This is a portrait I did awhile back where I was trying to combine a wound (the staples on her nose) I got on Renderosity with bruising on the eyes and also getting a more raised effect from the tears. I initially did the image with just the tears and the staples on the nose because I didn't have the morphs to add swelling and brusing. Then I found this package by janey. I used the package to add more bruising and swelling to the nose and eye. I did that. And then added more bruising and swelling to the left side of her face and lips. I tried to not have the bruising on the right side of her face to represent the wounds that are hidden from sight. The emotional wounds.

With the first draft of this image (in slot #2), I didn't have much of an emotional reaction to it. I was just concentrating on the texture. But as I added the bruising and swelling on this image I did have more emotions about this one. She started to look like some of the women I had worked with who had been badly wounded inside and out. Her eyes seemed sadder this time.

The part that impacts my heart the most is how so many of these women (and men) suffer in silence alone. How nobody believes them. How often they are told that it is their fault by the people who should be protecting them. How their family and friends ignore the signs.

Anyways, I think the bruising and swelling makes this version look more realistic. I know she's not real, but the story she tells is for thousands of women (and men).

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day.