The Rose and The Nightingale, Digital Painting, 26 October 2011, 504x768px

 This piece of drawing is one of the few of mine which actually carries a story behind. As the title suggests, yes it was done in a form of a story illustration of a story called 'The Rose and The Nightingale', it was a story I came across when I was younger even though I can no longer remember where from. 

I will not elaborate much on the story but the basis is that the Nightingale, as seen in the illustration had sacrified its blood (and thus it's life) to dye a white rose red as no red roses were to be found in that particular season, however a sad twist is that when the young man offered the blood red rose to the lady who demanded it in order for him to take her on a date callously rejected the rose and in doing so wasted the Nightingale's sacrifice. 

As so, this piece has a melancholic atmosphere and the lady is a personification of the white rose in the process of being dyed red from the Nightingale's blood, this is evident in the roses that adorn her body still having certain white edges and there are red streaks appearing in her hair. 

The composition is assymetrical, heavier on the right side and lighter on the left side helps the Nightingale to be able to capture attention of the viewer as its dark coloured body contrasts with the whiteness of the background.

As a whole, this is one of my favourite pieces of speedpainting as it embodies a story, something beyond the pixels.