Happy new year! (Plus drawings.)

[belphegor1982]

Happy new year, everybody! One of my "good resolutions" (is it something you say in English, too?) is posting a little more here, as well. As far as I'm concerned, 2015 will go down as a pretty crappy year, so let's make 2016 just a little bit better despite the string of untimely deaths this January.

I've been drawing a lot these days (and writing, but it's unfinished, so not posting that yet), and here are some of the results! Here's an ink and black marker drawing for a start (on DeviantArt here):

“Jesus,” Don Camillo insisted, “do You realise that You’re making me work for the revolution?”

“You’re working for grammar, syntax and spelling, none of which are particularly diabolical or political.”

Don Camillo put on his glasses, grabbed his pencil, and corrected the mistakes in the speech that Peppone was to read on the following day. Peppone reread the paper seriously.

"Good,” he approved. “The only thing I don’t understand is this: where I said "It is our intention to extend the school edifice and rebuild the bridge over the Fossalto”, you wrote “It is our intention to extend the school edifice, repair the church tower and rebuild the bridge over the Fossalto”. Why?“

"It’s a matter of syntax,” said Don Camillo solemnly. (”Scuola serale”/”Evening School”, Giovannino Guareschi)

I can’t draw glasses. so I skipped them. (Although I finally managed to draw that bloody hat! Who-hoo!) Anyway. I translated “edificio scolastico” by “school edifice” because “scholastic/educational edifice” sounded a little too much - although it gives you an idea of the kind of syntax Peppone is prone to use in his speeches :D

I started doodling on a page with the vague intention of drawing my favourite characters… and someone (*glares*) commandeered the entire page. Sigh. I also had the vague intention to try drawing him with his hat and his half-cigar, but my pen wouldn’t agree. (on Tumblr here)

You know, Don Camillo can be devilishly devious and smug as all get-out, and lie egregiously through his teeth (even to the crucified Christ who talks to him, which is frankly an exercise in futility - not that it ever stops him) if he thinks it’s for a good cause. But behind his short temper he has a heart the size of a small continent, and every now and then it shows, plain as day :o)

The last one for the road? It's kind of an adaptation of one of the first stories in the first book (and the second scene in the first movie), and I think it tells a lot about both Don Camillo and Peppone. For the record, this happens in 1946, so there's a lot leftover from the war both in the landscape and people's minds. (On DeviantArt in one file here)

(Afterwards) Don Camillo went to kneel in front of the Christ on the main altar.

"I thank you," he said, "for making us stop! If you hadn't shouted "Halt" when you did, we would have been in a lot of trouble."

"No you wouldn't," replied Christ, smiling. "You knew where you were going; walking on would have been suicide for you and you would have gone back anyway, Don Camillo."

"I know, but one can't rely too much on one's self-confidence. Sometimes pride ruins us." (Giovannino Guareschi, “Incendio doloso”/”Arson” - kind of a spoilery title, eh?)

Everybody knows that Peppone and his men kept a few well-furnished weapons caches from when they were partisans (which, in this particular story, means little more than a year ago). You never know what you’re going to need when the proletarian revolution comes. But nobody knows exactly how many “souvenirs” Don Camillo kept... They all agree on at least a .81 mortar (so basically a small cannon), not counting of course his hunting rifle and his old M91 gun from World War One. Then again, considering the atmosphere in Emilia-Romagna in 1946-1948, it’s probably not a bad thing to remind some people that he has that arsenal from time to time...

I’ll try to have this coloured soon! In the meantime, boy I had fun with those expressions :D

Comments

[flo-nelja.livejournal.com]

J'adore vraiment tes dessins sur Don Camillo !

[belphegor1982.livejournal.com]

Merci !! Je suis vraiment contente qu'ils te plaisent :o)

[marie1964.livejournal.com]

While I'm not familiar with these characters, and could really only make educated guesses at the context, your drawings are beautiful! :) Lots of good expressions.

In English it's basically called a "New Year's Resolution," or simply "Resolution," [the 'r' doesn't need to be capitalized] so it's more or less the same.

[belphegor1982.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! (For the "resolution" tip, too :o) Your comment made me so happy - and I appreciate it all the more because you don't know these characters and their little world! It's true I've been a little scarce on context here. If you want, you can go there:

* one of the first drawings I did of these two characters, with a little context to help;
* and my translation of an actual short story (the English translators only translated a small part), which I think showcases beautifully how they keep trolling each other. I translated a handful of other stories, if you're interested :o) You can find them here.

Thanks again!

[marie1964.livejournal.com]

From the description from your first drawing they sound like pretty interesting characters.

[debriswoman]

Hi
Sorry 2015 was not a good year for you...wishing you all the very best for 2016
Delighted to see you posting...and to see more of your vivid sketches, and tales of Don Camillo and Peppone:-)
Happy New Year to you and yours.

[belphegor1982.livejournal.com]

A very happy new year to you and yours, as well! And thank you very much :o)

2015 was indeed not a very good year. It started and ended with attacks in Paris that left me deeply shaken (if only because I was afraid there would be a backlash against innocent people because the terrorists claimed to share their faith, and that the government would take drastic security (restrictive) mesures... I wasn't really wrong). We had a lot of hardware troubles that we really could have done without (replacing broken stuff isn't cheap), and while I drew a fair amount I didn't write as much as I did. Hope 2016 is better, at least in that respect.

I'm so glad you like those two! I've translated a couple more stories since this autumn, too (my written Italian is a little better!). You can read them here if you want :o)

Thanks again!

[debriswoman]

Thank you:-)

Such troubling and sad events...shocking to see it all unfold...not surprised it shook you so hard.

I hope you get all the time you need to draw and write this year...and thank you for the links...I am becoming very fond of the pair

And I miss the chats on the Black Pearl, and a certain Captain...really pleased you posted:-)

Hugs

Mrs P