shen

my posted work

Posted on 10/16/09, 04:18 pm

I posted ten of the illustrations I've been working on for the "Hole in the Soul" story, with brief description of what the drawings are about. This has been very time consuming. I actually have about 20 completed drawings, and probably forty or fifty more to do.

Now you see I haven't been slacking :-)

• Reply #1 10/16/09  4:19pm
  
  shen
  Here is the "Hole in the Soul" story:
  
  The Hole in the Soul
  
  Once upon a time there was a little boy. He had a terrible headache.
  
  He had met some really bad people who had hurt him so much that his head started to hurt and it wouldn't stop.
  
  He knew why he had a headache. There were people in his life who were very wounded. These people spread their pain wherever they went.
  
  The little boy needed help, but no one seemed to understand. He was just a little boy. He didn�t know what to do.
  
  Fear, rage, pain, sorrow� it was too much for a little boy. He pushed it all deep inside. The deeper he pushed it, the more his head ached.
  
  It would not stop.
  
  One day he came upon a wise man. He asked the man about the bad things that had happened to him. He told him about his terrible headache. He asked the wise man if he knew how to make the headache go away.
  
  The wise man looked into the boy�s eyes. He said, �If you stand in the sun with your eyes closed, you will be able to see inside your soul.� He took the boy by the hand and led him outside. �Try it,� he coaxed.
  
  The little boy closed his eyes. The sun warmed his hands, his face, his heart. For one brief instant, he saw his soul. He saw that it was made of light, but in the middle of it was a dark spot. The blackness scared him.
  
  He told the old man what he saw. The old man told him, �if you stand in the sun, every day and looked within, you will see the hole grow smaller and smaller until it is gone. When the hole is gone, the headache will be gone.�
  
  The little boy told the old man that he was afraid of the hole.
  
  The wise old man said, �If you want to get better, you must look at the darkness.�
  
  �Can�t you do it?� the boy asked.
  
  The old man sadly shook his head. �I wish I could,� he said, �but it is up to you.�
  
  The next morning the little boy thought about going out in the sun, but his head ached so much that it made him sick to his stomach. He was scared of the gloomy shadow on his soul, but more than that, he was angry. It didn't seem like anyone else had to deal with the awful pain he carried around all the time.
  �It isn't fair!� he screamed.
  
  He ran through the streets of town, crying. He told everyone he met how much his head hurt. People pitied the little boy and tried to console him. The old man said nothing.
  Day after day the headache continued. Day after day the little boy went around the town and told everyone. People still felt sorry for him, but they had lives to live. No one wanted to console him day in and day out. It got to the point that everyone in the town started to avoid him. When they saw him coming, they would walk the other way.
  
  The boy grew up, and became a man. He met a beautiful woman. He told her about his headache, as he always did when he met anyone who would listen.
  
  She told him she had the same misery to deal with! She understood exactly how he felt!
  
  He didn't really think she could know how bad his pain was, but it was good to have someone to commiserate with. They consoled each other as best they could, but the headaches grew worse and worse and made them crabby and hateful.
  
  One day the woman complained that her headache was the worst thing that could happen to anyone. This made the grown-up boy very angry. He knew that his headache was the worst. How could she not see it?
  
  The wise old man came by and told the woman about standing in the sun. She was afraid. She wasn�t even sure she believed she had a soul. He took her outside and she stood in the sun. First, she looked at her fear, but desperation pushed her to look further, deep inside herself.
  
  She saw the light streaming out of her, but she also saw the dark place in her soul. She knew that the dark place came from something her parents had done to her and she was angry that she had been left with this to deal with. Why was it was her job to make the pain go away? It wasn't her responsibility! She hadn't caused it! Shouldn't someone else have to make it go away?
  
  The wise old man said, yes, you are right, it is not your fault, but you are the only one with the power to make the hole go away. She went out and stood in the sun and she cried, but as she cried she looked within herself. The next day, she tried it again. She felt anger well up in her that seemed so strong it threatened to consume her.
  
  It didn't.
  
  She went outside the next day, and stood in the sun. She went out again the next day, and the day after that.
  
  At first she couldn't feel any change. It almost seemed like she felt worse because she knew all the anger and sadness and pain she had been hiding inside that dark place for so long.
  
  She didn't give up. She went outside every day, and stood in the sun and gradually she saw light creeping into her soul. First it was just a little flicker, around the edges, but gradually, the light grew brighter and stronger until it filled her up.
  
  She ran to the grown-up boy and told him the wonderful news. She shouted, �You can fix it! You can make the headache go away! You've had the power all along!�
  
  The grown-up boy stood in the shadows, holding his head. �No, it's much too bad,� he said. �It's much worse than yours ever was. You see? I knew I was right. I had the worst headache of all.�
  
  The woman tried to get him to see the light that was inside him. She tried for days and weeks and months, but it was no use. There was only one way to make the pain go away, but the grown-up boy was not willing to look inside and fix himself.
  
  She was happy, knowing herself and seeing the light inside. She felt so much better now, and she wanted to enjoy what was left of her life. Finally, she knew she would have to leave the grown-up boy behind.
  
  The grown-up boy watched her, from afar. He scowled at her happiness. He held his aching head, and thought, my headache was the worst of all. I knew I was right. The anguish he felt fed the hole in his soul until the blackness was visible to anyone he saw.
  
  The woman was sad to see what had become of him. She hoped he would one day come into the light
  
  When she went out into the world, the light poured out and everyone around her could see it. She knew what it was to love and be loved, and she lived happily ever after.
  
  As she walked away, the grown-up boy watched her, from afar. He scowled at her happiness. He thought, My headache was the worst of all. I knew I was right.
  
  The anguish he felt fed the hole in his soul until the blackness was visible to everyone who saw him.
  

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