Hay! Thanks so much for all your kind welcoming comments on my last post. :) They made me feel all warm and fuzzy (could be hot flushes actually - apparently you start to get them at about the age of 41, especially if you eat a lot of chicken)
Recently I have been reading the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and it's an interesting book because, (spoiler alert) the girl with Dragon Tattoo (Lisbeth Salander) is a wild kind of Goth, who in the course of the first two books , beats up a bunch of Hells Angels Bikies, tortures a sexual molestor by tying him to the bed and tattooing his crimes on his tummy, jumps in and out of bed with whoever she wants, all the while escaping a nationwide 'man' hunt, simultaneously tapping into the computers of the famous and infamous alike, transferring millions of Kronor into her own offshore accounts, and living the high life of your average Asperger's Syndrome person, while surviving a hurricane and having breast implants, and, at the same time, high-society-chameleon-like, being able to charm the suit and tie off any man (note: must be father like figure) she comes into contact with..
After a while you kind of start to like her. If you are un homme d'un certain age (and not a Hell's Angel Bikie) you think "gee, why aren't there more girls' like this in my neighbourhood?'.
And if you are a woman I think you are supposed to think: "Yeah, go GIRL!" Power to the Sisterhood!"
But I'm not really sure if that's what women think. After all, the book is written by a male (sadly deceased) who seems to have cast his alter ego as the main male character (totally irresistible to women etc) and let his own corporal fantasies build the framework for the novels.
Mind you the books went viral last year and became the world's second best sellers. So, dead or not, he must be doing something right.
So the 'nice parts' of The Girl with Dragon Tattoo (and there are some wholesome parts on page 37 right down the bottom in the second last paragraph) are the genesis of this image.
Even Lisbeth Salandar was a child once.
thank you, once again, for looking :) please feel free to click for big - I won't be offended in the least.
Bonjour cher Andrew !
ReplyDeleteSans aller aussi loin, je devrais avoir un peu du sang de cette fille-là pour peut-être me défendre un peu dans ma vie... juste une petite gorgée !!!
J'adore le chat qui fait face lui aussi à la souris ou plutôt au rat...Les poules sont indifférentes à la scène, j'aime ça!
Ils n'ont pas l'air trop rassurés ces"gars-là", même en bande !... et pourtant c'est une blonde n'est-ce pas ? Cela me repositionne alors !!!...
Gros bisous
Un grand merci pour le rire matinal... ton commentaire laissé sur mon blog m'a fait rire d'un rire spontané et cela m'a fait du bien. (un de ces rires qu'on aime renouveler)... Alors si un jour je t'aperçois revêtant une robe rouge je penserai à tes jambes !!... Bisous encore !
Ahh hey Martine :) Oui un peu gorgée :) je pourrais avoir une moi-même, toujours si jamais vous menacer quelqu'un avec une arme, alors vous devez être prêt à l'utiliser. Une fois, j'ai frappé une vieille dame sur la tête avec ma plume une fois, - elle avait volé un de mes souliers et ne serait pas lui rendre .... mais sérieusement! Je suis heureux je vous ai fait rire. Mes jambes ne sera jamais la même. Et oui, elle est blonde :) Vous êtes deux en son genre!
Deletecâlins de Oz!
Extremely dimensional--colorful, realistic...dramatic. You've done it all :)
ReplyDeleteThankyou Elizabeth, this is a scene that I stole from one of the books I am working on. But I have changed the angle and the little girl :)
Deleteapropo dreamer... it is so nice to be here
ReplyDeletea big hug dear friend
thankyou Laura :) I am still digesting the lesson I learnt on your blog. !
DeleteActually I don't think she had a particularly charming childhood either...it's been a couple years since I read the books. I had to keep a sheet of paper with the names of characters because I couldn't keep track of them, though I did enjoy them a lot (but I enjoy a lot of books a lot).....
ReplyDeleteWhat an uncharacteristically cheery picture! Sunlight? Children who DON'T look sinister? Chickens? Cat? Rat? Vegetables? Interesting. Are you sure that you're okay? (or am I missing something?)
As far as muses go, I think I'll keep mine and let you keep yours. I have enough bad dreams as it is..... :-).
But I SO appreciate your comments!
Hey Theresa : I am 75 percent through book two, yes I think they are page turners and just on the edge of err unusual taste - I guess all cultures are different... ahh the children don't look sinister? Arrgh what have I done wrong ? :) Thank you for coming to have a look !
DeleteMy 86 year old mother in law is reading those books! My son and I went to see the movie. He and one of my daughters like the previous version better. Swedish maybe? I can't remember. I thought the movie was good, but I love movies. I'm fairly easy to please as long as they are mildly entertaining and not just horrible. The intro was very artsie and memorable, so I was set to like it from the get go.
ReplyDeleteNow you have me wanting to read the books too. I use to be a voracious reader, but I rarely have time to read now. So, by the time I have time to read them, I will likely have forgotten about it ;o
Love the kid-friendly version of her childhood. It "is" pretty uncharacteristic of you and you have certainly succeeded in making it completely non-creepy. It's still you, just a much more reserved version of you. ;)
Thank you for your visits. I missed you while you were gone!
Hi Karen :) oh yes, my mum read them all and said to me 'yes they are very good, but there is some really strange stuff with some girls ..." so when I am reading them I try not to think of my mum reading them!! You know, all mum's are meant to be pure as the driven snow (like me) Ahh, I am really glad it is non creepy - I was worried about the child and the sword and the strange looks on the left hand side 'hood' - he's kinda weird
Deletesee you! :)
The new illo is so full of power,love the colors and yes....GO Girl:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment:)
Heh, thanks Monica! Good to have a take from the 'other' side! It's always a pleasure to comment on your work. It made me want to do a lino cut !
DeleteAhhh! Andrew, my friend..I'm so happy to see your posts...and wonderful art. Gosh, you are tooooo good. OK, so intention was INTENSE! I love it though..you really captured the feel so well and the water...perfection! I have not read the book yet, goodness..sounds quite to be a wild ride! I'm in the midst of the Hunger Games (egged on by my eldest) and it has been a fun read so far. Love this illo too my friend..what I am spying in your recent work is that your characters are all incredibly engaging and engaged. Love that your cat and rat are showing aggression..another narrative within? Excellent! I hope your books are going well..I'm sure they are! And hope that injury heals perfectly. I would hate for you to miss any more surfing! Good to see you back my friend!
ReplyDeleteHya Shirley, Hunger Games ? Well that looks a good read. Thanks for that tip :) Ahh I have finished all the illustrations for the last one - I just have to fine tune the work and do 'wardrobe' check to make sure all the elements are consistent and then I will be getting some opinions !!! hint hint :) Yes the plot within a plot just adds a little patina I hope - err maybe it is resonance or texture? Thank you for your insights :) I am glad they are more 'engaged' - maybe I am learning from your beautiful work!!!
DeleteI haven't read the books yet & I'm not entirely sure I will, but I hate spoilers so I didn't read much just in case.
ReplyDeleteSo far I gather that our heroine is fierce & feline & her foes think they are heroic but hang out with a bunch of rats & chickens? And that Sweden is absolutely lovely in the Summertime! Is that about it? Do I need to read the books?
Wonderful to have you & your amazing visual world back! I hope you are thoroughly well now after your bike bang-up. I'm GLAD you were wearing that purple helmet-- it's good to be a little cracked in the head, but not TOO much.
Haha Leah, that is very funny :) Oh the image is nothing like the book. I think the rats are all humans in disguise (or vice versa) in the book, and the chickens , well I have to keep my secrets!
DeleteBut I think they might be the author. Did you know who died very young while climbing several flights of stairs 0 because the lift didn;t work. Myth has it he was 'helped' on his way!
Oooh... a sword... I wish I had a cool shiny toy like that when I was a kid. Sure would have been handy for taking care of the thugs that used to bully my friends at school. I wonder how they pick which kids to push around... I guess dogs really do smell fear, eh?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, love your little heroine here. The mouse and cat seem to know which sides they're in. Just wondering if the chickens are placed there for a purpose... :))
Haha Amalia - I didn't mean to give her a sword. I was going to give her a banana actually. If you have seen John Cleese in Monty Python saying 'Go on! attack me with that banana!" But I think it would have been lost in translation ..... :) Plus banana is far too hard for me to spell. .... Getting picked on? Oh when I go to pubs I get picked on because I always get caught smirking at the wrong person - like the huge muscley guy with the dorky looking earing that he thinks looks cool etc.... They just have no sense of humour after ten oclock at night... see you!
DeleteLove your book report and love how you portrayed our heroine as a little girl with a sword. En garde!! Wikipedia says this:
ReplyDelete"Larsson witnessed the rape of a young girl when he was 15. He never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, whose name was Lisbeth – like the young main character of his books, herself a rape victim, which inspired the theme of sexual violence against women in his books."
I just read #1 of the trilogy, and I found it gripping. I'll never see the movie because I can't handle that kind of thing in my face, but I think I will read #2 & #3.
There's so much good in this illustration. Great action, colors, everything! You have been so missed. Glad to have you back!!
Thankyou Linda! It;s good to be back :) Yes, Steig Larsaan is a very good writer. His work is seamless in that the style rarely draws attention to itself - and his plot 'hangers' aren't too obvious. as opposed to eg Dan Brown who couldn't write his way out of a wet paper bag :) yet still makes his plots page turners as well. The difference with Larsaan is that he makes the unbelievable believable. For me anyways :)
DeleteThank you for liking this work! To be honest it's a bit washed out on the left but I ran out of time! See you soon! :)
I left you a prize on my site :)
DeleteWhat the --!!!! Someone wrote about me??? Hmm, no, that can't be me. My "extracurricular activities" make her seem like a...well, a Girl Scout in comparison. I do all those things in an afternoon. I collect vices like other people collect ear wax sculptures. But enough about me. Your little girl is as scrappy as a Spragwort. Look at how she handles her sword with ease and grace! Now, if I were her, I'd steal the Jolly Roger pants off the little boy because they are that cool. As is with all your pieces, the background detail is superb, down to the plump sausage links! Huzzah, dear sir!
ReplyDeleteHaha :) Bella, you are so brave and I so not brave :) We are like cheese and chorque! I spend my time pussy footing around being politically correct and you jump in without even checking that there's water in the pool. What a crack up you are :) Oh I wish I had some Jolly Rodger pants just like those but of course there would be loud whispers and confutations (I found that word in Google's spill cheecker) if I wore them :) Spragwort :) I think there is in the name a new Harry Potter character!
DeleteYou do all those things in an afternoon? Gee, it took me my entire youth to only do half - and then I had to have a rest till I turned 20 ;). What a braggert you are !
See you. My next person of the afternoon will wonder why I am wearing such a silly grin . Oh I must improve my ear wax sculpture collection - what a good idea :)
I liked to know the argument of this book, which I confess, did not know much ...
ReplyDeleteI thought it is very interesting! - and the illustration fit perfectly ;)
................................
ps: thanks for the comments ...
enjoyed your association with Wilde
ahh Denise, the book is very good, a cultural shock, it makes you wonder what really goes on in Sweden :)
DeleteOh Wilde, he was a remarkable man with a remarkable haircut I think. Those trees in your illustration are just glowing :)
ah ok so thats why you talked about the book with me the other day... well too bad i havent watched the movie yet... humm :(
ReplyDeletethanks andrew, you cheer me up, you know that.
i just put the unicorn in my side bar.
love it, looks great.
did you know that unicorns aren't extinct... they just gained weight and are now called rhino.
:(
ReplyDeletebye andrew.
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ReplyDeletebut why???
Ok they do not want me to write here....
Hi Mr. Finnie, goede dag!
hahhahah!!
ReplyDeleteThat's where the wholesome parts are?!
I didn't get that far. It was too difficult. I used to read all sorts of things, but of late, I am having too many hot flashes.
I frankly didn't care much for her, but I've never really cared for people who are single-minded. I think it breeds delusion. I care for inclusion and an encompassing world-view. I care for persons who let their anger grow like a tumor inside them, rather than cutting into someone's flesh and blaming everyone around them for everything that they do.
Maybe I have issues...?
Perhaps it's a matter of choice. When you're treated as I was treated in childhood, you decide: do I want to be like them, or unlike them? And then you do.
I think you are so correct about Larsen. I think he probably wanted to write a wish-fulfillment fantasy about an untouchable girl liking to be touched by him. Delusion? I guess I'd have to have known him to make that conclusion. Maybe I would have found him irresistable?!
Am I still talking? I'm going to go google you. I bet there's something fabulous about you that you aren't lying to us about...
oops. I see now that you answer your comments in your comments section. I am sad, now, because I have so much to do, like the White Rabbit or Willy Wonka, both of whom were deluded and single-minded, that I almost certainly won't come back to see whether or not you prefer tumors over homicide. I must make a note to self!
ReplyDelete