Why so homeless?

I am planning to do a project involving the homeless in Vancouver. This is a quick piece I did as sort of an experiment, which I will use as a guideline when it comes to doing the finals for the project. I want to capture the richness of Renaissance portraiture and the raw emotions of the German Expressionists. I say "want to" because I'm not sure if I can make that happen, but hell, why not shoot for the stars, right?