Red Death

..."It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held. There were seven --an imperial suite. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue --and vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange --the fifth with white --the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries...

... there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise --then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust.

And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all. "The Masque of the Red Death" ~ Edgar Allan Poe, 1850

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This image was created for the Edgar Allan Poe contest at Renderosity. The contest called for illustrations created based on one of Poe's works. This image was based upon the Poem, "The Masque of the Red Death". (full version of poem is here: [link]

It was created entirely in Adobe Illustrator 10 without the use of external plug-in's or filters. Please view the full size version to see additional detail in the picture.

About 30+ hours of work, spread over the course of about two weeks.

(Image copyright 2003 Christine Errico; " The Masque of the Red Death" Poem copyright 1840 Edgar Allan Poe)