What a Waste: A Junior Narrative Illustration by Eric Bohrer (2012)

Inadequacy is a common sentiment felt among teenagers. Whether it's their location, peers, or even life in general that they just aren't satisfied with, there's always something wrong. In the case of my character, the misshapen piece of the puzzle is himself. He feels that life has been given to him and through his lack of motivation and effort he is wasting it. He doesn't know if he'll ever be able overcome his doldrums, and really try to achieve anything, or if he should just give up now and fade away into meaninglessness with the comforting notion that IF he tried, he totally could have succeeded. Either way, his present situation is nothing but a waste of time in his eyes. For my illustration I felt that my character's feelings are best represented as an abandoned dumpster, where the character himself lies surrounded by other trash and discarded items. If nothing else the image represents his fear of being left behind, hidden beneath dirty cardboard, leftover pizza, and other junk. The writing on the wall represents his ability and promise, all buried with him in the dumpster.