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Description
"Thus unlamented let me die"

Subject(s) / Character(s):

Alastare Valentine

Size:

8&1/2" by 11"

Medium / Tools:

-pencil (H2-8B)

Explanation:

-

Analysis:

“Thus unlamented let me die” is the conclusion of one’s philosophy on death, where as the title was derived from Alexander Pope’s “Ode on Solitude”. The conclusion of this poem is:
“Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lye.”
Perspective was a key element in this piece since I started with the face before adding the hand and glass as an afterthought. The face proved monumentally successful considering I had challenged my rendering abilities by utilizing such graphite as 3B and 4B. When shading such delicate features such as those in the face: the nostrils, eyes, and mouth, using such dark pencils is a great risk because of the detrimental effects they produce on the paper. Originally the windows were placed horizontally, which then caused the subject to seem off-balance. I had an associate help explain the dimensions of the background using a plum line to better place the windows in perspective with the already existing figure.
It wasn’t until the foreground was nearly complete that the lily was added. This was because, without the lily, the left bottom corner would have been an abysmal black, weighing down the viewer’s attention.
The single lily was a reference to a previous piece of mine: “We’re keeping him company” where several lilies crowded around the lone male figure tentatively. (The male figure had been sewing his face beneath an abstract entity that was an umbrella while a vigil was held by the surrounding flowers) and while that piece had the essence of loneliness, since he was accompanied by inanimate objects, this particular artwork was meant as an ode to loneliness: an utter acquiescence to the inevitable and despairing acceptance to it. The lone white flower against the dark background draws attention to the subject of solitary: “Thus unlamented let me die”. There will be none to mourn his passing and none will visit his unmarked grave and in his final hours he has but a lily for company.
Such as Giotto used a technique to draw the viewer’s attention from drifting outwards, into the landscape of the background and back towards the subject, I attempted to draw my viewer’s attention from the hand and glass back into the windows. From Rembrandt I maintained his technique of emerging figures from the areas of deep shadow and his sometimes extreme highlights (this is particularly noticeable in my subject’s face).
The last intentional detail I included was the clouds around the subject’s head. They form a halo.
“Thus unlamented let me die” was recognized for artistic excellence at the 2007 Middlesex County Teen Arts Festival and has toured New Jersey. On June 2nd, 2008 “Thus unlamented let me die” returned to my possession.

Description
"Thus unlamented let me die"

Subject(s) / Character(s):

Alastare Valentine

Size:

8&1/2" by 11"

Medium / Tools:

-pencil (H2-8B)

Explanation:

-

Analysis:

“Thus unlamented let me die” is the conclusion of one’s philosophy on death, where as the title was derived from Alexander Pope’s “Ode on Solitude”. The conclusion of this poem is:
“Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lye.”
Perspective was a key element in this piece since I started with the face before adding the hand and glass as an afterthought. The face proved monumentally successful considering I had challenged my rendering abilities by utilizing such graphite as 3B and 4B. When shading such delicate features such as those in the face: the nostrils, eyes, and mouth, using such dark pencils is a great risk because of the detrimental effects they produce on the paper. Originally the windows were placed horizontally, which then caused the subject to seem off-balance. I had an associate help explain the dimensions of the background using a plum line to better place the windows in perspective with the already existing figure.
It wasn’t until the foreground was nearly complete that the lily was added. This was because, without the lily, the left bottom corner would have been an abysmal black, weighing down the viewer’s attention.
The single lily was a reference to a previous piece of mine: “We’re keeping him company” where several lilies crowded around the lone male figure tentatively. (The male figure had been sewing his face beneath an abstract entity that was an umbrella while a vigil was held by the surrounding flowers) and while that piece had the essence of loneliness, since he was accompanied by inanimate objects, this particular artwork was meant as an ode to loneliness: an utter acquiescence to the inevitable and despairing acceptance to it. The lone white flower against the dark background draws attention to the subject of solitary: “Thus unlamented let me die”. There will be none to mourn his passing and none will visit his unmarked grave and in his final hours he has but a lily for company.
Such as Giotto used a technique to draw the viewer’s attention from drifting outwards, into the landscape of the background and back towards the subject, I attempted to draw my viewer’s attention from the hand and glass back into the windows. From Rembrandt I maintained his technique of emerging figures from the areas of deep shadow and his sometimes extreme highlights (this is particularly noticeable in my subject’s face).
The last intentional detail I included was the clouds around the subject’s head. They form a halo.
“Thus unlamented let me die” was recognized for artistic excellence at the 2007 Middlesex County Teen Arts Festival and has toured New Jersey. On June 2nd, 2008 “Thus unlamented let me die” returned to my possession.