Week 8: 3/2-3/9

 

    I am picking a new theme for the remaining weeks of this project, and it will be “emotions.” I decided to choose this theme because I have noticed that I need some time to sit down and process what I am feeling often to overcome situations or just get through my week. Making this the theme of my practice will give me time to do so but also bring me joy as I work on pieces that I am proud of. I have chosen to stick with drawing on my iPad as I want to focus on integrating colors to match the emotions I feel during the week and this is the easiest way to do this. Though I initially didn’t pick a specific medium for this project, I have decided to use my iPad because it’s given me a challenge to try and learn how to use it in an artsy way. I also want to start using basic shapes somehow in the artwork to help me think outside of the box and have more fun while working on the piece. Using this approach will challenge me to create the image I want to portray with the limits of shapes without changing the integrity of the piece.

     For my first post with this theme I reflected on last week and wrote down feelings that I experienced several times. The few that I wrote down were the following: overwhelmed, tired, slow, lost, and confused. I decided to group all of them together and conclude that the main emotion I felt this week was “weakness”. To portray this, I drew a dumbbell and a heart (signifying my own) struggling under the weight. I also found colors that I think represent feeling weak both emotionally and physically which ended up being washed-out shades of green, pink, and blue. I didn’t want to just use gray, so that is why I used different colors but light shades of them.  The shape I chose this week was circles surrounding the image integrating the colors mentioned above. I feel that this piece summarizes my emotions last week as I tried to keep pushing towards the end of the semester.

    The word weakness explains the condition of both my physical and mental health this last week. Physically, I was fighting off a cold and sleeping very little so overall my body was exhausted. Mentally, I was struggling to keep my head up after receiving bad results on exams and feeling like no matter how hard I studied, I couldn’t perform well. Before starting my practice for this week, I was at the worst point on my sickness, and I honestly just wanted to finish it so I could get some rest. Once I started, though, I found comfort in the process and took my time to enjoy it. Afterwards, I felt proud of myself for making it through this week and attempting to keep my head up. I also felt lots of relief that the exams and stressful week were out of the way. The practice of creating this piece served as a way to acknowledge that though I felt weak this week, I became stronger because of it, even if that was only seen after the storm.