Monday Sketchbook Work

I have continued with the idea of the locks today and thought about how I could bring in some of the visual elements from the stories. I am seeing this as a way of designing an ornate keyhole because it seems like the kind of thing that would exist in the grand houses in Christie's stories so I find it quite fitting. 

I then changed topic a bit and looked at the two main female characters in death on the nile and the contrast between their characters. I thought the young and rich Linnet Ridgeway could be represented by a peacock showing all its feathers and in contrast Jacqueline de Bellefort would be a bird of prey or vulture. 

These are some roughs to show the relationship between the two. I don't think these are effective in showing the storyline though as the evil bird looks too intimidating and overpowering when it actually needs to be more sneaky and stalker-like. 

When scanning this page, I noticed the imprint of the evil bird on the other side of the paper. This was unintentional but it is giving me ideas of making the presence of this bird more subtle, like I mentioned before. This might work well in print too. 

I could use the feathers of the peacock's tail to show how her beauty and wealth will eventually cause her harm - use the feathers to create a tidal wave or something angry coming towards her. 

RESEARCH

I also watched the television version of 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' today and picked up on some quotes from the character's speech and the narrator. The narrator is actually the murderer. 

Narrator talking about the Ackroyd women: "vultures eagerly awaiting his demise"

I felt this was fitting for the bird theme I has been playing with for death on the nile. Luckily I enjoy drawing birds, especially the interesting shapes that can be made with them - I think this is a good theme to continue with.

Poirot: "it is completely unimportant, that is why it is so interesting"

This is a good quote about the power of instinct which is what a lot of Poirot's success is based on. 

Poirot: "oh there was a reason chief inspector, of that you can be sure, and when we know it, we will know everything."

This links to the instinct idea again but also fits with the fact that there are usually one or two clues that cannot be explained and these usually lead to the unravelling of the case.