This fair Sunday I am combining a post for the Artful Reading Club
and Sunday Sketches
I would have had it up a bit sooner but yesterday I was suffering some lingering effects
thanks to the glug, glug woohoo of Friday night
and headaches and painting lobsters don't mix as it turns out
So why a lobster
well it was on the cover of the book, The Dinner by Herman Koch
and after painting some prawns last month I am on a bit of a crustacean kick
So to the book
an international bestseller it says on the cover
but I kind of wonder if that is true
as it also says it is riveting , tremendous, and gripping, not to mention heartstopping
and have to disagree with most of those things
but it does say strange and another mentions uncomfortable
and in uses those as descriptors they have summed it up pretty well
This is a great book for a bookclub because it would cause lots of discussion
if not down right arguments but it wouldn't be dull that's for sure
The Dinner all unfolds over the course of a .... wait for it... a dinner
and centers around how far you would go to protect your children
even if they have done something awful
now maybe I am overly harsh but by the end of this book
I would have thrown the whole bloody lot in jail and been done with them
there is not a lot to like about any of the main protagonists
but that is the point I suppose
and though it moves along quite well it is a bit clunky in places
but I am thinking maybe that is because of the translation from Dutch
I did like the cover though and it was quite fun to paint up the lobster
I have been trying to remember if someone actually ordered lobster during the dinner
but for the life of me can't remember
maybe it was the trauma of spending that time with a bunch of self centred pratts
but it was a fun painting
so all is forgiven
if you are interested in seeing some more artful readers
then just click here and it will take you to the link
or here for Sunday Sketches ...xx
My last few posts links are here if you need a catch up...
Book Confessions ...
43 comments:
Great lobster. Sorry you had to suffer through a bunch of pratts at dinner. That's the nice thing about art though, you can always find a silver lining to paint. I love the "face" -- like he might be a little perplexed by the the diners, too.
Wow wee! Super awesome :)...and on other notes...your blog image with the tea is FANTASTIC...I am guessing you love tea, too?
Holy COW, I mean LOBSTER!! Hehehe. He is totally and utterly terrifyingly real looking. I actually backed away from my screen when he appeared. Here;s the problem, he not only looks scary and beautiful, he also looks delicious!! Do you KNOW how expensive lobster is here??
Seriously Trace, he is fantastically rendered (with butter hopefully, I couldn't resist. ;o)
Now I totally want a lobster, a shell cracker and drawn butter (no, not drawn with a pencil, melted and skimmed, silly!!)
Oh the puns. ;o)
Much love,
hungry Jenn
Oh, and I totally agree with Joy, he looks a little confused by just how he ended up on this plate and book cover.
that is one gorgeous lobster!
Great lobster, yes he does look as if he is wondering 'why?'
Whoops posted comment earlier but was not ready to post!
I guess that reading your great review is a zillion times better than the book. You certainly have a great way with words. Wanting to put all the characters in prison by the end of the book sums up well what you thought. I will give the book a miss I think! LOVE the lobster he looks like he has a more interesting story to tell himself, I coukd just see him narrating his way through a children's book, that is if he wasn't going to bed up on a dinner plate of course. Hope your next months book isn't so irritating to read.
Great lobster, real character he is! <3
You're an awesome crustacean painter! lol I love the lobster! I think I have only had lobster once, and I don't remember liking it very much. It was at a really expensive restaurant called The Melting Pot, and it is a fondue place. So maybe I over cooked my lobster... Who knows. lol
Now, Tracey, I had a double take for a moment there, when I thought you were saying that you had a lobster ON the cover of your cookery book, and it seemed a strange way to treat your pet lobster.
Such an amusing review and honest enough to put me off reading it (sorry author).
Great painting, it just looks so real.
I do think that you should like or identify with at least one of the main characters as there's no point in reading or watching, so have to agree with you there!
Lovely lobster though - I prefer your one, it looks a little less menacing!
Sounds like an interesting concept for a book-am intrigued. Great illustration of course I prefer my crustaceans swimming free in the ocean rather than pink on a plate but good art is good art!
Sounds like an interesting concept for a book-am intrigued. Great illustration of course I prefer my crustaceans swimming free in the ocean rather than pink on a plate but good art is good art!
Hmmm, I can't decide if I want to read the book or not, but I definitely am hungry for lobster! Great painting this week!
Great job on the lobster. Seriously I think this is my favorite of your illustrations so far. He looks almost too cute to eat and that's not something I've ever said before about a sea bug.
I am not a huge fan of lobster, but I am a huge fan of your lobster sketch. He is too cute to even think about boiling in a pot. It almost makes me want to go buy one as a pet...
Great job!
James (RCS)
Lol! I don't fall for bestseller titles anymore because the books can so easily be bought buy the publishing company just to get the book on the list. :) Love your lobster! Looks better than the original.
sounds like an interesting book!
I love lobster, my husbands family owns a restaurant and it's called Red's Lobster Pot, so needless to say we have a lot of LOBSTa paraphanalia around! yours is gorgeous! greeat colors, too!
Wonderfully illustrated lobster ~ ^_^
Your fabulous lobster looks so realistic! He is fabulous. As for the book, I think I will give it a miss following your excellent review.......... Anne x
Looks like your wonderful lobster has his fingers crossed....didn't help him much did it....got cooked anyway!
xxx
Sue
lovely detailed lobster painting, you've captured the colour so well! I love lobster!
Sorry to hear that the glug glug woohoo got you..you really need to keep a better look out for them. They do have a tendency to sneak up un noticed. Love the lobster painting. He looks good enough to eat. Tithe dinner might be an international best seller like lots of other books I've never heard of. Hope your feeling better xx
Your Saturday soiunds like my Sunday! ;) I love this painting of yours, so lively and lovely colour!xx
Great lobster drawing, Tracey...not sure I"d like the book, though. THanks for the honest assessment!!
I have this book in Dutch as an audiobook but never made it past the first chapters... Guess I now know why!
Sorry you had such a sad read this month!
I do love your lobster! A lot!
I also want to say I truely love your tea-inspired header! Oh, you can draw!!! ♥
Such a shame when books are lost in translation.I love your style of writing though, even without reading the book your review made me chuckle. Glug glug woohoo...hahaha totally love that!
Fabulous lobster, you are very talented, glad yo have you with us.
Your lobster is amazing! I can't believe how incredible he is and SO looks like the cover of the book. Creepy. lol her
Beautifully painted lobster, Trace! Love the rich colours and I think your's is much better than the picture on the book. I always feel sorry for the poor, old lobsters being thrown into a pot of boiling water. Like Nic, I prefer them swimming free in the sea. As for the book, I think I'll give it a miss too. I've always said that, if my kids ever did something criminal, I'd be the first to dob them in. Luckily, I've never had to do it. lol
Your sketches are awesome.
As always, I'm impressed with your art. You draw SO WELL!! Best seller? I supposedly had one this month and I didn't care for mine much more than you seem to have cared for yours. But the lovely art you imparted on us was simply beyond words.
On Friday I ate mussels for lunch and then ate scallops for dinner. Makes me wish I was chomping on your lobster today!! Great job - as always!
Your lobster is awesomely good! It made my mouth water as it's a favorite of mine - though too expensive so rarely get to actually eat it! Sounds like a heavy book - too heavy for my simple mind.
I never think of sketching from photo's in magazines and books. Hmmm... great idea! Might start doing more of that my self! :0)
Brilliant Lobster! Shame the inspiration was rubbish! Catherine
Outstanding lobster painting and looks way to happy to be a part of this particular book! I love your stories and sense of humor!
Brilliant lobster, but those eyes look decidedly sad - I wonder why?
Sometimes the taglines on a book are better fiction than the contents.
"A heartstopping thriller" - you'll lose the will to live.
"Riveting" - you'll be bored rigid and won't be able to move.
x
Tracey, your lobster drawing is brilliant!!! The book from H Koch would look much better with your lobster on it instead of the photo. Maybe this would even help to improve the story inside that disappointed you so much. However, the lobster is brilliant and you wold never have sketched it without this book!
And I like the solar Queen to!!!!
I will keep it in mind that you would like to have Elvis as well and once I see him somewhere I will get him for you :)
Yummy lobster...so realistic and ready to be gobbled up! Thank you for your great, honest review...I also pick books, not because they are on some sort of list, but because the cover art/author/theme "calls to me"
Much aloha.
An extraordinarily handsome lobster! Superb drawing. Well done on finishing a book I would have given up on very early on. Loved your review.
Janet xx
Hahaha...what a brilliantly honest review....I am tempted to read it now just to see if it is as bad as you found...and to see if anyone did order lobster :D Your painting is just awesome, looks like he is about to crawl off the plate and attack the boring guests :D XXX
Literally sat here laughing at this review - like Gina says, you almost *almost* make me want to read it. Still, at least the cover was good eh? :D
Love your lobster - he's so cute. Are lobsters cute? Yours is :)
LOVE your lobster sketch!!! but the book doesn't sound like one I'm in a hurry to read
lol not sure if I want to read it or not after your review! But LOVE your lobster, fab work. x
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