the stevedore ghost
3 x 4.5 gouache on illustration board.
No more heavy lifting for him, and the rats he befriended on the docks while alive have kindly offered to accompany him in the afterlife-- a fine death, indeed.
(don't you just love the word "stevedore"? I don't too often love English words, but that is definitely a musical one to me...)
//edit: ok, it's not English. (Thanks, Vanda!) Still nice though. (I tried to come up with a couple of English words that were musical enough to stick up for the language, but all the ones I could think of weren't originally English. Oh, well.)
oh my god! The story behind the painting is terrific! The idea is just brilliant
Posted by: Raquel | February 05, 2008 at 14:13
Oh and that's amazing, as always!
Got the bookplates, WONDERFUL!
Posted by: Vanda | February 05, 2008 at 15:31
Didn't post my first comment, damn.
Sorry to burst your bubble, doll, but it comes from the Spanish Estibador or the Portuguese Estivador ;)
Posted by: Vanda | February 05, 2008 at 15:33
Raquel-- thank you!
Vanda-- Great, I'm so glad that you like them!
And DUH, you're so right, I even knew it because I wikied it last night. Well, god knows that English couldn't have come up with something that musical anyway, I guess I'll trudge glumly along with this boring mother tongue of mine :)
Posted by: Allison Sommers | February 05, 2008 at 15:37
Love the stevedore ghost! Wonderful illustration. I agree with you about the way "stevedore" sounds. Some other great nautical words: paquebot, xebec, yawl, rigging monkeys.
Posted by: Paul | February 20, 2008 at 12:44