Old Dogs, New Tricks

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.

The Doctor is In(sane)

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!

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.

I Eat Da Book, CHOMP CHOMP

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.

Rawwrrr!

This is a sketch inspired by one line in Titus Groan. In this chapter, Lord Sepulchrave's daughter, Fucshia, is off playing in the attic. The attic is a sprawling expanse cluttered with relics, knick-knacks, and what-have-you from bygone years, all of which fuel Fucshia's desire to create her own world with her imagination. This secluded spot allows her to create characters to talk to and basically escape from her less-than-satisfactory noble livelihood. One of the characters she has created is Rain Man, who walks with his head bowed, leading a tiger around by a chain. If the tiger gets rowdy/noisy/playful, he could glare at it and qwell it. The one line that mentioned Rain Main + Tiger stuck in my head, enough so that I felt it important enough to draw and speak about. There are several such moments in this book, and I'll probably draw a few more!

I Need a Sword-Stick

Ahhh, Steerpike. You keep that thin, lanky hair and that ambitious attitude away from me and my friends. Do what you'd like with Cora and Clarice, swishing that sword-stick and that fancy cape around all you wish. I applaud you for escaping the hard life of a kitchen rat, but don't reach too high just yet. There are only so many backs to stab before you run out and stab your own. Does that even make sense? I hope so. Anyways, here's a sketch of Steerpike just messing around outside the castle.

The castle! Gormenghast castle itself is a sprawling...well...expanse of construction and decay. Generations upon generations of architects's dreams and lack of upkeep can be seen here. You could pretty much say the castle itself is one of the most important characters!

Up, Up and Away

Up, up and away, pertaining to this blogsite and Lord Sepulchrave, who is the 76th successor to the title of Earl of Groan at Gormenghast castle. My how he loves his books. Hmmm, I suppose he is like ME, in a way. I really took a liking to his character, as distant as it was from the rest of the castle-dwellers. This drawing is inspired by some of the later events in the first book in the trilogy, Titus Groan.