HerlockSholmes

I don’t think I’ll ever recover from seeing that

He was a fantastic Merlin in Excalibur. Apparently some years prior to this film, Nicol had co-starred with his Morgana, Helen Mirren, in another project and they were lovers for a time . . he being considerably older than she. These two passionate actors attracted each other for a time, but then they became opposite charges repelling. After a bitter breakup they could not stand each other. Director John Boorman knew this and used the couple's animosity to his advantage. I think he'd actually attached Helen first and then hired Nicol fully aware of their past history. Just so the love-hate relationship between Merlin and Morgana would be extra-saucy. Merlin's distinctive headdress was fashioned by a talented costume designer after Williamson flatly refused to shave his head for the part. I read about the past history of Mirren and Williamson. They really appeared to loathe each other.

He was certainly very volatile. Apparently he died in ‘relative’ poverty.

I have to take the blame for the confusion Arcadia. Aided by the vagaries of the English. You used the phrase ‘I don’t know either’ by which you meant ‘I also dont know.’ As I’d mentioned my two Favourite artists (Bacon and Van Gogh) I took your sentence to mean ‘I don’t know either (of them.)’ And so for that short time Arcadia I thought that I’d met someone who had never heard of Vincent Van Gogh! I should have known better

I was just reading Wikipedia on Nicol Williamson who played Holmes in The Seven Percent Solution (because that’s the kind of saddo I am

The more I thought about that one Carol the more I felt that I’d misunderstood Arcadia.

Arcadia I’ve just re-read my post. Have you really not heard of Vincent Van Gogh? Or have I misunderstood what you’ve said? Francis Bacon’s work is very dark and visceral and definately not everyone’s cup of tea https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=francis+bacon+artist&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&hl=en-GB&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjAqPzUtuHXAhUFaFAKHROiDV8Q_AUIEigB&biw=1024&bih=1251#imgrc=L0fPpep4ZnVt7M: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=francis+bacon+artist&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&hl=en-GB&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjAqPzUtuHXAhUFaFAKHROiDV8Q_AUIEigB&biw=1024&bih=1251#imgrc=r01fsn43g8oMAM: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=francis+bacon+artist&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&hl=en-GB&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjAqPzUtuHXAhUFaFAKHROiDV8Q_AUIEigB&biw=1024&bih=1251#imgrc=1bGnyW9VXC5AAM: Not really the kind of stuff you would hang on your living room wall unless it was to keep the kids away from the fireplace.

Thanks for the reminder Hikari, I couldn’t recall the reasoning behind the name although suspected that Sir Walter Scott came into it. Talking of names I recall seeing a documentary a few years ago where the presenter went to Doyle’s old school Stoneyhurst and spoke to a priest. He showed a school photograph which included a young Doyle. Although he couldn’t name the individual students he knew that one of the other boys was called Moriarty.

Hi all. In the Canon he is just Sherlock Holmes. To be honest I can’t recall where ‘William’ was first mentioned though Carol is likely to be correct with Baring-Gould (I’m not in the same town as my Books at the moment.) He had Holmes born in Yorkshire to Siger Holmes and Violet Sherrinford. I think the name was also mentioned in books by science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer. Carol is definately correct about Moriarty’s younger brother James being mentioned in The Empty House. He was a Station Master in Yorkshire angered Watson by defending the memory of his late brother. I like The Seven Percent Solution (book and movie.) I enjoyed Nicol Williamson’s Holmes the recovering drug addict. One of the main criticisms of the movie has always been Robert Duvall exaggerated English accent (a pity because he makes a pretty decent Watson.) Charles Grey is Mycroft (he went on to be Brett’s Mycroft and the best ever in my opinion.)

Yes you spotted the ‘deliberate’ mistake. I was just making sure that you were paying attention Carol. Don’t know how I managed that. Christian name of course. It was in The Man With The Twisted Lip that Mary addressed Watson as James. It was the crime novelist Dorethy L. Sayers who came up with the ‘Hamish’ Explaination.

It was an act of self-defence according to Holmes but there was no witness to this. Moriarty could have claimed to have arrived late and saw from a distance Holmes push the Professor over the edge. I’m not saying that Holmes would ever have been found guilty of murder but the incident might have left people wondering? Holmes meets his enemy in a secluded spot, the enemy disappears over the edge, Holmes escapes. He has 2 choices. 1) stay in hiding and hope that no one believes Moran’s story. 2) come out of hiding to answer the charge and also to answer why he escaped if he was innocent. I do have the Dibdin book by the way but I can’t recall if I have that particular Hardwick book. I know that I have something by him but I’m not near my collection at the moment. As for Doyle’s errors I’ve always simply believed that they were the result of an author just trying to get a good story written (possibly too quickly) but..... I really can’t see how he got Watson’s surname wrong? It’s a difficult one to explain. There’s probably just a simple explaination (mind not on the job etc) but it’s hard to see how an author could get the Christian name of a main character wrong.

I can’t argue with that

It’s certainly true that Holmes reputation would have counted heavily in his favour but the facts are there. Holmes certainly had it in for Moriarty. They met alone. Moriarty had vanished presumed dead. Plus, if Holmes has made his escape, what would have happened if they had have pursued him? Granted as a master of disguise he would have, in all likelihood, evaded them. But what if they had found him? Fleeing the scene of a crime?

Moran did have a shady past and its true that he may not have wanted his connection to Moriarty made public knowledge. I wondered though, after Moran’s arrest for attempting to kill Holmes in ‘The Empty House,’ if he realised the opportunity that he had to at least get some measure of revenge against Holmes. The game was up for him and the gallows beckoned but the police wouldn’t have been able to ignore him if he’d have claimed to have seen Holmes murder Moriarty in cold blood.

We all know that Arthur Conan Doyle wasn’t a master of detail. He was, above all, a storyteller. In my opinion a brilliant one. Most authors would be pleased with creating one lasting character but Doyle has Gerard, Challenger and Holmes on his CV. In his effort to write memorable stories Doyle often made errors with facts, dates and characters which have been picked over and analysed for years by dedicated Sherlockians. One of these errors (in ‘The Final Problem’) has recently given me thought and made me wonder if the Moriarty organisation missed a chance to discredit Holmes? This might have been mentioned before but, if it has, I’m unaware of it. As we all know Holmes battled with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls and, due to his Baritsu skills, Holmes toppled the Professor into the abyss. Holmes then made his getaway, being attacked on the way by someone hurling a rock at him. He saw a face that, although he doesn’t name him, we assume was Colonel Sebastian Moran. Holmes decides to pretend to be dead in order to make it easier for him to round up Moriarty’s gang. The problem is apparent. Someone (probably Moran) DID know that Holmes was still alive. So what possible advantage could Holmes gain from feigning death? Moran would surely have warned the rest of the gang. He might even have informed the good Doctor. But did Moran miss a chance to discredit Holmes? After all he was the only other person at the falls at that time. Surely he could have approached the police and said that he was observing the ‘meeting’ between his friend Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes when he saw Moriarty turn his back him. Holmes rushed up and pushed Moriarty over the edge in cold blood. It would have been Moran’s word only but Moriarty was gone after all; whether his body was found or not. At that time Moriarty was, for all intents and purposes, a respectable mathematician and not a master criminal. And what of Holmes? Whether he emerged sooner or later (and as it happens it was much later) he would have been facing a murder charge. And so, did Moran miss a rather obvious trick, that could have cast a shadow over the reputation of Sherlock Holmes?

Couldn’t agree more Arcadia. I can applaud at the high level of skill required to do a ‘photographic’ portrait but give me a Rembrandt or a Lucien Freud any day. It’s all in the eye of the beholder anyway. My 2 favourite artists are Francis Bacon and Van Gogh. I don’t know what that says about my taste?

Hikari, I’ve just finished Black Dahlia Red Rose by Piu Eatwell. I think that this is as near to game over as we are likely to get after all these years. - a guy who offers to help because he believes that his ‘friend’ was the Dahlia killer. - he expresses an interest in sexual sadism. - he names two things about Elizabeth Short’s corpse that hadn’t been made public before. - he knew Short. - his surname initial was carved into Short’s corpse. - around half a dozen people named a motel room that was discovered to be like a charnel house of blood and faeces just before Short’s body was found. The suspect was identified as being there at the time. Well worth a read.

I tend to agree with both of you but I’ve always been a little wary of saying it as I always suspect that someone will reply: “well you’re only saying that because you can’t draw that accurately.” It’s difficult not to marvel at the skill levels though. And the examples I showed were drawings, paint is much more difficult (that’s why I largely avoid it.) I don’t know if you’ve heard of Richard Estes and Ralph Goings? I remember seeing some of their work years ago. I argued that they were photographs! https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=realist+painting+diner&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&oq=realist+painting+diner&aqs=chrome..69i57.9583j0j8&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=D8Amp05Hg9zl_M: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=realist+painting+diner&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&oq=realist+painting+diner&aqs=chrome..69i57.9583j0j8&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgdii=g6ODpvVKPz7LcM:&imgrc=D8Amp05Hg9zl_M:

To say nothing of energy! I take it you're caring for a family member? Me too, my Mom. I manage to sneak in a little writing when she's napping.

Some good old English Pigs-in-Blankets. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pigs+in+blankets&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&oq=pigs+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0j5j0.2969j0j8&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=prsh3nobZSOZXM:

Hope not

With Pseudonym on this one. Sausage wrapped in bacon

I was thinking of trying some smaller stuff. The prices just reflect the time taken unfortunately. The pointillist ones take forever and make my hand ache. And the black and white line drawings with the smaller images within take even longer! I’m a bit of a nitpicker with portraits. I’m not quick and find it hard to ‘finish’. I keep changing bits. I annoy myself actually.

Thanks Hikari, My Brett avatar is one of my own too. I don’t really do much artwork these days as being a carer tends to take up so much time and effort. I sell occasionally through friends and family etc which is nice bonus now and again. I might pursue it a little more at a later date. I might do a Cumberbatch portrait and put it on Etsy.