Many people have heard the story of lovely Lydia. Even as far away as Pennsylvania - people tell tales of the lovely hitchiker who stands in the rain in her white dress waiting to be taken home. She was first reported to have been seen in 1924 - and the legends still continue of a young woman stranded on prom night. Some say she was involved in a terrible accident because of the rain. Some say she and her boyfriend were arguing. Some say he made her get out of the car and she was hit by oncoming traffic. Whatever the cause - she has been trying to get home for over 80 years. As the stories go - She is found on rainy nights by men driving alone. She gets into the car with him and gives him directions to her house, although she seems distracted and cold. When he gets there and gets out of the car to open her door - she is gone. He goes to the door to check on her (or retrieve his coat in the more chilling versions) and is greeted by her mother who explains that she is dead and has been for years. Sometimes she proves this with a photo - others by directing him to the tobstone.

She always fascinated me as a child - and then I had the luck of moving to her town when I was nine. I visited her bridge many times - and although I did not see her there - some cruel prankster had painted her likeness on the side of her bridge with a ball and chains around her ankle. We painted her wings and wrote that she was free - and had our moments of silence in her name. Whether she is still there or not - she will always have a place in my heart. I sit in a building perhaps 500 feet from her every day - so it seemed only fitting that when we were assigned a charcoal-esque illustration of a ghost story in Photoshop class - that I should draw her.

Tools: Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS
Textures: came from my teacher
Special thanks to ~princessirulan-stock for providing a reference for the pose.