My theme for this series is human emotions. For my first piece I wanted to make something memorable. That resulted in me making this piece. At first, I was going to leave it black and white, but then I had the idea of adding a moon. I thought the rays would add an interesting feel. Once I added the rays, I thought it felt too boring, I needed to color it. I used two different media, one smooth and one rough, to try and give off the raw and vulnerable feeling that comes with sadness.

I started by sketching my concept on some paper. After this, I tried to color it, but the paper was too thick for me to effectively use markers. Instead, I transferred it to some marker paper and continued from there. I used multiple different blue toned markers to color the blue sections. I put down a base layer of color first, then went over it with darker tones to get the colors I wanted. Then, I added white pen in the sections that needed shine, the eyes for example. I colored the black and white sections next, using the same process as I did for the markers. 

This artwork is meant to resemble the feeling of losing someone important to you. You feel like you’ve lost a part of yourself, and you have a metaphorical “hole” in your heart. It feels like they’ve slipped out of your reach, and you can’t see the world’s colors anymore. 

The most difficult part of this piece was getting the colors I wanted. Only a limited selection of colors are available to me, so it can be difficult to get the desired colors. I was able to make do with what was available to me though, so it worked out. If I were to start over, I’d redraw the piece in my current style. I’d change some of the anatomy to balance the piece out and make some of the imagery more clear. 

This piece is drawn in a cartoony style. The eyes, anatomy, and coloring style are all unique to how I draw. My favorite part about this piece is the split sections where it changes from color to black and white. 

I wanted to make a piece that depicted anxiety at first. After sketching out a few concept sketches, I felt like my idea better resembled stress, so I changed the direction of the piece. My first few sketches were a person drowning in the sea, but after brainstorming some more, I landed on what became the final. I really like how it turned out, I feel it perfectly depicts the feeling of stress. 

This was actually my first time painting water! I started by looking at some references, then I sketched my concept. I transferred it to a bigger piece of paper, and then onto the canvas. Once I had that set up, I did the initial colors needed for the water. I blended the colors into each other, with the lightest where I wanted the sun, and the darkest on the edges. Once that dried, I added some shapes to give it a more underwater feel. Next was the arm. I blocked in the colors and blended them, adding the lighting last. Finally, I added the rays from the light and the air bubbles. 

This piece is meant to resemble the feeling of drowning in stress. When you’re stressed, you feel like the light is out of sight. You feel like you can’t breathe and you’re drowning in everything you have to do. 

The most difficult part of this piece for me was the lighting on the side of the hand. I didn’t want it to look too bright, but I didn’t want it to be too dark. The placement of the lighting was difficult too, especially with the pose of the arm and hand. After some trial and error, I was able to get it how I wanted. If I had to start over, I’d change the perspective of the hand. I feel like the hand ends too far up the canvas, so I’d move it farther down.

This is more of a realistic style. I didn’t want it to be hyper realistic, or super stylized either. So, it’s my unique spin on realism. My favorite part of the piece is how the water is painted.

I really wanted to depict anger as the next emotion in my series. I decided to approach this piece differently than my others. Not only did I want to have a character based off of the emotion, I also wanted to make it digital and cartoony. 

The very first thing I did was design the character I wanted the piece to revolve around. I went with a grenade theme to show explosive anger, using a similar color palette. Once I was happy with the design, I started on the piece. I wasn’t sure what expression I wanted to use, so I looked to Pinterest for inspiration. I was able to decide what expression I wanted that way. Originally, both of her arms were down. I thought that looked odd though, so I decided to put one arm up. 

Most of the symbolism in this artwork can be found in the character design. I made her hairstyle look like explosions, with grenades as hair clips. I scattered similar shapes throughout the piece to make it cohesive. I wanted to show that there’s not just one way people show anger, there’s many. There’s explosive anger, rage, silent anger, and so many more. In this piece, I decided to show explosive rage and betrayal. When viewers see this piece, I want them to think about how they feel anger.

The most difficult part for me was the expression. I didn’t want her to look too calm or relaxed. It was hard to figure out how to convey what I wanted to. 

I made this piece in my cartoony style! I make the head very circular, with big eyes and expressive facial features. My favorite part is the thick, colored lines! Adding a little bit of color to the lineart makes the reds really pop.

I first got inspiration for this piece while I was browsing through some photos. I wanted to try a digital painting style, something I wanted to do for a while but didn’t know how to approach. My concept for the piece was pretty experimental, so I decided to just go for it. As I kept drawing, it slowly evolved as I decided to add more details, such as the smudged mascara and lighting. 

I started with a rough sketch, in the beginning, I had the colors and sketch on a different layer. However, as I kept drawing I realized it would be much simpler if I just did everything on one layer. Although it was a risk, I combined the layers. This ended up being very helpful throughout the process of everything. I started with the lightest shadows, progressing into the darkest. I added colors, blended them, added more, blended those, and added hard shadows. It was a lot of adding things, blending them out, and going back and redoing parts I needed to fix. 

This piece is meant to depict trauma and how it affects people. Trauma never really goes away, it leaves an everlasting mark on you. It constantly comes back to haunt you, affecting almost every part of your life. Living with trauma is a lifelong battle you can never escape, but never win. It haunts people, constantly in the back of their minds, lurking in the shadows. 

Many parts of this piece were very challenging for me. I was experimenting with a digital painting style, something I had never done before. At first, I wasn’t sure how to approach it. After watching a few videos though, I was finally confident enough to give it a try. I had to redo some parts of it multiple times, and at some times, I wasn’t even sure I’d finish it. I’m so glad I persevered, as this piece quickly became one of my favorites. 

This piece is my take on semi realism. Some parts are realistic, while others are more cartoony. The shading style is distinct, with different tones that make it pop. I really love how it looks with the lighting. It took a few tries to figure out the lighting, but it looks so cool.