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Description
On July 5th, a local 14 year old boy by the name of Noah McGuire died as the result of an accidental shooting. I did not know him personally, but he was friends with one of my co-workers' daughter. Through them, I saw how his loss affected the lives of so many. To honor his memory and to raise money for his family, a charity art auction was created, and my co-worker suggested I submit something. I was very hesitant at first. My work deals mostly in cartoons and superheroes in funny costumes, and I worried that my stuff simply wouldn't be appropriate. But after a bit of soul searching, I decided that not only was it okay to draw something, I needed to.

I settled on Batman. The choice seemed obvious once I thought of it. Considering his history with guns, it's seemed quite appropriate. And thinking about the young victim, it wasn't long before Robin made an appearance. So, in many ways, I found meaning in these characters and was able to express how I felt, even if I'm the only one who understood what it all meant.

But then...

I had finished the drawing and was just starting to color it when the shooting in Colorado happened. A gunman opened fired in a crowded theater and killed 12 innocent people and seriously wound many more. Those people were there to see the new Batman movie. Suddenly I found myself doubting the drawing once again. I worried that the character was too attached to this other shooting-related tragedy and seriously considered giving up on it and trying to help Noah's family in some other way.

At the urging of some friends, though, I pressed on, and I'm glad I did. Once again, my doubts were slowly replaced by feelings that in NEEDED to be done. Heroes don't back down. They defy pain and tragedy and give us hope. For me at least, working on this allowed me to work through my feelings about these senseless tragedies. And if I'm able to help just one other person do the same, then it will have all been worth it.

PS: I WILL NOT HAVE THE COMMENT SECTION TURN INTO A DEBATE ABOUT GUN CONTROL. I'm just putting that out there right now. I swear, I'll remove any post that starts it.

Description
On July 5th, a local 14 year old boy by the name of Noah McGuire died as the result of an accidental shooting. I did not know him personally, but he was friends with one of my co-workers' daughter. Through them, I saw how his loss affected the lives of so many. To honor his memory and to raise money for his family, a charity art auction was created, and my co-worker suggested I submit something. I was very hesitant at first. My work deals mostly in cartoons and superheroes in funny costumes, and I worried that my stuff simply wouldn't be appropriate. But after a bit of soul searching, I decided that not only was it okay to draw something, I needed to.

I settled on Batman. The choice seemed obvious once I thought of it. Considering his history with guns, it's seemed quite appropriate. And thinking about the young victim, it wasn't long before Robin made an appearance. So, in many ways, I found meaning in these characters and was able to express how I felt, even if I'm the only one who understood what it all meant.

But then...

I had finished the drawing and was just starting to color it when the shooting in Colorado happened. A gunman opened fired in a crowded theater and killed 12 innocent people and seriously wound many more. Those people were there to see the new Batman movie. Suddenly I found myself doubting the drawing once again. I worried that the character was too attached to this other shooting-related tragedy and seriously considered giving up on it and trying to help Noah's family in some other way.

At the urging of some friends, though, I pressed on, and I'm glad I did. Once again, my doubts were slowly replaced by feelings that in NEEDED to be done. Heroes don't back down. They defy pain and tragedy and give us hope. For me at least, working on this allowed me to work through my feelings about these senseless tragedies. And if I'm able to help just one other person do the same, then it will have all been worth it.

PS: I WILL NOT HAVE THE COMMENT SECTION TURN INTO A DEBATE ABOUT GUN CONTROL. I'm just putting that out there right now. I swear, I'll remove any post that starts it.