2018!

Hello and happy new year everyone! :D 

And thanks for making 2017 so much better <3

2018 started off a little turbulent for me, but sometimes big changes can lead to very positive things, so despite the current ongoings I am excited to see what this new year will bring.

I hope you guys are excited for this new year too, and that it will be a wonderful year for you all. I wish you all the very best in your lives <3 

To kick off this year, art wise, I am giving you a little sneak peek of not just this drawing, but a glimpse into Charles' past.. O3O

Lots of you who know Charles from the SPIKE chapters on DeviantART have wanted to see him imprisoned - usually there has been wished worse things upon him, understandably - but what few know is that Charles has already served time in prison, but this was before Spike was even born.
He got sentenced to almost twenty years for something he did when he was around 19 years old, and got an early release for good behaviour in '83; the same year Spike was born, but a few months prior to Spike's birth.

Charles was an angry young man, but also very obedient, followed the rules and orders given to him, and found comfort in the routines of the facilities and adapted fairly quickly to prison life. The problems he got into was usually with the other inmates taunting him, or the occasional misunderstanding or dispute with the correctional officers. Other than that Charles was one who kept to himself, did as he was told to by anyone ranking higher than him, stayed out of trouble unless trouble found him, and was a fairly 'invisible' inmate all in all - aside from how he was one of the tallest inmates at the facility.

Charles endured a lot of abuse in prison during his first years there, from both fellow inmates and from officers. He wasn't one to fight back much, could take a beating, showed very little reluctancy or reaction to other types of abuse too, and also kept secrets when told to. These things ultimately lead to him being left alone, as his lack of being a challenge also made him boring to taunt. As new inmates arrived, they noticed how everyone left Charles alone and assumed it was because he was some dangerous badass - when the truth was more close to the others simply being bored with him. Or respecting him, in some cases.
One "rookie" even decided to befriend Charles for protection, but quickly found out that despite Charles' tolerance of this person, Charles didn't regard him as a friend and had no interest in protecting him or being in any way loyal to him. However, this person still insisted on hanging out with Charles cause at least Charles listened to him. And despite how Charles never got his back or protected him at all, the 'rookie' felt oddly safe and calm around Charles, noticing especially how he didn't stutter as badly around Charles as he would around everyone else.
It was a very one-sided friendship between the two, but also the closest Charles had thus far gotten to actually having a friend.

In this drawing, Charles is around 30 years old, and in trouble with one of the correctional officers.
I've tilted the angle of the drawing for an added sense of drama :p but if you angle it back so that the bars in the background are vertically aligned - or tilt your head while looking at it - you'll notice that Charles is actually taller than the officer, despite how I tried to make it look in this setting.
Using perspective or use of various angles to alter how tall someone appears is something frequently used in the media and other settings.
People with political power or higher authority than the ones they address, are often depicted in a downwards and up sort of angle, to make them appear taller by giving the impression that you are looking up at them, when really you might happen to be physically taller than them.
Putting someone up on a stage or podium has this same effect.
Odd example to bring up maybe, but if you look at old Nazi documentaries and see any footage of Hitler's speeches, he is usually filmed at an upwards angle - to make him seem taller and superior, to make the viewer feel like they're supposed to look up to him both physically symbolically. This method is being used in television, photography, movies; using perspective or angles to alter the impression of someone's physical height to enforce the feeling they want the viewer to subconsciously associate them with, or more like; what they're trying to show the viewer. In movies this is especially easy to notice once you know to look for it. Notice how characters of authority, or of higher power, more importance or characters you are supposed to like more or maybe even fear; they are often filmed in a way that makes them taller than the viewer/camera or taller than the characters they are with; characters of less importance or who you are supposed to like less, are filmed the same way but at a lower angle or like you're looking down on them. This can also be used to make it clear that a character feels small and inferior, scared, or large and superior, or frightening. It can be used with objects as well, backgrounds, scenery, lots of stuff...
I'll stop the random rant, sorry XD I'm just fascinated with how efficient these simple changes can be in visual media, and in real life even. It can also be a form of manipulation, especially in the media, so it's kind of nice to be aware of as well to avoid as much manipulation as you can. Positioning and the psychological effects it gives.. Fascinating stuff :) Very primal, in a way, but that just adds to the fascination. I love how humans think we are so superior and different from other species, when we are so obviously just another species with surprisingly primal instincts and behavioural patterns despite what we like to think. We're simple creatures who want to be seen as more complicated than we are.

omg pardon my random rants and ramblings XD I get so easily carried away...
I also may be wrong about a lot of this so just take it with a pinch of salt as these are merely my own musings and observations and though many of my views are based on facts and actual theories I may still remember my sources wrong so I am not claiming any of this to be a hundred percent correct, you know? They're just some thoughts I had :) 

lol that was random...

Anyhoo...

I hope you like this unfinished drawing ;) and I hope it sparked some thoughts and theories? Always fun to hear your interpretations of my stuff. There's also one little detail in this drawing I haven't mentioned because I'm curious to see if you'll notice it >u>

Thanks for all your love and support throughout 2017 and for your support this year as well <3 You guys are amazing <3 lots of love to you all <3 *group hug* 

I wish you all a wonderful and happy new year :D <3