We feel it within ourselves; a forever consuming urge of darkness clawing its way through our bodies and minds. At times it almost seems to come from nowhere, when we feel we are at our strongest; before it quickly strikes from the ether and sinks its fangs into our being. Some of us try to go above and beyond to keep these thoughts at bay, hoping that through their actions these dark motives will never reach out from within and allow them to cause harm. They sit each day, fighting it back with every solitary ounce of their being, just barely slinking away with their sanity with each bout, only to find it clawing from within once more at another time. They do not know when, they do not know where, but they know that it will be soon and it always be more of a challenge with each encounter. For others, they've given up their fight long ago. No longer attempting to stray away from the darkness, it instead envelops them, like a shadowy cloud of myasmic malice and dread from within. Doomed to wander within a shadow of their own selves the feathers of the darkness cascading from above like dark snowfall. Each day feels more and more like a test to see how much further they can slink below, how many more people will be dejected, how many more opportunities to break free are unobtainable and lost to their minds? Time is nothing more of an inconvenience to them as they feel that if it were to stop, perhaps so could the madness from within. Yet as they plead for hope in the dark, they are only greeted by the hollow echo of their tormented cries. Each of us have our own demons to fight and to battle, but sometimes have a strong force of will isn't enough. One must have a reason for why they need to not allow the darkness to consume them, why they need to move forward in life rather than wallow in their own blood-stained despair and horror. However, you must know that when the test lays before you, you must choose between what must be done and what is simply...convenient for you. The Black Bird, created by *tribble-of-doom, presents us with her own visual interpretation of our inner demons and how one could simply fall to their hateful influence.

Initially, one can appreciate the roughness to the detailing placed here, showing off a nice feeling of the decaying of the subject's body. The rotting skin and almost burned flesh presents itself quite well on the landscape with the shadow effects below it. The shading on the body shows off a good use of shadow effects and light placement in the image which gives us a good assumption of light location for the composition. The lack of colors really makes the use of red, gray, black and white really stand out here, giving the overall composition a much more dramatic and sharpened feel to it, as if it could all be happening right before the viewer's eyes.

The black abstracted shape of the bird is an excellent touch, presenting the feeling of the shapelessness of the darkness within the decaying subject making its way out into the world. How the vague form of a bird shows how it easily it soars through the malice filled air of its victims before swooping upon them and tearing its ethereal talons into their souls. If there's one thing this piece really shines at, it has to be that inner imagery behind it as well as the depiction of the occurrence.

However, while there's definitely a lot going for this particular piece there are a few things that are holding it back from truly being something much more to behold. While I do like the use of shading upon the subject, the drop shadow beneath it is very rough and looks unfinished as opposed to the rest of the design around it. I would suggest redoing the shadow effect if possible and working it to fit the shape of the subject better. Another thing would be to add a mite bit of sharpness to the some outlines of the subject itself to add a more visible sign of decay in some parts and other parts slightly blurred or smudged to represent dust or sand, thereby giving a better interpretation of how all of the life was sucked from the character due to their own uncontrolled inner malice. If possible, see if you could even add a faint shadow for the titular black bird, perhaps signifying that in the subjects demise, its own darkness finally takes physical form and his end is finally at hand. Keep experimenting with this piece as there's so much more that could be brought out from it to make that much more of a spectacle to truly behold.

Each of us has our own inner demons to fight each and every day. Some of keep it at bay and others decide to fall within them. The Black Bird shows us the advantages to the fight, or even the disappointment and regret of not fighting back all presented before the viewer in a very nice depiction of darkness leaving the husk of one who fell to its influence. There's a bit of smudging on this gem, but with the proper polish, it can definitely shine much brighter than it already is. Very nice work, Madeleine.