The character that is conveyed in "Deathbed" is a drunkard, a smoker, a typical let down who has lost his kids and his wife and has no pride left in himself. To illustrated this as a person, I tried to take effects of lower class living (in the early 1900's) and repeated alcohol abuse.
I came up with this sketch in my sketchbook of what I visualised the character to look like. His eyes are sunken in their sockets and deeply shadowed to suggest lack of sleep and general run-down. The fact that the eyes are wide and that the brow is tilted is to suggest anxiety, as I imagine that repeated drug abuse would make a person very paranoid. I gave him gaunt cheeks with high cheekbones, thin lips and a glazed expression to suggest that he is too busy spending his money on booze to afford to eat properly.
Furthering from this sketch, I redrew the portrait in photoshop. I used airbrushing brushes to paint his face, keeping the tones neutral and cold to suggest a grey palour.
As well as the portrait, I decided to include a few aspects that I felt were very important to the story. I digitally painted a bottle of scotch whiskey and cigarettes, as the lyrics continue on to detail how the character replaces his personality and self esteem for nicotine and liquor. At the very bottom I painted white lillies which are a well known icon for death and funerals. However, the delicate lillies also act as a contrast with the harsh effects of cigarettes and whiskey.
The text at the top of the image is a selection of lyrics, and I aimed to have it in the same sort of style as many 1940's posters as can be seen below;
(Neither of these images are mine; credit goes to www.harveyabramsbooks.com and maxzook.wordpress.com as artists are unknown.)
The text in both of these posters is a mix of cursive and blocky capitals, so I tried to recreate this when quoting my lyrics.
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