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Leopreston — Sweeney Sketches

Published: 2008-01-24 13:18:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 3887; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 332
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Description Oh my, I’m becoming rather addicted to drawing anthro Sweeney… as I continue re-reading The String of Pearls, I find myself doodling all the more… scenes, characters, situations… and I’m actually grateful for the inspiration having suffered such a dry spell recently. These drawings have been clumped together from several pages in my sketchbooks and they are a prime example of my much rougher, quicker work. I’m interested to see where they will lead me.

Lol, I’ve got to say… the sketch at the very bottom of the page, of Todd swinging a mop in some guy’s face is based on my favourite scene… it’s just so darn funny I couldn’t resist! In the scene, Todd is trying to escape from a bunch of thieves who want the pearls he is carrying, and what follows is not hard to imagine…

‘Here was another struggle; and again Sweeney Todd was the victor, but he was hard pressed by those who followed him - fortunately for him there was a mop left in a pail of water, this he seized hold of, and, swinging it over his head, he brought it full on the head of the first man who came near him. Dab it came, soft and wet, and splashed over some others who were close at hand.

It is astonishing what an effect a new weapon will sometimes have. There was not a man among them who would not have faced danger in more ways than one, that would not have rushed headlong upon deadly and destructive weapons, but who were quite awed when a heavy wet mop was dashed into their faces. They were completely paralysed for a moment; indeed, they began to look upon it something between a joke and a serious matter, and either would have been taken just as they might be termed.
'Get the pearls!' shouted the man who had first stopped him; 'seize the spy! seize him - secure him - rush at him! You are men enough to hold one man!' Sweeney Todd saw matters were growing serious, and he plied his mop most vigorously upon those who were ascending, but they had become somewhat used to the mop, and it had lost much of its novelty, and was by no means a dangerous weapon.

They rushed on, despite the heavy blows showered by Sweeney, and he was compelled to give way stair after stair. The head of the mop came off, and then there remained but the handle, which formed an efficient weapon, and which made fearful havoc of the heads of the assailants; and despite all that their slouched hats could do in the way of protecting them, yet the staff came with a crushing effect. The best fight in the world cannot last for ever; and Sweeney again found numbers were not to be resisted for long; indeed, he could not have physical energy enough to sustain his own efforts, supposing he had received no blows in return. He turned and fled as he was forced back to the landing, and then came to the next stair-head, and again he made a desperate stand. This went on for stair after stair, and continued for more than two or three hours. There were moments of cessation when they all stood still and looked at each other.
'Fire upon him!' said one.’

(Artwork © Leona Preston 2008 / ‘The String of Pearls: A Romance’ © Edward Lloyd)


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Comments: 90

Leopreston In reply to ??? [2008-06-24 19:13:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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FrostfurWolf In reply to Leopreston [2008-06-24 19:28:44 +0000 UTC]

I am jealous of your talent...I shall STEAL it,lol

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Leopreston In reply to FrostfurWolf [2008-06-24 19:55:30 +0000 UTC]

LOL! Nooooo! Steal it like Johanna?

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FrostfurWolf In reply to Leopreston [2008-06-24 20:02:08 +0000 UTC]

tlly, I will also stalk you---er I mean watch you

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Leopreston In reply to FrostfurWolf [2008-06-24 20:04:09 +0000 UTC]

Eep! Scary stalk... *runs and hides*

... *from behind a bush* Thank you muchly! XD

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FrostfurWolf In reply to Leopreston [2008-06-25 01:42:04 +0000 UTC]

runs and hides like toby in the movie? lol, "come on out. Your talent will not escape my clutches."

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Leopreston In reply to FrostfurWolf [2008-06-26 20:46:17 +0000 UTC]

*From the drains* Eep! XD

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Tikiya [2008-04-08 00:36:21 +0000 UTC]

A super sweeney FAN. ;D Omg.I know every line from that movie and i had only watched it 3 times. xDD
I love they way you draw them.GORGOUS.

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Leopreston In reply to Tikiya [2008-04-09 16:42:26 +0000 UTC]

Ha ha, neat. Thank you very much!

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Tikiya In reply to Leopreston [2008-04-09 17:23:51 +0000 UTC]

Welcome. ;D

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drokjuh [2008-04-06 02:52:20 +0000 UTC]

I remeber the mop scene so well, i can imagine it happening. It made me lmao when i first read it. I cant wait to see my mum's expression when she gets to thast part. i think they should have some how fit this into the newer versions of the story, 'cause its the best humour in the SoP.

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drokjuh In reply to drokjuh [2008-04-06 14:16:00 +0000 UTC]

Cant wait to see it if you do, lol

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Leopreston In reply to drokjuh [2008-04-06 12:23:06 +0000 UTC]

Hee, the mop scene makes for some funny reading... I hope I do that some justice... eventually.

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Muse21 [2008-02-18 03:39:21 +0000 UTC]

Oh, the mop bit was wonderous, wasn't it?

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Leopreston In reply to Muse21 [2008-02-18 10:15:23 +0000 UTC]

The mop bit makes me laugh every time I read it. Lol... *imagines flailing mop*

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Muse21 In reply to Leopreston [2008-02-18 13:36:00 +0000 UTC]

I just like that the men are all like, "Dude, fall back. He has a mop."

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Leopreston In reply to Muse21 [2008-02-18 13:43:53 +0000 UTC]

LOL, yeah. I can see their faces... before one of them gets a wet slap in the face. lol! XD

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Fablewitheggs [2008-02-16 21:51:00 +0000 UTC]

Yay, I love this !!

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Leopreston In reply to Fablewitheggs [2008-02-17 00:40:55 +0000 UTC]

Woot for that!

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Noldowise [2008-01-29 02:40:23 +0000 UTC]

^^ These are all great
XD haha Thornhill's a dog, I really like the sketch of Sweeney as Colonel Geogre

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Leopreston In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 17:08:20 +0000 UTC]

I know, strange huh? A dog walking a dog... LOL! Ahahaha, have to think on your toes when you're dealing with animal characters... it's not like I can delete Hector from the story either. Bah... lol

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Noldowise In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-29 19:09:25 +0000 UTC]

I might borrow my friend's dog (I have yellow lab - dosen't work as Hector though) just take SoP pictures.
I think Thornhill works good as a dog, ironic though. I always imagined Colonel Jeffery as a Horse myself.

I used to draw anthro characters, haven't done in while though XD

BTW showed this to one of my SoP friends she loved the idea. This is the biggest news we've had since Neil Gaimen tried to do SoP.

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Leopreston In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 19:39:33 +0000 UTC]

'I think Thornhill works good as a dog, ironic though.' Ha ha ha, I know what you mean... but I love to joke. Btw, I'd consider this as if it were a human owning a monkey. I'd never have a cat walking a dog though... that's just plain weird. lol! And aww... I don't own a dog myself, so it's more than I have to go by!

'This is the biggest news we've had since Neil Gaimen tried to do SoP.' Oooerr... yeah, it is a shame about that. He would have done such a good job, but it didn't get very far did it? *Sigh* And in original penny dreadful format too... urggg

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Noldowise In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-29 20:04:21 +0000 UTC]

"I'd consider this as if it were a human owning a monkey" XD hah my friend said something like that ^^

Nah never finished it too many versions to sort through, I heard part of it was published in Taboo though.

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Leopreston In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 20:06:40 +0000 UTC]

Yes it was... partly, partly... Heh, should have chosen one and stuck with it.

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Noldowise In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-29 20:10:23 +0000 UTC]

Yeah he should have.

What I like to do is mix SoP references into fanfiction, like I have one based of the musical but Colonel Jeffery guest stars XD

I like the Prest version the most- out of all the penney dreadfuls.

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Leopreston In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 22:46:32 +0000 UTC]

You write fanfiction? Heh, now that's something that I don't have a head for at all.

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Noldowise In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-29 23:04:30 +0000 UTC]

*shrug* I don't post it often (mainly cause I have half done ones lying around everyware)

I have managed to find a few SoP fanfics but not much.

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Leopreston In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 23:08:27 +0000 UTC]

Ah, but that is the habit of a true writer... to have works all over the place.

Heh, yes, I shouldn't imagine there would be 'too many' SOP fanfics... most of the screaming fangirls love to write about Burton's creation I think. Oops... meh, I'm a traditionalist.

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Noldowise In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-29 23:26:26 +0000 UTC]

Good point...I think It might be becuase I have ADD XD

Yep so am I, I was like that even when I was a LOTR fanatic.

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Noldowise In reply to Noldowise [2008-01-29 02:42:48 +0000 UTC]

Oooh My favorite part! Sweeney hiting the theives with a broom.

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RedRodent [2008-01-25 15:44:24 +0000 UTC]

Great sketches... I can see why you drew a picture of the mop scene! Thanks for the excerpt! Loved it...!

I also thought it was very cool how you drew layouts of the barbershop room, and Mrs. Lovett's kitchen... Were these derived straight from the book?

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Leopreston In reply to RedRodent [2008-01-25 17:55:21 +0000 UTC]

Lol... mop scenes make cracking good jokes. Hee hee.

Btw, the layouts... there's a good description of the barber shop etc... in another book (as The String of Pearls is kind of shady on that note) by Peter Haining called 'The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' *takes a breath*. This was my reference... it also provides a description of the secret tunnels under the shop leading to Lovett's pie shop (both were seperate), which is interesting. Ha ha, I'm getting into this too much I fear.

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RedRodent In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-25 19:32:55 +0000 UTC]

Very interesting!

No, it's only natural to be into such a cool story\movie\musical\play\phenomenon!

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Leopreston In reply to RedRodent [2008-01-25 19:44:44 +0000 UTC]

Lol! That's too much gobbledygoogledy!

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RedRodent In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-25 19:51:51 +0000 UTC]

But I like gibbering and jabbering!

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Leopreston In reply to RedRodent [2008-01-25 20:13:14 +0000 UTC]

Lol, so... I was thinking... when will we be hearing this: 'Johnny Depp is... Spring Heeled Jack'? LOL! Come on, Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd... what about the other guy? lol!

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RedRodent In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-25 21:07:23 +0000 UTC]

I wonder...

Who is Spring Heeled Jack? I have no idea.... I'm not entirely familiar with British lit... I know roughly who Jack the Ripper is...

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Leopreston In reply to RedRodent [2008-01-25 23:32:39 +0000 UTC]

[link]

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RedRodent In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-26 00:58:42 +0000 UTC]

Woah! This guy would make for a really good... (see above mentioned gibber jabber)

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Leopreston In reply to RedRodent [2008-01-26 11:26:59 +0000 UTC]

LOL! I bet it'll happen eventually...

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ohTHATsean [2008-01-24 22:26:26 +0000 UTC]

lots of sketchy scribbley goodness!

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Leopreston In reply to ohTHATsean [2008-01-25 10:28:01 +0000 UTC]

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SimonLMoore [2008-01-24 21:56:17 +0000 UTC]

Nelson's getting jeeeaaalllous...

Also...his hair is just so...so cool...

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Leopreston In reply to SimonLMoore [2008-01-25 10:28:44 +0000 UTC]

Lol, Nelson is taking a break. Ahahah... *tries to re-arrange Simon's hair but it's too short*

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SimonLMoore In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-25 11:51:36 +0000 UTC]

Nelson's on 'vacation'? o_O Also...you don't want to see me with long hair

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GeneralVyse In reply to SimonLMoore [2008-01-25 21:23:04 +0000 UTC]

(having a party with vyse)

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Leopreston In reply to SimonLMoore [2008-01-25 12:09:06 +0000 UTC]

LOL! How about an afro?

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SimonLMoore In reply to Leopreston [2008-01-25 12:20:01 +0000 UTC]

You...put your finger on the mark there...yes...I have curly hair...infact I think there's a pic in my scraps...

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GeneralVyse In reply to SimonLMoore [2008-01-25 21:23:29 +0000 UTC]

ye gods! that and the grin? Devestating...

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