Creative Process
Sketches: Ideating Compositions
The initial sketches were based on the research and journaling I had done prior. Notes were written on the sketches to remind myself the struggle I wanted to convey with each piece.
Color Theory
Color choice was an important part of the development of the drawings since there were different emotions and struggles being portrayed. However, the palettes were not completely rigid in that I wanted to have a connection to these colors even if they counter what they are popularly perceived as.
A quote from Henri Matisse that fueled this thinking:
“When I put down green it doesn’t mean grass, and when I put down blue it doesn’t mean sky.”
Constraints: A Creative Technique
Struggling with mental illness differs with each person and there are millions of individuals who struggle with one. In other words, it was overwhelming at times to decide what aspects were going to be portrayed in the four drawings.
According to Marguc et al., having constraints can elicit more solutions, sometimes even ones outside of the box (Marguc Förster, & Van Kleef 2011). To facilitate ideation, I sat down for some time and journaled, detailing personal struggles with GAD, research on common aspects of GAD, and the patterns I could find between them. Then, I developed sketches only based on these patterns since they linked my personal experiences with scholarly research. By doing this, I was able to focus my attention more on myself since this project was a personal one that was based on my individual struggles.
Marguc, Janina, Jens Förster & Gerben Van Kleef. 2011. “Stepping Back to See the Big Picture: When Obstacles Elicit Global Processing.” Journal of personality and social psychology. 101. 883-901. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51603170_Stepping_Back_to_See_the_Big_Picture_When_Obstacles_Elicit_Global_Processing.
The Impact of Self-Reflection
It was only later in the creative development of my capstone that I realized how much my project revolved around research and self-reflection compared to the creation of the drawings themselves. I needed to give myself more time to analyze my inspirations, sketch references, self-explore my experiences with GAD, and research the aspects of GAD that I wanted to convey, and ideation overall. Allowing myself more time to dive into extensive research and self-awareness of what I wanted my project to encompass was what really brought my drawings to life, allowing the creation process to be more fluid and complete. Being able to sit and write out my thoughts and feelings and find patterns helped me to formulate the compositions of my works.
