coveted Fiery Book award, and smile proudly.

A-SPIRING Holy Man

2008-02-09T15:44:00.000-06:00

The Spire by William Golding

When I found this book (hardcover, great condition from Alexander Books) I thought "Well, Lord of the Flies was excellent, so this will be also." While it was a good, psychological book, I didn't fall in love with it. It kind of drug on and wasn't quite as tense as you'd think.

It might help if I summarize the novel. Jocelin, the dean of the cathedral, receives funding to build the largest spire ever. Everyone sees that it cannot technically be built (without collapsing utterly), but Jocelin drives them onward. As the story progresses, he becomes sick and starts having delusions, thus only adding to his fanatical drive to see his impossibly tall spire built. I recall several parts of the book where the construction workers say that they can hear the walls singing and screaming under the pressure of the spire above. Creepy!

The sketch is just an imagining of the spire, near completion. I am not an expert on architectural drawings, as you can see, but it is pretty fun to make up stuff as you're going along.

Unstuck In Time

2008-01-31T08:02:00.000-06:00

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

One of my friends recently reminded about KV's most popular work, as titled above. Well, I took liberties to shorten the full title, which is Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance With Death. Of course, you can find out why such a title was given to the novel, but you have to pay attention! This clues you in as to what type of author Vonnegut is. A GREAT ONE.

The novel follows Billy Pilgrim, who, by means of an accident, has become "unstuck in time," and can travel to different points in his life and experience them first-hand, second-handly. Lots of things ensue. One such thing is that he gets kidnapped by Tralfamadorians. These are aliens that can see in four dimensions (time included!). They can, like Billy, jump to different parts in their life at any time. So while they have a fatalistic view on life, they aren't sad about death because it isn't necessarily at the "end" of their life. Still with me?

Well, the sketch above is my imagining of how Tralfamadorians see humans. The book describes it as "a human millipede with a set of baby legs at one end and old person legs at the other."

This created a very interesting image in my head! I've remembered it from when I first read it, back in early high school. Fun!

Bucolic

2008-01-23T08:15:00.000-06:00

"Feathers" Raymond Carver

While reading this
I found myself
in that kitchen
in a small house in the country.
A German woman with good teeth
consoling her very ugly baby
while their peacock rattles
it's feathers and
clatters across the linoleum.
I can almost smell the coffee brewing
as I take it all in.

A Handle on the Situation

2008-01-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

You've guessed it: A handlebar mustache.

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

Somewhere in the thick of this novel, a theory is proposed as to how one might actually go about growing bicycle handlebars from one's face. It boils down to just how much said person rides his or her bicycle. I will not spoil the details of the theory; I must leave that for you to enjoy. I will, however, say that everyone in the novel seems to be obsessed with bikery (that is, all things bicycle-related). Sans our main character, and this makes him an enigma to the policemen!

This book is so surreal and inventive, I really wish it were longer. I'm about 4/5 of the way through it as of the moment of this post.

Two policemen, of titular reference, are lead characters in this novel (the third officer is supposedly always undercover and secreted away, but always watching). They bustle about the surreal county with the main character following them, not necessarily by choice. They dazzle and puzzle him with all sorts of strange theorems and devices and creations. They amaze and scare him, alternatively. He's in quite a pickle at the moment, just so you know. But I can't tell you what exactly it is.

;)

He's In The Details

2008-01-16T17:25:00.000-06:00

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

This book is presented as a catalogue of letters from an experienced demon, Screwtape, to his inexperienced newbie-demon nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape offers sagely (devilishly sagely) advice to Wormwood and seeks to help him earn his keep in the underworld by properly tempting those oh-so-corruptible humans.

I need to mention that Wormwood is pretty inept. Sometimes he has the reverse effect of his intent. I don't need to mention that Screwtape is usually exasperated each time he opens a new letter. I tried to portray some exasperation in the sketch.

C.S. Lewis always takes a wonderfully thoughtful approach to religion and morality. Through the two demon's correspondence, one can see how to actually avoid unwanted temptations, and enjoy some laughs in the process. Good stuff!

This sketch was done with inkwash and a tiny, tiny bit of Micron pen. Then I just digitally converted it to a nice red hue. Hope you like it!

That's So Cold Hat

2008-01-13T13:53:00.000-06:00

You know, instead of saying "That is old hat." Ahem...

My friend Lauren and I had agreed to each do a booksketch from Sombrero Fallout, a novel by Richard Brautigan. If you'll scroll down you can see her great entry. Here is my sketch; better late than never, right?

The sketch is based off of a section of the sombrero storyline, where the mayor, his cousin, and an unemployed man are debating about who will pick up the strange black sombrero that has just fallen out of the sky in front of them. The mayor's cousin sees this as his chance to gain politcal influence and cement his future as a leader. The mayor wants to keep his hold on his power, of course, so letting someone else pick it up would be a sign of weakness. The unemployed man sees this as his opportunity to impress someone enough to get a job.

All of them want to pick up the sombrero, but they also have doubts! Eventually the mayor's cousin touches it and finds that it is ice-cold. This freaks him out and things escalate and people start crying. And then all hell breaks loose. I won't spoil anything else that happens, but it is very, very memorable!

I'm laughing just thinking about it!

A Fright For Sore Eyes

2008-01-08T23:12:00.000-06:00

As of January, I've started to read The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien. I had heard of it a while back, but was unable to find any copies for a nice price online. More recently, it was mentioned in passing on a podcast to which I was listening (a podcast about LOST, of all things). So I searched for it online again and found a nice, cheapish copy.

When the reviews of this book said that it was whacky and out there, I believed them. And so far, I love it. I'm not very far into it at all, even. I'll give you a synopsis of what has happened so far (Oh and if you read this, don't read the foreword. It spoils the ending!):

A young man who grew up on a farm inherited the property from his parents. While he is away studying, a worker tends the land in his stead. Upon his return, the young man and the worker become best of friends. The worker eventually coerces (through means of poverty and anger) the young man to kill a rich hermit and steal his money. They do so, and the worker hides the money, and for a good while the young man sticks close to the worker to make sure he doesn't skip out with the money. Eventually, the worker says it is safe to withdraw the stash from its hiding place and lets the young man do it.

The money is hidden in the victim's empty, dark house, under the floorboards. Upon reaching a the hole for the cash box, a cough is heard. Everything freezes. A lamp lights up, revealing the dead old man sitting in a chair not four yards away, staring at him with "terrible eyes". After and endless silence, the young man strikes up a conversation with the "dead" man, in hopes of staying sane. The deceased, talking through bandages, answers in riddles.

And that's pretty much where I am. What the heck, right? The scene towards the end of my synopsis is what is pictured above. Really, it was one of the creepiest bits of literature I have ever read. But it is downright interesting too! The conversation they are having is hypnotizing!!! I'm excited to see what transpires next...

Elegant Tigers

2008-01-04T21:06:00.001-06:00

"In Watermelon Sugar" Richard Brautigan

Tigers used to exist in iDEATH.
They were elegant tigers.
Intelligent.
With beautiful singing voices.

But they were tigers, nonetheless.
And so, they came upon a family having breakfast and
decided to eat the mother and father.

These tigers are civilized,
and don't eat children.
Instead, they assisted
the boy with his arithmetic.

Yet left him an orphan.

*****

"It's a nice day," one of the tigers said.
"Yeah," the other tiger said. "Beautiful."
"We're awfully sorry we had to kill your parents and eat them.
Please try to understand. We tigers are not evil. This is just
a thing we have to do."
"All right," I said. "And thanks for helping me with my arithmetic."
"Think nothing of it."
The tigers left.

Fun[eral]!

2007-12-30T19:37:00.001-06:00

Ok, so The Stranger was a French novel written in the 1940's about a man that was sort of discombobulated in his own emotions. As the author, Albert Camus puts it: "the nakedness of a man faced with the absurd."

Anyway, the story begins with the death of the the main character's mother. He goes to the funeral, which is at the retirement home where his mother lived out her life. The funeral is odd, but I suppose it was completely normal for a funeral in France in the 1940's- The casket is in a small house with some chairs and a skylight all by itself. There is also the funeral director and a nurse who's got some sort of bandage on her face because "she's got an abscess". Some of the residents of the home also come to view the casket. The funeral process involves sitting through a vigil with the casket all night then, at dawn, walking with the hearse down to the graveyard where they say some prayers then bury the body and everyone goes home. Throughout this process, the son smokes a cigarette, refuses an offer to see his mother's body, falls asleep, doesn't talk to anyone, walks lackadaisically behind the casket and sort of doesn't care that his mom just died.

Later in the book, he's involved in a murder and his behavior at the funeral is used as evidence into his psyche- suggesting that he has no remorse for his mother's death and therefore, he must not have remorse for the murder he committed.

The book actually won the Nobel Prize in Literature and is pretty entertaining- also, it's a pretty short read and occupies an afternoon nicely. It's chock full of symbolism and reading between the lines and deep-thought inducing plot lines. And it's French, if you like THAT sort of thing.

Yikes, Just Yikes.

2007-12-29T23:34:00.000-06:00

Azazello is another one of Woland's henchmen in The Master and Margarita. He is described as a "wall-eyed", intimidating, fanged figure (I think they mention one fang, so the ONE fang stuck in my mind) who dons a bowler hat atop fiery red hair. He is kind of portrayed as an assassin or strong-arm, though pretty much every member of the entourage ends up killing something.

When writing these descriptions, I tend to go on Wikipedia to refresh my memory on the points I want to talk about. When thinking of this character, I thought that "wall-eyed" meant having eyes similar to those of a fish...spaced far apart, or on each side of the head, haha. Upon looking it up (two minutes ago), I found it just means that the eyes don't look in the same direction, kind of similar to a "lazy eye." But I think my imagining of the character makes it even creepier with his eyes on either side of the head, hahaha.

Black Magic Woland

2007-12-28T16:17:00.000-06:00

The Master and Margarita is a Russian satire that speaks in both political and moral themes. The storyline is pretty complex, so I'll just gloss over the main "villain" and his posse.

In Moscow, sometime around 1930 or so, a black magician named Woland shows up and starts manipulating and secretly turning the city upside down. Not literally, though he could probably do it, since he is Satan in disguise. Going out to spread greed and the like by holding a grand magic show for a large audience and shovels out treasures to the crowd.

It's really interesting because Woland and his accomplices can just make stuff appear or disappear. Like trays of food and money and people. It's pretty entertaining!

SO, following Woland around are some great characters. I'll just go over the ones that I've drawn so that in the future maybe I can draw the rest.

Koroviev, the "ex-choirmaster", which he is referred to as on several occasions, dresses (for some reason) like a jockey. His "title" may allude to him once being a member of an angelic choir whom has fallen from grace. He is tall and eccentric. He has a pair of those spectacles that you just press onto the bridge of the nose; there are no earpiece supports. However, one of his lenses is missing and one rattles around in the frame.

Behemoth is a black cat. A black cat who is the size of a large pig. A black cat, the size of a large pig, who walks around on his hind legs and talks. And drinks whiskey and smokes cigars and loves pistols. There's once scene with Behemoth trying to board a train and pay for his fare, but the attendant says "NO CATS ALLOWED!" so he jumps off, waits for the train to pass some, and jumps back onto the caboose. He then pockets his fare. Well, I say "pockets," but you know, I guess he put it somewhere. I don't think they mentioned a gun belt, but I felt he should have one! They can just make stuff appear randomly, so that's kind of cheating.

Asian Invasion!

2007-12-19T22:17:00.001-06:00

"To some men the most beautiful sight in this world is a sleeping Japanese woman. The sight of her long black hair floating beside her like dark lilies makes them want to die and be transported to a paradise that is filled with sleeping Japanese women who never wake but sleep on for all time, dreaming beautiful dreams."

Sombrero Fallout is about a writer who has lost his girlfriend of two years, a 'sleepy' Japanese woman. Three story lines are intertwined: his story of crushing depression and painful memories, the story he began to write about a sombrero that falls from the sky (which is probably the most entertaining one- ending in mass bloodshed), and the story of his ex-girlfriend- who is sleeping and dreaming throughout the entire book.

The imagery of the sleeping woman is amazing, as is the fact that he wrote several chapters on someone sleeping which were actually entertaining and not boring- as you would imagine several chapters on a sleeping person would be. Yukiko (the girlfriend...as you can probably figure out) sleeps with her black cat and her dreams are powered by the cat's purr. When the cat gets up at night to get a drink of water her dreams fall apart until the cat returns. The sketch is from the opening passage- The Japanese women are supposed to be short and tall and mostly skinny (IE-beautiful...just kiddin'), but there is also a fat one (if you're into that sort of thing). I was also going to draw a Japanese girl in there snuggling with a teddy bear, then I realized that the passage had slightly sexual tones, so I figured that would be unnatural and very very wrong. The middle woman is Yukiko (the one with the cat) who is said to be the "queen of such a paradise."

It's a very good read! I read it in one sitting- partly because it's short and mostly because it was just good.

Shot Through The Heart (of Darkness)

2007-12-17T18:34:00.001-06:00

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness has inspired quite a few other works, one being the movie Apocalypse Now. This movie was based loosely on the story, but actually gave off a pretty similar vibe (in my opinion). Anyways.

In this rather short tale (published 1902), our "tour guide" Marlowe recounts his experience of traveling down a river in a country that is never named, but is similar to the Congo or some other country that rates yikes!/10. Marlowe is sent down into the chest of dimness to search for a rogue ivory procurer, Kurtz. Things get pretty animalistic, as things usually tend to do when exploring the darkness that lurks inside humans. It is, of course, one of the major themes in the book. A life-altering journey into unfathomed areas of life. And death. But I guess once you journey to death, then you're pretty much stuck there. Well, I definitely won't spoil what happens, but I will just say that Marlowe becomes quite determined to find Kurtz. A determination that keeps him moving down river, despite how high the darkness stacks.

This sketch is inspired by a part of the book where the steamer boat is putting along in the quiet night, when all of a sudden a storm of arrows shakes the sheets and wreaks havoc. Those natives are quite restless, especially when under the influence of a charismatic outsider!

Oh, right, and I decided to try out some water colors, since the scene takes place on a river and all. It turned out alright; I'm not too experienced with them. And it's only a sketch, after all!

The Kool-Aid Wino That I-Know

2007-12-12T22:39:00.000-06:00

Ahhh, Trout Fishing In America, a wonderful gem by Richard Brautigan. It is packed with random, seemingly absurd moments. And yet some of them are subtly powerful, aren't they?

This sketch is from a chapter called "The Kool-Aid Wino," where our narrator recollects a time when he was a child and he was friendly with a German boy who lived nearby. The boy was "ruptured" (I'm still not really sure what that means) and spent all day loafing around his house and scraping up money for Kool-Aid. Granted, a package of the powder was only a nickel, but in this chapter the "Kool-Aid Wino," so aptly dubbed, bummed a nickel from our narrator and purchased his sweet almost-nectar.

The process of the Wino making the Kool Aid is so intriguing that it earned a booksketch. He retreats to the family chicken coop and lays out four pint-sized containers in a row. You're only supposed to make two quarts of liquid bliss (I imagined Cherry-flavored bliss, of course) from each packet, but his addiction was so great that he made a gallon! This meant that it was diluted. Ewwww.

Anyway, he would be careful not to spill a drop, as was his ritual. Then he would proceed to secure all of the containers in a nice spot until he needed to empty them into his gullet. Whoa, did I just used the word "gullet"? Awesome!!!

I decided to throw in some color, also. Mainly to point out what flavor of Kool-Aid I tasted in my head, and also just for fun.

Brrrrrrrrr!

2007-12-08T11:16:00.000-06:00

The Call of the Wild. We've all read it in 6th grade, so the story is pretty well worn territory. Buck is a husky that has been raised as a domestic pet in a nice populated town when one day is is kidnapped, nay- dognapped, and sold as a sled dog in the Alaskan Tundra. For Buck, culture shock sets in and he's forced to adapt to his new surroundings and sort of make lemonade out of his frozen lemons.
The REAL story behind this sketch is not so much about The Call of the Wild as it is about WHY I chose this particular sketch. I was sitting in my hotel room in Chicago last weekend thinking about how it was 70 degrees when I got on the plane in Baton Rouge on Friday and now I was in Chicago in 9 degrees looking out at the snow. It reminded me about the point in the story where Buck is forced to sleep in the snow and learns to dig himself into a little snow-hole to keep warm. After that I just daydreamed about sitting on my patio at home in a T-shirt. Eating ice cream, perhaps. But instead, I drew this little sketch and was forced to dig myself into my white comforter and turn the heater up to 75. Just like Buck. Sort of.

Let's Do the TimeQuake Againnn!

2007-12-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

It wasn't enough that Kurt Vonnegut was an awesomely talented writer. He had to go and create a character that is also a talented writer! Talented in a different sense, of course.

Kilgore Trout was an author of various zany sci-fi short stories, quite a few of which are mentioned and told in various Vonnegut books (thankfully). I love them. In some of the Vonnegut books, Trout does more than write. In Timequake, Trout takes charge!

The plot of the novel is that a 'timequake' occurs in 2001. What is a timequake? Well, it is an event that sent time moving backwards until the year 1991. Which means for ten years, people had to relive every moment, backwards. They were basically watching a movie of their lives. If you think about it, it's pretty crazy. And that isn't the end. If I remember correctly, when it became 1991 again, something else happened which made the situation a little more...timely. Without spoiling too much, I'll just say that by the time things were righted, people had forgotten how to act for themselves. So when that moment came, utter chaos sprang forth.

The one part of the book that is fixed in my memory is right after this moment occurs. Trout gets hold of a bazooka and says "F-–– the bums!" I forget exactly what was the deal with the bums, but Trout wasn't having any of it. And it may be just my mind wandering, but I seem to remember him kicking over something before saying that wonderfully hilarious line, so I just figured a shopping cart would be idea. Oh, and I'm going to feel really stupid if he wasn't in a bath robe. Because that is what popped into my head. I don't actually own the book, so if you remember what happened in that chapter, please comment about it, hahaha.

My Kingdom For A Horseradish

2007-12-02T13:35:00.000-06:00

"I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion."

It was about time I did another sketch from Don Quixote. This here jolly, simple fellow (atop his donkey) is Sancho Panza. He comically served Don Quixote as a faithful squire through various misadventures and escapades. DQ recruits him at the onset of the book by dazzling Sancho with hopes of governing his own island once DQ becomes a famous knight. The kind of thing that grabs at a peasant's heart, right?

After I drew the sketch, I wiki'd Sancho and was surprised to find a picture taken of a statue of Sancho in Madrid, Spain. The statue looks pretty much like the sketch, sans sandwich. I felt the need to draw him with some sort of food because he was constantly grumbling about how hungry he was.

Since Sancho is a rather simple, hardworking fellow, and Don Quixote is a rather muddled, disillusioned figure, Sancho is often found to be the more rational of the two. I suppose you could say that he was the brains of the operation, since DQ couldn't really claim that title, being addled and all. So, really, it was a pretty good team!

Tree-Tidying

2007-11-27T13:06:00.000-06:00

I just started reading Manalive, by Chesterton, the other day. The only other book I've read by him so far was The Man Who Was Thursday, and I just loved that one (enough to pick up this book.) And lo and behold, it has already inspired a sketch! I did have some wavy wind lines up top, but I regretted putting them down as soon as the ink touched the page, so I whited them out, haha.

So far, this is what happened in the story:

A few individuals at a boarding house in early 20th century England are going about their mundane, uninspired lives on one particularly windy day. After an especially strong gust, a large man wearing gray-green clothes lands in front of them. He had a large yellow Gladstone bag trailing behind him. I think there was a green umbrella involved too, now that I think about it. He is chasing after a hat, all-the-while saying some interesting things. All of a sudden, one of the boarding house individual's hats fly off and into the tree. The strange large man leaps up (impossibly so) and scales the tree. He retrieves the hat from the highest branches.

In the aftermath, one of the ladies at the boarding house makes a comment about him climbing tidily up the tree. He replies, "I wasn't climbing tidily up the tree; I was tidying up the tree!"

I love Chesterton's play with the language. Yeah! One of these days I'll have to do some sketches from The Man Who Was Thursday!

Tantivy,Tantivy!

2007-11-25T00:15:00.000-06:00

This another scene from The Once and Future King that just begged to be made into a visual.

For some backstory, you must know that King Pellinore spent a great chunk of his knighthood tracking down The Questing Beast, which was an intelligent and playful creature that possessed the head/neck of a serpent, the body of a leopard, the hind quarters of a lion, and the feet of a deer.

Later on in the book, Pellinore leaves his hunt to help out in other matters. The Q-Beast ends up tracking him. Meanwhile, Sir Palomides and Sir Grummore notice that King Pellinore is depressed after being separated from his new lady-interest. To cheer him up, they decide to masquerade as the Q-Beast in an attempt to get the king to give chase and raise his spirits.

The scenes of Grummore and Palomides discussing and constructing and testing out the costume are hilarious. As are the events that follow. Check it out!

OH, right! "Tantivy!" is apparently an old hunting cry from the Middle Ages. Fun!

Giving a Hoot

2007-11-21T22:14:00.000-06:00

A scene from The Once and Future King that has stuck with me was the introduction of Archimedes. He's Merlyn's owly friend. I mean that he is an owl. I'm not sure that "owly" is an adjective otherwise.

Anyways, young Wart (Arthur), fresh after meeting Merlyn, is introduced to Archimedes inside Merlyn's scatter-cluttered cottage. To Wart's surprise, the owl can talk. And as he finds out, so can all animals! But Archimedes is rather shy until he warms up to you. So, while Wart and Merlyn go into a particularly interesting conversation, one forgets about the owl (since he is being rather sheepish. An owl being sheepish. A showl).

All of a sudden, Wart hears a voice in his ear: How d'you do?

And there is Archie (ohhh don't call them by any nicknames; they do take offense), playfully nibbling on Wart's ear lobe. At some point during the Merlyn/Wart conversation, he had warmed up to the newcomer, and decided to introduce himself. The way that the author described the surprise just stuck with me. Luckily, I have retained my child-like imagination and can perfectly imagine it, haha.

Hocus Joke-Us

2007-11-19T22:48:00.000-06:00

You! Having trouble pulling some sort of item out of solid stone? Do you crave to experience swimming like a fish, or perhaps flying like a spar-hawk? Want to talk to animals? Then you'd probably love being tutored by Merlyn, right?

Merlyn, from T.H. White's The Once and Future King, is a sometimes-muddled and always-entertaining sort of wizard/tutor. Of course, he's the same "Merlin" from Arthurian legend. Only in White's version of the story, Merlyn ages reverse of everyone else. As the story progresses, he becomes younger. Interestingly enough, in the book Hyperion, which I have also read, there is "Merlin's Sickness," where the afflicted individual ages in reverse. I assume until they turn into a fetus? I can't remember the specifics; it has been a few years. I'm not getting any younger.

Anyway, when Wart (young pre-king Arthur) first happens upon our friendly wizard, Merlyn is trying to draw water from a well outside of his ramshackled cabin. The image kind of stuck in my head (as well as Merlyn's attire), so here it is! I'll have more sketches from this book (which I am currently reading) on the way, so check back!

Why'd It have To Be Snakes?

2007-11-15T00:55:00.000-06:00

Thankfully, I've not been influenced by the Arnold movies. Conan the Barbarian is a brutal, yet surprisingly clever and tactical warrior. All of the short stories (that have been compiled into several volumes work, by Robert E. Howard) usually deal with Conan saving some exotic damsel from the clutches of an overly-large snake, so that's why I drew this baby. Conan is a pretty neat anti-hero. All the bad guys say "He's such a barbarian!" And then you see that the moral is that he is the most...civilized?... character in the story.

The volume I read was The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, and it was actually pretty entertaining throughout. The timeline jumps around from petty theif Conan to ruler-king Conan and the settings jump all over the fictional land of Hyboria. Well, it is fictional, but Howard throws in a bunch of real countries just to give it enough relation to our world so that you think "Maybe these dudes did exist way back in the day." Lots of sword and scorcery. And "He looked at me funny, I'll punch him in the throat." It's pretty entertaining, haha.

Not that the movie "adaptations" weren't! The books are pretty classic, though. They're old! After all this magic and guts, I think one volume is enough to hold me over for a while, haha.

Dad's Ghost

2007-11-07T22:31:00.000-06:00

This is from Matt Haig's "The Dead Fathers Club". The book is about an 11 year old kid, Philip, who's father has died in a car accident, appears to him as a ghost, and tells him that he's got to avenge his death before he gets caught as a ghost forever. That's the basic premise.

Upon reading the first chapter, it becomes evident that something is not quite right about the writing style in this book...then you realize that there is not one comma, apostrophe, or quotation mark in the entire book (ala Johnny Get Your Gun, sort of). However, it's great and I will tell you why I think so- Since the book is written from the point of view of a kid, the lack of pauses in the sentences make you read it in a way that sounds like an 11 would tell he story if he were talking to you...so that's good.

Like an 11 year old kid, he's obsessed with certain things that are interesting to him- in particular, his pet fish and the Romans (whom he's been learning about in school). His class takes a field trip to Hadrian's Wall and must stay overnight. During the night, his father's ghost appears and tells him that his mother is in danger and that he must call her to get her out of the house. Philip reluctantly attempts to call with no answer. So, per his dead father's request, he steals one of the two school vans and attempts to drive it (a standard) the 4 hours back to his home to warn his mother in person. Of course, the teachers notice him leaving and chase him in the other school van and in a panic (and because he's 11 and driving a standard and being instructed by a ghost) he crashes the van into a tree. As the teacher is scolding him, he looks in the field beyond her and sees the ghosts of Roman peasants (not pictured because peasants are gross) toiling in the field and, among them, a fully armored Roman soldier. He zones out for a while and wonders if it's the ghost of Hadrian himself then gets a little excited about that and forgets that he's in massive amounts of trouble. The outcome: the school excuses his behavior on the premise that his dad just died and the kid should get a little slack. The moral: if your dad dies, you can do whatever you want. Also, ghosts are awesome.

The Doctor is In(sane)

2007-11-05T20:20:00.000-06:00

Well, maybe not crazy...Maybe more "eccentric." Dr. Prunesquallor's laugh echoes in your head long after you put the book down. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." The author (Peake) does such a great job of bringing out the uniqueness in each character of Titus Groan, it's amazing. The dear doctor is very much an intellectual. While he may seem aloof to many of the castle dwellers, his mind is always cranking away on something.

In this book, Steerpike seeks to weasel his way under the doctor's wing. By becoming the doctor's apprentice, he not only gets to learn from him, but increases his status in the castle and his influence over others. But this didn't escape the attention of the doctor, who figured something fishy was up with that kid.

This was the second sketch that I did that ended up being for this site (I haven't uploaded them in chronological order.) As I was drawing it, I thought "It would be neat to make a site where people could post skectches based on stuff they've read." That being said, this particular sketch was influence by the author's illustrations in the middle of the book. And I think Prunesquallor has a resemblance to Vash from Trigun, as well. Ha ha ha ha ha. But now I try not to let any illustrations (if any are present in the book) influence the sketches.

Oh Nice and Chubby BABBBBBY!

2007-11-03T01:44:00.001-05:00

Nannie Slagg and the wee baby Titus are my next two explorations of the characters in Titus Groan, the first book in the Gormenghast Trilogy. And one day, I'll get a comment from someone who has actually read or heard of these books, haha.

Nannie Slagg is an extremely aged, tiny (note the proportions of her and the baby) wisp of a nursemaid whose duty is to watch over the heirs to the Groan estate. Namely, Fuschia and Titus. Mrs. Slagg is constantly fretting about everything (and nothing). She will let worry take over and lapse into a semi-comatose state. She says things like "Oh, my caution! Oh, my poor heart!" when feeling threatened or nervous. And pretty much anything makes her paranoid. So she says stuff like that a lot.

But she means well. Her poor heart completely belongs to the children and their upbringing. She is constantly concerned about her little Lordship, as she calls Titus.

Titus is the next-in-line heir to the Gormenghast throne. Such pressure for such a wee lad. The author, Mervyn Peake, made an interesting move in making the baby rather homely (but with wonderful eyes). And another noteworthy bit: The child never smiles, as if he is perpetually in a state of melancholy or concentration. You don't think of babies in that light, usually, right? Titus, being the titular character, is a focusing point for all the other denizens of the castle. They should all be affected by him; it is interesting to watch how people react to his existence. And I'm sure things will get even more interesting after he learns to talk, which I assume will happen in the next book in the trilogy!

And, before I forget, the title of this post is a reference to a line in one Animaniacs episode. If you know what I'm talking about, then you're laughing right now.

Windows

2007-10-31T17:32:00.000-05:00

This is a doodle I did while thinking about an excerpt from Paris Spleen by Baudelaire, which is a collection of very short 1-2 page stories/musings about the state of Paris in 1869. This particular picture is from the piece called "Windows". Baudelaire writes about passing this window on the street and seeing a woman inside that looks depressed, so he makes up this life for her in his head in which the woman is always worked to the bone, never goes out, and is constantly very tired and lonely. Of course, this is all in his own head because he personally doesn't KNOW the woman (who may very well be quite happy). However, he prefers to think that his story is true and (assuming that his story is true) that he's somehow reached out to her because he knows her "story" and sympathizes with her. In the end, he says that even if the story isn't true, it's still made him feel better about himself basically just because he thought of her assumed plight and it made him sad. As I see it, even if the life that he imagines for her is true, he hasn't actually done anything to help her or make it better...That's we're all supposed to tie into the Parisian government, at the time, being all talk and no action about the plight of the common man. I just think it's an amusing short story and a fun book, in a kind-of-depressing sort of way.

Sketch By Night

2007-10-27T12:51:00.001-05:00

Within this past year, I've finally gotten around to reading Night, by Elie Wiesel. It is based on his experience in concentration camps in the Holocaust. So, yes, it is a pretty intense read. This sketch is inspired by the image that popped into my head when Mr. Wiesel said that hunger became so rampant at times that they had to start trading shoes for food. Shoes were a hot commodity. Actually, so was food. So it worked out nicely, I guess. Oh, and watch out if you had gold fillings. As opposed to cream fillings. Mmmmm food.

On a related note, I was kind of surprised to read that the gaurds weren't much better off than the prisoners, in terms of rations. I remember one chapter where a raid hits the camp that Elie and his father are in, and the gaurds rush off too see to it, but leave specific orders in the lunch room for no one to touch the big steaming pot of soup. Of course, someone eventually sneaks up to it, only to get shot by an unseen soldier.

I'm usually more of a fan of fiction, but sometimes I do like to have a dose of reality. And though novels on war, such as All Quiet on the Western Front and The Storm of Steel, can be pretty bleak, they are also very moving and important works.

Oh, Brothers!

2007-10-25T12:20:00.001-05:00

This is a cover sketch for a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. This is another sketch that I did a couple of years ago. I guess I was looking at a lot of Saul Bass at the time, and a lot of Hitchcock.

This novel is probably my favorite. It's about three brothers (Demitri, Aloysha and Ivan). Demitri is a tough military man, Aloysha is a humble monk and Ivan is a cynical athiest. There father is wealthy by marriage but basically the town drunk and idiot. Their father turns up dead; Demitri is a suspect, but who did it?

I Eat Da Book, CHOMP CHOMP

2007-10-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Swelter (pictured above) is the head chef of Gormenghast castle. That, of course, means he has the biggest job in the kitchen. Which is fine, since he is the biggest body in the kitchen. Keeping all the "kitchen rats" in line is a monster of a task that takes a monstrous girth to tackle it. I guess he likes to personally test all of the prepared foodstuffs.

Though I admire his...fierce dedication to the task at hand, I pretty much hated Swelter. It is probably because throughout most of Titus Groan, the first book in the Gormenghast Trilogy, he is stalking and plotting to kill one of my favorite characters: Flay. Flay is Lord Sepulchrave's personal attendant, if you will. Flay and Swelter really have it out for each other. I'll have to draw him eventually.

I've posted a few sketches of characters from Titus Groan so far, and I have a few more to post. I've only read the first book in the trilogy, but the characters each just have so much uniqueness that I can't resist drawing them. So, I apologize if you don't wish to see any more from it, haha.

Adamantium Stinks!

2007-10-22T10:07:00.001-05:00

Wolverine: Weapon X is not a graphic novel but a novel inspired by the beloved comic hero. Written by Marc Cerasini who has a track record of the 24 books, and also I believe Alien vs. Predator, I haven't read either. It's tells the story of his past and his tortured life in the Weapon X facility. This has to be by far one of the most brutal books I've read in awhile. I was really taken aback by the sheer pain that Logan goes through. They should of called the book "Logan" since at no point in the entire story is he referred to Wolverine.

Not only does he give you an account of weapon X but also these really great stories of Logan 500 year past. Yea I didn't know he was that old either. Pretty crazy. He talks about how depressed he gets while watching all the people he loves die around him. Pretty deep stuff.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of a great story, you don't necessarily have to be a fan of X-Men or comics.

Oh and the scene I sketched is when Logan is getting Adamantium injected into his body.