Dragon

I remember that well too. I was just getting up for work and heard about it on the radio. I immediatly turned on the TV and watched rather stunned while getting ready. We had the TV on at work too. I remember how horrified we all were when the towers came down. Still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Thank you Hazer, that was definitly a day that changed the way I thought about life.

clorophilla

the very first defining moment
http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=112603

five

Signing the Declaration of Independence

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=112645

five

Storming of the Bastille

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=112651

Qsilv

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=112660

mum23

Some more amazing defining moments.... and not only that but glorious art as well!

Thank you clorophilla, for yet another marvellous contribution! My mind can't grasp the concept of The Big Bang, but if the Universe really started like that, I'm sure it was deafening! I wonder if there will ever be an answer to that question that everybody agrees on?

Five, your latest two pics entered here are breathtaking depictions of defining moments in world history. Thank you!

And Q... it is soo very nice to have you back! Your defining moment is obviously a personal one. It will be interesting to see what other interpretations there are of this beautifully drawn pic... thank you for sharing it with us!

Not much longer left for this challenge folks....

five

Waterloo

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=112736

Login

Five,  A good depiction of the horrors of hand to hand combat ... and certainly 'a defining moment'

Q, at the start of the PB, a young woman is standing with her back to a child ... but then a cloudy mist appears around the woman ... is it her spirit ascending? No, that was just a fleeting thought. The child now seems alarmed to see the woman leaving... is this the defining moment?
There is drama going on inside the room ... another person (female or male?) lies lethargically on a plush chaise longue ... who is she. The other figure on the left appears to be wearing a mask but what is in his(?) hand ... is it a weapon or a camcorder?
Another thought occurs to me... what is the relationship between the two central characters? Is the young woman walking out after a family quarrel, while little sister (or daughter?) looks on in alarm.
Is it a long story squeezed into this tiny moment in time ... are the young woman and the child one and the same person in this drama ... condensed into one scene by a childhood memory? This is too intriguing ... are one or both of the central characters you?

Qsilv

When we talk about specially “defining moments”, I think it’s important to consider how deeply little children are affected by their experiences.

Little children are perfectly intelligent, but so limited in experience that every small event looms large…. something rather easily diluted inside the adventures of many years is a HUGE percentage of the decision making process of someone who’s been alive only a handful of years….

…and children do make decisions. About the people around them, about themselves, about their place in the world. And about how they’ll go on dealing with it… forever.

So I drew a picture. And now I’ll tell a story about it. But it’s important to remember that each of your stories is equally valid.

In fact, each of you who commented came up with a portion of the story I had in mind myself.

clorophilla sensed how beautiful the mother figure is to the child …and how unattainable it might seem

mum23 saw elegance and correctly picked out the father figure reading his paper while not comprehending a child’s need for comforting …and a terrible sadness

Login picked out another woman on the chaise lounge …she matters too

five sensed the mother figure’s need to deal with chaos …to use a technique like counting to 10 to do that

hanging understood my going with a lighter airiness as perhaps wish over fact …and that’s in keeping with Login’s only toying with her vision of the woman’s spirit ascending, leaving…

Qsilv

The Story
In this picture, the mother figure has told the child, “If you won’t mind me, then it’s clear you don’t really want a mother. I’m leaving.” And she has walked out the French doors.

The child stares after her, sees her disappear down the walkway which leads to… somewhere else in the world.

She turns to her aunt, lying on a sofa, reading a book, and in a voice filled more with problem-solving curiosity than perceptible anguish asks, “Will you take care of me?”

The aunt doesn’t even look up from her book, but supporting her sister says, “I don’t take care of bad little girls”.

The child figures out that that must refer to her, although she’s puzzled by it. She hadn’t known she was bad, wasn’t sure what “bad” encompassed… and didn’t really care nearly as much as she cared about what was going to happen the next time she got hungry. She supposed she didn’t really need food cooked, bread would do, but… she wasn’t even tall enough to reach the countertops yet.

Dubiously she turns to the father figure. She has never seen him in the kitchen, ever, but… he’s tall enough. She asks him, “Will you take care of me?”

He does something very interesting. He puts down his paper, just a bit, glances out toward the garden, looks oddly bothered, but quietly and calmly as ever, he says, “I don’t play those sorts of games.”

And the child …………… the child understands something crucial.

Adults sometimes live games. Not necessarily pleasant ones, but games still. The mother was wrong; the child gets this. Wrong… made a choice, a mistake in judgment that the father doesn’t approve of.

But the information the father figure has given her will now be her cornerstone for the rest of her life.

Over just a few tearful minutes, this has set her free. Free to be herself. Free to work out how to deal with her effect on others, too. She’s no longer the center of a magical universe. Other people are real, weak, have limits. And it’s not always “her”, it’s sometimes just her behavior.

All this is clear to her, before she can reach the countertops.

She’s still stuck figuring out how to get fed, however. ;>

mum23

Q, thank you so much for telling us the story....

This was exactly the kind of moment I had in mind when I suggested this challenge. It was stevedover's picture, "Mesmerised", that made me think about how childhood events, and, probably more importantly, our recollections of them, shape who we are, as you said, forever...

In fact, I was going to try to illustrate that moment when I realised that the adults in my life were fallible, human, with their own issues to deal with... but I don't yet have the ability to do that.

Your picture is a poignant example of how we all interpret what we see through the filter of our own experiences. I love the way that you have made this experience for the little girl (you?) a liberating one.

Thank you. Once again, you have touched me...

clorophilla

thank you Qsilv, you moved me... and I think this crucial moment to be in the life of each child - or sometime, adult.

Your story is beautiful: sad but full of power. I have to say that I too had in mind one of those moments when I was looking for a "defining moment", but I had no idea about how to draw it. In fact, it was for me when I was a young adult. I silently weeped out all my tears for one day, after then the world unfolded to me, renewed and bright, and I set free, just as you said in your story.

hanging

Thank you, Q, for sharing the story.
I've been moved by that so much.

At first, I can't write English as good as many others here and don't know how to express myself here well. But the story has reminded me so many experiences in the past when I was a little dealing with adults. I'll try to draw to express them a little by little from now on. It won't be easy for me to do that emotionally but I'll try. It'd be good for me, I think...

Mum, thank you for suggesting this challenge.
Honestly, I was scared to be part of this challenge because if I'd be truthful, I might go too far dark, unpleasant or something. But I guess they need to be spiritualized...

Ugh! TD!!!!! This has become like a monster to me...

Qsilv

Thank YOU all for your gentle reception of it, and mum23 especially, of course, for setting up a relatively safe space to work at creating visuals of our memories. Quite a useful exercise, as it turns out.

It does carry a responsibility to not just go for cheap shock value, but to make sure we're leaving others feeling that they've shared something with us.... maybe re-thought things a bit... but NOT to leave them worried or burdened or hopeless.

TD as a community has so many tender-hearted, caring people, generous with their time... I'd never want any of them to fret on my account.

There's room for a few legitimate tears, and occasional sincere sparks of outrage, but not too much.... as at any lovely party, we're here to refresh ourselves and our friends. Have fun... play nice!

; >

hanging

You know I meant 'monster' in a good way, not a bad one.

Qsilv

*winks ......we know, oh man do we ever know.... lol

mum23

Well, it's time to hand the baton to the next person... can that week really have flown by already?

Many thanks to all who have participated, either by sharing their moments in the challenge, adding their comments in this thread, or by reliving their own moments as a result of some of the fabulous pictures which have been drawn for this challenge.

Here is a brief summary of your moments:

clorophilla - Moon Landing, Burning of Alexandria Library, Big Bang, Giving Birth. Three momentous moments for humanity. The last, so beautifully drawn, is the most momentous of moments for any mother, without which there would be no humanity...


polenta - Recognising sounds of letters, The Agricultural Revolution. The first of these is such a huge moment (or series of moments)... the beginning of a whole new understanding of life. To be there when a child first learns how to connect those symbols with sounds, and then put them together, is magical. From that point on, their world is transformed...

Of course, the whole world was transformed when we humans started to grow our food - another excellent defining moment!


suzze - Letting go. Such a heartfelt drawing and surely one of the most difficult of defining moments for any parent. I imagine that this is a moment that goes on for the rest of your life....

five - Challenger, Signing the Declaration of Independence, Storming of the Bastille, The Battle of Waterloo. All moments in history which have shaped our world... and some incredible art!

Hazer - 9/11 This event needs no explanation... one of the saddest defining moments of modern times.

Qsilv - "...in the heat of the moment" An intriguing picture which touched us in many different ways. A defining moment which all of us must experience at some point in our lives...

Again, I am in awe at the talent and warmth here, and the willingness to share those qualities with the TD community. Thank you all so much for sharing a little piece of yourselves...

... and Hazer, I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the next challenge!! Congratulations!

Hazer

Oh my...I thought I was seeing things this morning, but mums comment on my pic confirmed it, and now I have to put my thinking cap on and come up with a challenge. I will have to ponder on this a bit so please give me a moment or two. I'll be back ASAP!

Hazer

Okay...along with morning exercises came inspiration as I looked out the window and imagined I could still see the peaks of the beautiful Rocky Mountains through the clouds.

How about Landmarks for the next challenge. Everything from mountains to a big tree to buildings. Please make it meaningful by drawing a landmark in your corner of the world, and something you have a personal connection to.
If you enter an older drawing please give an explanation along with it. If you've moved around a lot just tell us what period of time in your life this was a landmark for you.
I can think of quite a few just off the top of my head but I'd better get myself off to work, so I'll see you later!

polenta

Congratulations Hazer and the word intriguing is excellent for Q's pic