Sketch Xaviar Reed
Artistic Productions

Wow. The Gasconade County R-II High School end-of-the-year talent show has come and gone...and it was incredible. I was one of the people involved this year, and it went extremely well.

I was the fourth act up. For my act, I decided I would do the only thing I'm actually semi-competent at--draw. And draw I did.

When I got to the stage--well, if you can call a couple wrestling mats a stage (and I'm not complaining, just stating a fact)-- I set my easel down, and grabbed a microphone, thinking I would introduce myself and explain what I was going to do. "Hi," I said into the mike, "I'm Sketch Reed." And then the audience did what I never thought anyone at this school besides my friends would do--

--they started cheering.

All my life from 3rd grade on has been spent living in Gerald, MO. I went to Gerald Elementary, then moved on to Owensville Middle School in 6th grade and finally went to Owensville High when I was 14. And all that time, I had been mocked, scorned, made fun of. Why? Because I was different. Because I didn't fit in.

Because I didn't belong.

I realized early on that I would never conform. In my early years I tried, but try as I might, I could never manage to fit in. So I did the exact opposite of fitting in. I relished my nonconformity, and I reveled in the ability to shock. I yelled in the middle of class, I annoyed friend and foe alike, and I found a niche that no one ever thought I would succeed at--art.

The first thing I ever drew was a comic book. It was completed in the summer of 2000, and it was called "Terry The Radioactive Turtle" (named after a stuffed turtle I won at Six Flags). To coin a phrase, Terry the Radioactive "Turtle" looked like a radioactive turd. I remember my fellow classmates' scorn and hetred, and as they stood there mocking what my hands had created, I made up my mind that no one--nothing--would stop me from showing them that me and my art was indeed worth more than the idiodic insults they came up with.

That is mainly why I continued to work in art--revenge.

Fast forward to 5th grade, 2002. I had a few friends now, but mostly I was putting up with the same morons that scorned me just a few years back. It was at this time that I created a character named Wakiki (named from an old Bugs Bunny short film--of course, I had no idea that Wakiki was really the name of an island in the Pacific Ocean...). Wakiki was inspired from a game I got for my Super Nintendo, Kirby's Avalanche. Of course, my fellow classmates wasted no time in insulting and degrading it, and soon I was being called a "Kirby wannabe" in mocking voices in the hallways. It seems that ignorance has no limit, no matter what the age of the ignoramus.

Now flash forward to my freshman year, 2007. Gym class. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am no athlete. My idea of of "push-ups" involves working my thumb on the "channel down" button on the TV remote. To make matters worse, I rediscovered what I already knew--P.E. does not stand for Physical Education for the weak, but rather, Public Embarrasment.

At this time, I had recently discovered a moderately successful show on TLC called Miami Ink. The work of Ami James and all the other amazing artists inspired me like nothing I had ever seen before. I was immediately drawn in and consumed by the incredible talent of the artists, and I decided that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. (Of course, I decided against it later, but for those of you who want a tattoo from me, it's still an option, don't worry.)

So it came to pass that one fateful day in gym class, we were all walking on the track. A group of people who I knew somewhat were walking in a group ahead of me, and I decided to try and catch up to them. They were talking about metal music.

Now that year, I had discovered the band Underoath, and I was enthralled by their work and began to fall in love with metal. However, most people at school, for one reason or another, thought that I was just "one of those losers who listens to folk music and Celine Dion and all that junk". But I didn't know that, so I jumped in the conversation.

"I like metal," I said.

The leader of the group looked at me with a skeptic glare on his face. "What do you know about metal?" he demanded. "Name a metal band."

I was on the spot, and I was determined to save face."Killswitch Engage," I said.

"They're OK," said the leader. "Got any more?"

Frantically, I said, "How 'bout Underoath? They're pretty good."

The guy's sceptic look changed to one of semi-respect. "Underoath is one of my favorites." he said smiling. The man's name was Nick McBride, and I had just made a friend for life.

He introduced me to some of his friends, and showed them some of my artwork. Sure enough, they commissioned me to draw a logo for their band. After I finished it, they showed it to their friends, and their friends showed their friends, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I was finally respected. My goal I made back in 3rd grade was complete.

Flash forward to the present. The talent show was here, and it was my time to shine. I grabbed the microphone, and said "Hi. I'm Sketch Reed".

I heard the crowd cheer, and for once in my life, I felt like I was someone.

I felt like I belonged.

SKETCH REED