Fern and bone, layered.
A skull with elongated jaw and clawed hands emerging from its eye sockets — rendered in pale, precise linework — anchors a composition built from two entangled registers. Around it, a forest of ferns and botanical forms accumulates in layered tones of blue-green, each touch adding weight and depth without transparency. The ornamental border — spiderwebs, scrollwork, mirrored acanthus — frames the whole in cream against the dark ground. The title sits above the skull, letters dripping downward, integrated into the illustration rather than imposed upon it. Danger and delicacy occupy the same space.


