The scene
From The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe (1845). A bleak December midnight, a grieving scholar half asleep over his books, a tapping at the door, and the raven that steps in and perches on the bust of Pallas, answering every question with one word. I wanted the stillness after it lands: the bird, the bust and a single flame in the dark.
The style
A transfer lithograph of the 1870s: loose brushed ink, deep velvety blacks and the grain of the stone showing through. Black ink on cream, with the candle's small flame the only colour on the sheet.
The inspiration
The look comes from Edouard Manet's illustrations for Le Corbeau (1875), the French edition of The Raven translated by Stephane Mallarme. I borrowed his brushed lithograph line and his shadowy raven. The scene and the room are my own.
How it's made
I design each scene and refine it until it feels right. It's a print of a digital artwork made in the style of a lithograph, not a hand-pulled lithograph or an original print. The quote is typeset by me. Each one carries my printed "Chapter & Scene" signature in the border.