My inspiration for this was to try to represent the feeling of stress. I wanted to portray the feeling of a bunch of things or aspects of life piling up. Being stressed or having a lot of things on your plate can almost feel like you can't breathe, or you're drowning. Which is kind of the main thing I wanted to focus on.

Oil pastels on 9" x 12" watercolor paper.

I started by sketching the figure in the center, then added base layers of lights. Adding them in the spots to represent folding or stretching fabric almost. I then progressively added more layers, going darker and darker, creating shading and that stretching effect. I did the same for the skin, too. Then I added the two figures in the background, representing responsibilities and tasks. Finally, I added the background.