Monday, January 12, 2009

THE SIX-FINGERED MAN

It's been a hectic week so I've not been able to post. I had a solid week slated for coloring which meant blocking out the light to my room and working through night and through day. I do not exaggerate when I say my eyes now look like red onions. Alright, I am exaggerating and they don't look like red onions, but a day or two ago they did look like Christopher Lee's eyes in Dracula. Is one eye being more bloodshot than the other a fair indicator of which eye works harder than the other? I have my suspicions. Thankfully that boat load of work is done and a good solid chunk of Baskervilles is in the bag.

Onward.

Yesterday, whilst drawing Baskervilles, I drew the six-fingered man. A deliberate mistake, an Easter egg for my father-in-law to find. After he read The Picture of Dorian Gray I received a full report including notes. Bless! (he thought he'd found an anachronism but fortunately was mistaken). So I thought it only fair to now include 'the six-fingered man' in every book I do.

The six-fingered man originally appeared in a "Hornby Dublo" catalogue (1957) which he (the father-in-law), owns. It's a great picture of a father pointing at a railway set (I think the father's even smoking a pipe - that memory might be distorted - he's a very Church of the Sub Genius sort of father), only the artist has over compensated on the digits and the father has an extra finger. He (the father-in-law), loves this picture because its wrong. And so there you have it, the origins of the six-fingered man.

Right then. I've got pages to draw. I better be off.
(The Hound of the Baskervilles © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm going to have to hunt for the six-fingered man in Dorian now!

I. N. J. Culbard said...

oh, he's not in Dorian. I've literally just put him in Baskervilles. and he'll be in every book here after. So you'll just have to buy Baskervilles when it hits shelves in May! ;-)

Unknown said...

Oh, I see. Well, roll on May!