Occasional Plum #4: Mr. Mulliner

A typical evening at the Angler's Rest: hot scotch and lemon and a few stories from Mr. Mulliner. See Meet Mr. Mulliner, Mr. Mulliner Speaking, and Mulliner Nights.

Occasional Plum #3: Services Not Required

I often wonder what Jeeves does when Bertie is not in urgent need of his skills. I suspect it's something pleasant. Here he is out behind Anatole's kitchen catching up on his Spinoza.

Occasional Plum #2: "The Big, Broad, Flexible Outlook"

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge and his long-suffering pal, James "Corky" Corcoran aka Laddie.

Ukridge is one of my favorite characters in the Wodehouse universe. Unlike Bertie Wooster and the Blandings Castle regulars, Ukridge and Corky are forever short of cash and their stories have a slightly desperate edge to them. For a fantastic introduction to Ukridge, I will point you over to Bully's blog. He sums it all up expertly and quotes extensively, including some gems from my favoritest favorite: Ukridge's Accident Syndicate.

Sketched with a Derwint Graphitint pencil, watercolor, and a bit of digital.

Occasional Plum #1

A domestic tiff (with complications) from Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best found in the short story collection, Blandings Castle by the incomparable P.G. Wodehouse. I'd say it's one of his funniest short stories but they're all funny, really.

The Occasional Plum

You shall find Mr. Wooster... an exceedingly pleasant and amiable young gentleman, but not intelligent. By no means intelligent. Mentally he is negligible — quite negligible.

(The Inimitable Jeeves)

Since I find myself (for the first time in years) not actively drawing a book at the moment, I thought I should concoct a little sketch challenge for myself. I'm going to start a series of drawings, paintings, and doodles inspired by the works of my favorite author, P.G. Wodehouse. I know I won't be able to follow a set schedule (for that, check out Bully's fantastically entertaining Wodehouse-A-Week posts), so I'm calling this series The Occasional Plum.

First up is of course Jeeves & Bertie. I'm not entirely satisfied with Jeeves here, but I reserve the right to re-examine, re-design, and re-draw these characters to my heart's delight.

I've thought about doing this Wodehouse project for years, but so far had only managed two entries. Let's hope I'll be able to stick with it this time. Right ho!

Lotus Blossom

Miss Lotus "Lottie" Blossom... motion picture star, notorious redhead, alligator enthusiast, and lipstick vandal. From The Luck of the Bodkins by the incomparable P.G. Wodehouse.

Here's Bully's review.

A Bit Rummy...

As my workload begins to ease a trifle, I'll try to get back to the ol' sketchbook and, consequently, the ol' posting semi-regularly on the blog. One thing that has helped me stay sane in the past couple of months is my current obsession with reading the complete works of P.G. Wodehouse, Suuuuuper Genius. The latest was Heavy Weather, and it did not disappoint. So here's a rather quick sketch of Lord Emsworth and his prized pig, Empress of Blandings.

If you need to be further convinced of the greatness of Wodehouse, let me point you to my Favorite Blog Written by a Little Stuffed Bull. Bully's regular posts are also genius, by the by.