This is a sketch of Sarah at the beginning of the story, set in 1905. I obviously took reference from the images I compiled above to come up with an outfit and hairstyle that would fit appropriately into the time. I leaned in favor of a simple, very modest and muted outfit as apposed to a more bright, patterned and lacey outfit, both which could have been appropriate for the time period. I felt that the dull and constricting nature of her clothes would reflect the bland life she feels trapped in at the beginning of her story.

I do like this piece more than the first one as it's a lot more interesting to look at however I ultimately ran into the same issue. The piece, although technically well done, doesn't portray much emotion. Since the important aspect of my project is to portray a strong and tragic story, these two pieces just aren't right for it.

I shied away from going too heavy with any dark crosshatching because these are supposed to be a more light-hearted part of the story, and I think that's where I went wrong. If I were to try again in in this black and white crosshatched style I would have created a greater contrast between dark and light.

I do have a perfectionist nature when it comes to illustration. So, for my upcoming pieces of experimentation I'm going to negate that and focus more on the interesting effects I can achieve with the physical art materials I am using. I also want to see how I can effect the emotional atmosphere of the pieces through materials, composition, colour and tone, etc.

In this piece Sarah is sat down in a corner with her head turned down and away from the light of the small window. In this moment she knows that she is that she is unhappy and that she feels trapped in the current direction of her life, and I think that the layout of this piece conveys that feeling well. In contrast with the other piece, where she is stood in the center of a large window looking out of it, yet she is surrounded by and cast in black shadow. This suggests how she now feels more fulfilled and free, oblivious to precarious space between life and death she is in.

In her time spent back home, she recalls the stories she was told of a very grand house located in their small country town, lost in a tragic fire 40 years ago. The house was ominously distant from anyone else in the area, no one was ever able to firmly grasp the name of the one man known to be in residence there and who lost his life in the fire. Sarah had never seen the ruined manor up close as no one ever went there, but in her quiet frustration and yearning for some kind of control, she, for the first time in her life, did something she wasn't supposed to and set off to visit the manor on her own.

When she arrives at the ruined manor, she wants to explore further and steps inside. The crumbling brickwork opens up into a large garden within the walls of the building and at the center is stood a statue of an angel. The angel is holding out a single white rose. Sarah is drawn towards the angel and reaches out to the rose.

Upon touching it, she suddenly notices how the very garden she is stood in and the building around her has changed. It all looks as it must have 40 years ago, before it caught fire. Sarah looks back to the angel to see that the flower she felt moments ago is now gone without a trace.

She looks around attempting to take in the beautiful structure around her only to stop when she locks eyes with a young man stood in very archway she walked in through. Sarah knows in her heart that this must be the man who lived here 40 years ago, but how was he stood there before her? He does not seem offput by Sarah's presence in his home and introduces himself as Brander. He tells her that she may stay a while, because once she leaves, she will not be able to find her way back. However, he also warns that she shouldn't stay for too long. She doesn't fully understand what he means by this, but in her curiosity, and the desire to escape her dull life, she stays.

Sarah looses count of the days she spends there. She spends time reading from his extensive collection of books, things about the world she would have been forbidden from reading previously, and revels in the things she learns. She starts to frequently take the books outside and ecstatically read aloud to Brander as he tends to the lavish garden. The two of them grow very fond of each other. Sarah is so enamored with the life she has in the manor, that she forgets the strange circumstances that brought her there, the warning she was given and the grim fate of the manor all together.

Eventually, the manor succumbs to said fate and one evening, catches fire via a misplaced unextinguished candle. The manor is quickly engulfed in flames and suddenly Sarah makes sense of Brander's warning and it becomes clear that once she leaves he cannot follow her, she will never be able to return to him and this place between life and death. Ultimately, she stays, choosing to give up life and remain in this place with Brander forever. The two of them embrace and just as Brander's was, Sarah's life is claimed by the fire.

Back in the outside world, the angel statue still holds out a white rose and a second blooms next to it in her palm. The two souls now forever lost together in the ruins of the manor and under her guardianship.

Looking back on the composition of the oil pastel version of this piece, I actually do like how Sarah's back is turned to the viewer as she takes Brander's hand and walks towards him. It portrays how she is leaving life behind and willingly walking away into the grasp of death.

(I did this with every final piece but I'm showing 4 out of the 6 (you get the idea)).

It was also whilst digitally sketching this piece that I thought it would be a good idea to keep Brander faceless throughout this whole series of drawings. I thought about how when looking at Casper David Friedrich's work, that the faceless subjects of his paintings carried a mysterious and lonely feel with them. It aids in the eerie factor of my story as his contrast to Sarah is made more visually clear. Her being alive and him being deceased.

I do like the composition of this piece though. I like to urgency in Sarah's expression and how Brander's big dark figure takes up a lot of the foreground, as he reaches out to Sarah. Innocently beckoning her towards her demise.