The common cliche "a picture speaks a thousand words" may be overused and overheard, but still rings true today. Through the use of multiple elements, photographs are able to have meanings that can be seen through looking deeper at the image, and become more detailed and vivid. In the illustration for Edgar Allen Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by Henry Clark, the use of color, texture, and lines, allow the image to be much more than an illustration for a short story. 

First, the easiest thing to see in the illustration is the color. There is an immense amount of black in the picture, and it easily outnumbers the amount of white that is put into the image. The black creates a very heavy sense that whatever happened in the image is not good. In the short story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" the patient is put into hypnosis when he is on the verge of death and stays in this hypnotic state for a few months. When he is taken out of hypnosis, his body completely deteriorates immediately and that is what is being captured in the illustration. The color adds so much because of the contrast between the white and the black. The sea of black above the patient gives the black a very strong feel, but this can also make the white strong as well. The white is placed only on the doctor's hands, and his face. This is done with the purpose of making the powerful statement that the doctor is controlling this whole operation. The white on his face and hands also illuminates him and makes him the center of attention. The color is a factor on the audience in the image as well, because there is less white used on the people watching. This gives the effect that the people watching are in the background and it gives depth to the image. Depth is a factor with the doorway in the back on the image, of which a small portion of white is used to give the feeling that the doorway is far away and the room is large, which could also read the viewer into thinking there could be lots of people in the room. Overall, the color choice in the illustration creates a sense of something bad, highlights important characters in the image, and creates depth. 

Next, texture is an element used in the illustration that is very important. One of the biggest things Edgar Allan Poe was known for was his ability to create very gruesome horror stories. In the story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", there are very few gruesome horror scenes. The majority of the story is not gruesome like a typical Poe story is, but it is at this moment in the story that gives that gruesome nature that most Poe stories have. Henry Clark illustrates this though his use of texture with the decomposing body in the image. The body in the picture is splotchy and looks like what one would thing a body decomposing in seconds would look like. The face of the body has the texture of something that is melting away, along with the rest of the body. The dripping on the side of the bed adds to the texture of the body as well, truly selling the fact this body is melting away. Valdemar's arm seems to almost melt on the bed, and there is no hand visible showing that it has most likely already pooled up next to the bed. Valdemar's leg is also decomposing on the side of the bed, and the texture gives it the appearance that the leg is made up of just a bone and a few ligaments at that point in time. This addition to the texture gives the image a much deeper meaning. It may seem like just a regular gruesome illustration to most, but when one looks into the context, they will find more than just a gruesome picture. The texture is really what defines the illustration as an illustration for one of Poe's stories. The texture is what identifies the picture Clark does a tremendous job using texture to show how how the body was deteriorating and the gruesome way that it melted on the bed, which gives the illustration a deeper meaning. 

Lastly, lines are an element used in Clark's illustration that make the image more vivid and give it meaning. Lines are usually used to create or lessen the space in an image, or they can point to something in order to highlight it. In this case, the doctor's arms point at the patient which shows the patient is receiving something from the doctor. Of course at this point in the story the patient snapped out of hypnosis by the doctor and immediately dies after. The lines that come from his hands and arms create a sense of power transfer, and the illustration is directly showing that the reason that the patient is dying is because of the doctor. The viewer can also see the lines used in the detail on the bed. There are a couple different types of lines that Clark uses in order to add more detail to the scene. One of these is the very small lines that are running off the bed all in sync. This is showing a rapid movement of the body material moving off of the bed, and could also be showing where a leg once was. The leg on that is hanging off of the side of the bed is a thicker line, giving it more definition. When one sees the thicker lines they can tell that the smaller lines have melted away and the thicker ones are what remains. Clark uses lines to not only send a message through the use of the doctor pointing at the patient, but shows vivid detail with the use of the thickness of the lines.

In conclusion, Henry Clark uses multiple elements to get his point across. He uses the element of color to create a tone for the illustration, and give the illustration depth. The color also gives the image some important contrast that leads to understanding more about what is going on in the picture. Clark also uses the element of texture to truly make the illustration feel like it was based off of a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and add the gruesome detail that was seen in the story. And finally Clark used lines to put a spotlight on key characters in the illustration and also add vivid detail. All three of these elements come together to create more detail, and something deeper than just the illustration. Clark put these elements in with a purpose; to make the illustration come to life.

