Sweeney Concepts

More character sketches based on The String of Pearls…

As I’m going through the book I’m taking note of what makes the characters who/what they are and then trying to find a species that will compliment them. As well as considering personality, traits and actions, I’m also trying to make sure that the characters are relevant in relation to each other.

I’ve made Sweeney, as I mentioned before, a fox because he is extremely cunning and it seemed to fit with both his name and his image. He is also extremely cruel, as (sadly) foxes can be at times. Mrs. Lovett I have made a cat, as this also seems to fit her nature. She is described as being tall, attractive and somewhat of a clever intellectual, always seeking to better her situation away from that which is deemed common (whereas Sweeney, who shares a business interest, cares only for financial gain and bloodlust). I also love messing about with her expression… she can be made to look extremely cynical and her smile is a hollow one, a show put on for the paying customers in her shop. These two are survivors in a harsh area, coping just as foxes and stray cats in city environments do… along with a love-hate relationship.

Tobias Ragg (top right) is Sweeney’s apprentice (or ‘soap boy’ ) and is treated very cruelly by him. He has his suspicions when it comes to Sweeney Todd’s motives and grows increasingly disturbed over the fact that customers go into his shop but never come out. At first I started drawing him as a weasel, but then I thought, as weasels can be ferocious, perhaps he should be a rabbit instead. This fits with his fear of Todd, his constant running about and initial anxious nature.

So yeah, sketching, sketching… and pig guy just refuses to go away. He’s just begging to be made into a pie… one day.

(Artwork © Leona Preston 2008).