The eyes always reveals how you're feeling.

I watched this video a couple years back about the children in Iraq and how they're affected by war. I only watched part 3/3 of the documentary called Baghdad 5 years on: Iraq's lost generation.

In the third part of the documentary, two little boys from an orphanage in Sadr city speak about their hatred of America. One boy's father was an officer who was killed by American soldiers, and I believe both the parent's of the other boy's parents were killed by a car bomb(I'm not exactly sure, watch the video if you want to know), but both boys believe that their parents are dead because of Americans.

The first boy cried, while the other boy(who looked and seemed younger) didn't. Maybe the younger boy didn't fully realize the affects or pain that losing a parent has, or maybe he just didn't show it by crying. I decided to sketch some photos of the boy who was crying, because it seriously broke my heart to watch him cry. Both of my parents are still alive, so I can't even imagine the emotions I would experience having to lose a parent, especially at a young age.
These sketches were inspired by some screen shot stills I took of the video. It doesn't look exactly like the boy, but I cared more about capturing the same emotions. I think the pain in his eyes were most striking, and heart breaking. In this sketch I tried to capture pain, as well as sternness. He still looks like a young boy, yet at the same time there's a maturity because he's forced to grow up early.
I've always liked imagery with hands. I sketched this because I also cover my face with my hands when I cry. I wonder why... maybe I'm too embarrassed to openly show my emotions? When I was younger, I simply cried every time I was upset, frustrated, angry, or embarrassed. Then when I grew a little older, I tried not to cry because I thought it showed weakness. Now that I'm older I don't cry that much, but when I do I embrace it. It makes me feel like a kid again, just being true to how I feel, and letting it out. Kids wear the hearts on their sleeves, but as they grow older they learn how to master them. However, I believe as an adult, sometimes it feels amazing to let those true emotions scream out and not hold back.
And finally a sketch of the boys face in the process of forming tears as he talked about the death of his father.