The Debriefing — Episode 18: Masterpieces

6 min readApr 3, 2016

Welcome, welcome to Le Galerie Du Blogisode! This months exhibit is “Triumph: The Return of The Beza”.

As you may know, the great Anton C Beza Jr has not granted us a single piece since before the turn of the century when he completely disappeared from the scene. What happened? Some say he focused solely on clarinet training and ceased his art career during the transition to high school. Others say he stopped getting art supplies for his birthdays. Regardless, he’s back and has soared far above his former glory to with startling new masterpieces.

Why is he back? Well you may have heard of a little thing called Checkverse. I kid. Of course you have! It’s changed the world! And now it’s brought back the Beza! For his return, the Beza took on the mission Be Creative by kseniya292 and again the planet will never be the same.

This mission is composed of eight checkables to flex your artistic muscles. Now that the Beza has taken it on, don’t you wish there were more?

Come, I’ll give you a tour of the proof!

Take a photo of flowers

The Beza, “Yellow Flowers Avoiding Eye Contact”, 2016, Moto X 2nd Gen Camera

This piece is just stunning. “Yellow Flowers Avoiding Eye Contact” is more than just a study in yellow. When queried, the Beza said it’s a reflection on the morning subway commute. Each passenger strains to find a line of vision not meeting another’s gaze. As the car fills, the challenge increases. They share the same place of body, but not the same place of mind. So true. So breathtaking.

Paint an animal

The Beza, “Blue Cat; Broken Leg”, 2016, watercolor on paper

Nothing says sadness like the color blue. That’s what the Beza must have been thinking when he made the brave choice to depict this tabby entirely in that hue. At first glance you think, “that looks pretty good, but what’s with it’s leg?” It turns out, that’s on purpose, just look at the title. That’s likely why this cat is blue, it’s upset about it’s broken limb. It just wants to feel whole again. It sleeps waiting for it’s problems to fix themselves. I think that’s something we all can identify with at one time or another.

Draw an inanimate object

The Beza, “Spray Dreams”, 2016, pencil on paper

Haven’t you dreamt of being a hero? This piece (held next to its model before framing) depicts the yearnings of a simple spray bottle. The lesson here: don’t assume yourself to be the only one with dreams. Anyone, from any walk of life, can be wishing for something more. Don’t get so clouded by your own visions that you don’t see theirs.

Draw a self portrait

The Beza, “Photocopy”, 2016, pencil on paper

Here we meet the artist. An improbable blend of fashion-sense, raw talent and plain-old good genes, the Beza grins. His smile drawn taught into a perfectly straight line makes one think of the horizon. The Beza’s visage peers over this horizon as a human sunset. In case you were wondering, the model is on the right. Yes that is drawn - by hand. A person made that. When asked what he was trying to say, the Beza simply replied “two chins, are better than one”.

Draw a portrait

The Beza, “Ain’t No Sunshine Till He’s Gone”, 2016, pencil on paper

It’s one thing to render yourself. It’s truly another to render another. Here we continue the experience joy that is a portrait from the Beza. Done in what can only be described as “police-sketchism”, the Beza explained that this piece is meant to show the subject as he truly is, a thief. The model, none other than Elon Musk, a man who stole the very light from the sun so that you could get to Walmart without guilt. Truly a reflection of the times.

Take a photo of an art piece you like

The Beza, “Tigglz”, 2016, Moto X 2nd Gen Camera

One movement pioneered by the Beza is known as “The Reframation”. A technique wherein one artist photographs the work of another, renaming it and relaunching it to a different audience. This movement asks the question who is the true artist? The originator of the piece, or the person who found the piece and shared it in a new light? Some say this has led to a major trend of defining yourself based on what you like rather than what you do. Asked about the new name “Tigglz”, the Beza said “that’s my handle on Counter-Strike, I use this as my avatar”. Novel indeed.

Paint a painting by a famous artist

The Beza, “Then And Now”, 2016, gouache on paper

What if paintings could get old? That’s what the Beza asked himself before launching into this masterwork. Using a technique resembling cubism, the Beza took “Lozenge” by Piet Mondrian and slowly morphed it into a new form: an older, wise Lozenge that has seen it all. The trembling lines and sickly hues perfectly capture a painting that has loved and lost, chased after its dreams and now wishes for its younger days. Don’t we all?

Make your own Jackson Pollock drip painting

The Beza, “Cascading Splats”, 2016, gouache & hair-dryer on paper

The Beza’s last piece is the most challenging. At first blush, it looks like the underside of a school desk. Going to the artist, we discover its true inspiration. The Beza says that if life is a highway, rest stops are for reflection. You ask yourself “Am I going the right way?” or “Do I need more gas to get there?”. But the biggest question of all is “Should I wipe the windshield?”. Some folks always wipe it, but this painting is for those who don’t. Each drip, an insect. You wipe the windshield often and the wind carries the bugs in your path rapidly up and over your vehicle. You wipe it infrequently and the carcasses of others create wind resistance snowballing into more and more destruction. The Beza’s last lesson is straightforward: take care of things early and often because loose ends create more loose ends. Wisdom to live by.

So that’s it. Thank you for visiting the gallery. You likely need some time to digest it all. It’s a lot to take in, I know.

Check in next week to see what mission Anton takes on next!

That concludes this episode of The Debriefing. If you like it then you shoulda putta heart on it.

If you like the idea of creating or taking on your own missions, download Checkverse for iPhone or Android today.

Or, for more of The Debriefing, check out the other episodes via these convenient hyperlinks: