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Description
An outcast,
A splash of color in a dull world
Of muted blues and sickly greens
Where fog discloses twinkling office windows,
Fairy lights of the new world,
I feel like I’m moving so slowly
And the rest of the world races onward.
I walk backward against the force
While they all speed forward, and to what?
To polluted minds and corrupted morals,
Or to what they claimed would be the age of success?
I feel so old, like grandfather speaking
Of the old days,
Hoping and wishing for the wonder of magic,
The hope and the awe that once colored the world.

Slowly, slowly, I reach, reach, reach for the time
When I would be believed
And all these city-slickers, Wall Street bankers,
And poor invalids in the slums never battled,
Separated by an ever growing money tree.
I long for the time when the world was not divided,
When there was no black and white or grey,
But when only color filled the atmosphere,
When the rich did not trample the poor or the different
For that corner office that one day will be
Covered in ash.

Where has the sun gone?
Where the blue skies and clear waters?
Where the open fields and the spring flowers?
Where the leisure, where the light,
Where the days when children ooh-ed and ahh-ed
At the daisies in the meadow
While now they eek and screech because
The blood and the gore become ever more realistic
And they want the highest stats.
Where the days of tug-o-war and hide-and-seek
That have yielded to the days of videos and internet?

I feel suffocated by the darkness
That tries to suck out the color that I bear,
The color that is a burden but should be a blessing
Leaves but a small trace,
Only to be trampled upon by those
Who cannot be left behind.
And, in the end when the color has been drained
And ash is all that remains of
Beverly Hills and Hollywood and Broadway,
The few surviving will long for that light
That I was so willing to carry,
But that they stamped out because it held them back.
And then, they will not feel success or ambition or power.
They will feel nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
And they will scream but no one will hear
For, in nothing, you can
Only
Feel
The
Silence.

Entry for *PolarisAstrum ’s contrast contest

The picture actually came out totally different then what I had planned, and ended up as more of a statement on parts of society than originally intended. The image is much broader and less personal than when I first thought of the bright color in a sea of shadows. Though, I cannot deny that I am not pleased with the result, especially the technical aspects. This was my first time working completely with the Prisma Colors, and I love them. They are so much smoother and blend so much better than the Crayolas I had been using. And I love how this image scanned! The colors are exactly as they are in person. And the foggy effect is still visible

Also, I should mention that the image and the title were inspired by the song "Feel the Silence" by The Goo Goo Dolls. Even though the song is about something totally different, I thought it still really fit the original idea. And then, it just expanded from there.

Image copyright Ashley Mutek
Prisma Colored Pencil on Bristol Board
March 17, 2008

Description
An outcast,
A splash of color in a dull world
Of muted blues and sickly greens
Where fog discloses twinkling office windows,
Fairy lights of the new world,
I feel like I’m moving so slowly
And the rest of the world races onward.
I walk backward against the force
While they all speed forward, and to what?
To polluted minds and corrupted morals,
Or to what they claimed would be the age of success?
I feel so old, like grandfather speaking
Of the old days,
Hoping and wishing for the wonder of magic,
The hope and the awe that once colored the world.

Slowly, slowly, I reach, reach, reach for the time
When I would be believed
And all these city-slickers, Wall Street bankers,
And poor invalids in the slums never battled,
Separated by an ever growing money tree.
I long for the time when the world was not divided,
When there was no black and white or grey,
But when only color filled the atmosphere,
When the rich did not trample the poor or the different
For that corner office that one day will be
Covered in ash.

Where has the sun gone?
Where the blue skies and clear waters?
Where the open fields and the spring flowers?
Where the leisure, where the light,
Where the days when children ooh-ed and ahh-ed
At the daisies in the meadow
While now they eek and screech because
The blood and the gore become ever more realistic
And they want the highest stats.
Where the days of tug-o-war and hide-and-seek
That have yielded to the days of videos and internet?

I feel suffocated by the darkness
That tries to suck out the color that I bear,
The color that is a burden but should be a blessing
Leaves but a small trace,
Only to be trampled upon by those
Who cannot be left behind.
And, in the end when the color has been drained
And ash is all that remains of
Beverly Hills and Hollywood and Broadway,
The few surviving will long for that light
That I was so willing to carry,
But that they stamped out because it held them back.
And then, they will not feel success or ambition or power.
They will feel nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
And they will scream but no one will hear
For, in nothing, you can
Only
Feel
The
Silence.

Entry for *PolarisAstrum ’s contrast contest

The picture actually came out totally different then what I had planned, and ended up as more of a statement on parts of society than originally intended. The image is much broader and less personal than when I first thought of the bright color in a sea of shadows. Though, I cannot deny that I am not pleased with the result, especially the technical aspects. This was my first time working completely with the Prisma Colors, and I love them. They are so much smoother and blend so much better than the Crayolas I had been using. And I love how this image scanned! The colors are exactly as they are in person. And the foggy effect is still visible

Also, I should mention that the image and the title were inspired by the song "Feel the Silence" by The Goo Goo Dolls. Even though the song is about something totally different, I thought it still really fit the original idea. And then, it just expanded from there.

Image copyright Ashley Mutek
Prisma Colored Pencil on Bristol Board
March 17, 2008