The House of Usher
‘The House of Usher’ based on ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ (1839), featuring the famous closing lines, “The deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the house of Usher.”
Illustration based on Edgar Allan Poe’s story ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, depicting the final moments of Madeline and Roderick Usher as the waters consume their remnants.
The scroll quotes the closing lines of the text. It reads “The deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the House of Usher.”
Note that Madeline is not presented playing the guitar in the text, but I saw no reason why she should not be a musician like her brother. No doubt her song is a fitting accompaniment to their ruin.
The thin ember at the bottom of the scroll is a nod to the Roger Corman film, which has a rather more spectacular ending than the story.
Acrylic on greyboard, 210 x 297mm.
Daler Rowney FW inks:
Black
Olive Green
Emerald Green*
Yellow Ochre*
Flame Red *
* I think, anyway… it’s been a while.
W&N Galeria paint: Titanium White
1. Pencil under-drawing (in progress)
2. Black inkwash shading.
3. Olive green inkwash and white paint highlights.
4. Finished piece.
Keira James Art 