Zine

Artist Statement

For this project, I created a zine, short for magazine, in which I reflected on something I have been feeling in this time of quarantine. I chose to represent my moods of the week with text, color, and illustrations to represent feelings and emotions. I chose to use pen, of all colors, as it was nice and bright and also creates clear lines. For each "day" I drew a different facial expression representing that days mood. For instance, for Monday I was feeling tired, so I drew a face yawning in the color blue, which represents my calm and suttle mood. To make it more interesting, I added a bit of a background in the same color, just a shade darker. The shapes in the background vary on the mood, for instance the wavey sort of background for "sad" should represent tears or an up and down of emotions. Similarly, the one for "happy" is supposed to represent a sun. I also added two words on each page which better help describe the mood. For the cover, I wanted to create a sort of clean retro polaroid image, so I used a face (similar to that of the drawings inside the zine) and every one of the colors used to sort of tie the cover to the content. I wanted to add some texture to the drawings, yet I didn't want it to look too heavy or too clean, so I did a bit of cross hatching and a few lines for the faces and a more detailed background. At first I was thinking of doing something like six things to do during quarantine or a quarantine day in the life kind of thing, however to really represent my feelings I ended up with moods of the week.

I think I somewhat successfully used almost all of the elements of art throughout my zine. I used line effectively throughout every drawing, though it is most evident in the background shapes. I also used color and value in each and every face, and shape in the background. I used texture in both the background and in the face drawing. Lastly, I think I effectively used space by not filling up the entire page in each drawing. These created several principles of design, including, balance, by leaving about half of the page empty, contrast, though it is subtle, by having a slightly darker shade of the color as the background. I used movement and rhythm in each of the faces, though it is very evident in the background shapes. Lastly, I would say that I used unity, despite having many different colors, as I, throughout the whole zine, used the same technique and same "set" of lines although they are all in different colors.

I would say all of my drawings very accurately tell a story and represent emotions everyone feels. I think it tells a relatable story of he struggles of different moods, even if it isn't always that you are "tired" on Monday, being tired on Mondays is a mood many people can resonate with. This project relates to my life because it reflects my moods, and not only the mood itself, but the drawings also reflect what I would look or feel like. I am very proud of the realistic looks and expressions my faces give. I really wanted to use minimal lines but make it interesting. I also really like the various backgrounds I chose and how the lines inside of the shapes also have movement. I am very proud of pretty much each and every page, but also I really like the front cover. I like how simple yet interesting it looks, and also how it somewhat relates to the content inside. I struggled specifically with the "happy" page, as the yellow is so light it is hard to discern. At first, I started off with the "tired" page, and I struggled with making the drawing detailed but not too busy. Overall, I really like it and I think it successfully represents one part of how I feel during this whole event.