A silly caricature I did of Steven. :) Getting back into caricatures has been less difficult than I thought it would be. Aiming to explore more into "beast" mode for my next ones.

Throwback poetry - A best friend of mine and I used to have what we called "Poetry Wars" in high school, where we'd write on various topics in a poetic manner, and often debate back and forth to speak and challenge our minds with our different opinions. This topic was inspired by my infliction with teenage love - falling for another whilst still in a relationship, and the guilt that came with it. Oh, fun times. This was written in December of 2002.

Good, Bad, Neutral

We exist in a society
where beauty is hidden beneath a layer of compassion,
hatred,
and love.

Our characteristics shift gears
depending on how we feel.
Why must there be sadness in our existence?
Why must one mortal inflict hurt to another
and not sense any guilt to the pain they have drained on them?
The contagious pain
which swallows them whole
and suffocates their true selves to the world
packed with lies and questions.
A shadow which masks its presence
breathes in many identities to its core
that holds together the true mind.
The true answers which could for eternity
be tied down in a cave of darkness
followed by burning to ashes
so no soul could achieve them.

Trust is a delicate,
yet strong task which can disintegrate
once the thought of manipulation
and lie
comes to mind.
We live under the assumption that once one soul has lied to another,
they become the enemy.
So what comes between ourselves
once a lie flushes out of our own mouths?
Errors are bound to happen.

To block ourselves to the world
due to lies
leads to loneliness,

which leads to isolation.

When the picture falls from the wall,
we pick it up
and put it back again
for its soul purpose is to be shown to people.
Our purpose is to venture through a dream of ups and downs,
challenges that can corrupt our intelligent minds
to thinking we've made a wrong turn
when really,
we took the turn we were always supposed to take.

Sometimes, the shadow hidden inside the wall
which absorbs any sounds that comes through it,
is the intelligent mysterious character
in which intrigues others to wind in their direction.
To want to transform someone
is the same as putting nails on a chalkboard.
Our personalities are like rivers.
Flowing into the random direction
which leads them to numerous dissimilar paths.
When one fixates on many,
and is attached to only one other,
they then begin to try to untangle themselves from being trapped
with only one other
so they can breathe the fresh air of the many.
That one's mind also transforms their curiosity
to being free into wanting to stay attached
to the one they are with.

But alas, such is life.

Such is for the one time we find happiness with one,
yet wanting of another.
So why the sudden changes in feelings?
The good can change to bad, and the bad can change to ugly.
The ugly stays the same until the bad is defeated by the good.
That which returns the ugly into good.
When there is two sides, the Good and the Bad,
there is also an in between.
No, we're not calling it Switzerland,
but we are calling it the neutral.
The neutral,
not being good,
can be corrupted with other souls and turn into the bad.
Why the fuck
must the neutral find such corruption
when there is already a soul that is willing to depart from their genre on a holiday,
so they can be with the neutral on their birthday?

Such an odd mind one can have
when troubled times
tries to defeat
with their train of thought.

On Monday, I had asked Dan to send me a nice picture of himself because I wanted to paint a portrait of him using my new oil paints. He, of course, decided to be funny and sent me a silly picture of himself ...and in my opinion...looking as if he were trying to let out a big fart. HAHA. So, I decided to draw a caricature of him like that in my sketchbook.

I used prismacolor sketch pencils, prismacolor fine line markers, a markette pen for the tip of his hair, white out for the shine, and prismacolor colored pencils & art stix. This whole thing took about two hours. One thing I'm upset about is that I didn't make him fat enough, but I still am pretty happy with the outcome. Click on the pictures to enlarge.