Solemn Despair

Ideas: This drawing was done just after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in May of 2008. It is the first drawing I completed after hearing the life shaking news. I was seeing double most the time, squinting or wearing a patch so I could focus on the line work in anyway. I had zero balance and a very hard time walking but I started this piece before the diagnosis and finished after. It has a very self examining feel to it, it is a lonely piece. Lonely is how I felt about this disease in the beginning and after talking to many afflicted with this condition, it is not an abnormal reaction. Only by connecting with this community and realizing that nearly everyone I know, knew of someone in there life directly or indirectly affected by this disease. I no longer felt alone in this struggle and gained support from people all around me. This drawing shows my conviction and my compulsion to create in spite of any obstacles. What started as despair, now lives on as a purpose.