I was alone in a palace of leaves

After her schooling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Drexel University, Elizabeth Shippen Green was a successful illustrator and artist. She preferred using soft materials such as charcoal or pastel to achieve her signature style. Green worked for Harper’s Monthly during most of her career. I Was Alone in a Palace of Leaves being an illustration of Richard le Gallienne’s story "Our Tree-Top Library" published in Harper’s in March 1902. The artist was commissioned to illustrate other scenes from the story, but here she depicts a well-dressed man sitting upon a tree branch looking below. The use of soft charcoal is evident in the illustration with the artist’s use of contrasting light and smooth shading in the details.