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Your Art Mood Is…
Anger
About Your Mood
Mood Variations: Irritated, annoyed, resentful, frustrated, grumpy
Purpose: To fight against problems and threats
Gifts: Assertiveness, strength, energy
You Need Emotionally: To express energy, be understood
Your Mood + Art Making
You Need Artistically: Self-expression
Anger asks us if we are being threatened or if a boundary has been crossed. We need to move out of the threatening situation, ask what our part in the situation is, and express ourselves calmly.
Anger isn’t only felt when we’re confronted with a threatening situation. Artists commonly feel anger when making (or attempting to make) art—anger at ourselves for making a mistake, anger at a loved one who reacted poorly to our work, anger at a family member for taking up our creative time. We also, as humans, can be annoyed with a co-worker, frustrated with traffic, and irritated with our significant other.
With all this anger in our heads, sitting down to create a piece of art can be challenging. When we’re in an angry mood, we need an assignment that allows us to release some steam.
Your Art Assignment: Squiggle People
An expressive page of squiggle people can be just the right match for an angry mood. Here’s how:
- Open up your sketchbook or get a loose sheet of paper.
- Get an old/cheap pen or maker. (Don’t use a nice tool for this assignment.)
- Draw a random squiggle. Draw another.
- Now really let yourself go and get into it! Let your anger seep out into the squiggle. Push down hard on the page. Let your pen jut out in harsh angles. Draw a big squiggle, draw a little squiggle. Draw as many squiggles as you like.
- Bonus step: With a white pen, draw eyeballs on your squiggles. Then, with your original pen, draw pupils and legs, maybe arms. Are your squiggles angry too?
- This cathartic way of drawing allows us to express ourselves and release pent up energy onto the page. Drawing in this way can help us calm down and spark our creativity again.
Alternative Assignment: Allow Yourself a Break
Sometimes our mood is so low that making art (or doing anything, really) feels impossible. When even our daily tasks (eating, showering, leaving the house) seem overwhelming and exhausting, we need to focus on our wellbeing. We’ll never be able to make art consistently if we don’t listen to our minds and bodies and take care of them.
If you’re feeling overly fatigued and burdened—perhaps by a major life change or burning out—you may need to take a break from making art. When you’re stuck in a state of continuous exhaustion, resting and focusing on your mental and physical health is the best thing you can do for yourself and your art right now.
If you feel this dark cloud is where you are today, here’s your assignment: Take a break from making art, and get yourself back to a place where you’re sleeping well, eating well, and functioning well. Allow yourself this time of healing, whether it’s a day, a week, a month, or whatever you need, and trust that you’ll get back to your art when the time is right and you have recovered. Your creativity will always be inside you.
Your Art Mood Is…
Fear
About Your Mood
Mood Variations: Nervous, anxious, worried, overwhelmed
Purpose: To protect us from danger
Gifts: Preservation, wisdom, protection
You Need Emotionally: To feel safe
Your Mood + Art Making
You Need Artistically: Low pressure, structure
Fear asks us what we need to do to protect ourselves. We need to make ourselves feel safe, so we can let go of our worries and things we can’t change.
Fear isn’t only felt when we’re confronted with a life-threatening situation. Artists commonly feel fear when making (or attempting to make) art—fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of doing something wrong. We also, as humans, can be nervous about work and family, anxious about the future, and overwhelmed with everything we’re supposed to do today.
With all this worry in our heads, sitting down to create a piece of art can be challenging. When we’re in a fearful mood, we need an assignment that is low pressure and structured.
Your Art Assignment: A Themed Page of Doodles
A playful page of themed doodles can be just the right match for a fearful mood. Here’s how:
- Pick a topic. It could be anything! Let’s say, for example: cats.
- In your sketchbook or a scrap sheet of paper, draw the first thing that pops into your mind about cats. No judgment, just draw it down! There’s no messing up here, we’ve got the whole page to explore and play around.
- Keep drawing cats (or whatever your subject is) in different positions, doing different things, etc. Fill up the entire page with cats.
- This iterative way of drawing can help remind us that there are many different ways to draw something—and no wrong way to draw anything. Drawing in this way can help alleviate our artistic fears and spark our creativity again.
Alternative Assignment: Allow Yourself a Break
Sometimes our mood is so low that making art (or doing anything, really) feels impossible. When even our daily tasks (eating, showering, leaving the house) seem overwhelming and exhausting, we need to focus on our wellbeing. We’ll never be able to make art consistently if we don’t listen to our minds and bodies and take care of them.
If you’re feeling overly fatigued and burdened—perhaps by a major life change or burning out—you may need to take a break from making art. When you’re stuck in a state of continuous exhaustion, resting and focusing on your mental and physical health is the best thing you can do for yourself and your art right now.
If you feel this dark cloud is where you are today, here’s your assignment: Take a break from making art, and get yourself back to a place where you’re sleeping well, eating well, and functioning well. Allow yourself this time of healing, whether it’s a day, a week, a month, or whatever you need, and trust that you’ll get back to your art when the time is right and you have recovered. Your creativity will always be inside you.
Your Art Mood Is…
Sadness
About Your Mood
Mood Variations: Hurt, pain, lonely, depressed, grief
Purpose: To connect and heal
Gifts: Healing, growth, awareness, self-care
You Need Emotionally: To grieve, to connect with others
Your Mood + Art Making
You Need Artistically: Self-care, understanding
Sadness asks us to acknowledge and accept loss. We need to ask for help, care for ourselves, focus on healing, and connect with others.
Sadness isn’t only felt when we’re confronted with a life-altering loss. Artists commonly feel sadness when making (or attempting to make) art—sadness over a loss of creativity, motivation, energy, and time. We also, as humans, can become exhausted, feel hurt and alone, and fall into a depression.
With all this pain in our heads, sitting down to create a piece of art can be challenging. When we’re in a sad mood, we need an assignment that encourages healing and understanding.
Your Art Assignment: Draw How You Feel
An honest expression of how we feel can be just the right match for a sad mood. Here’s how:
- Open your sketchbook or get a blank sheet of paper
- Think for a moment about how you’re feeling. Sadness can often engulf us in a dark cloud that makes it difficult to think clearly, and we can also become quite good at hiding how we’re really feeling from others and ourselves. Try to really pay attention to your thoughts and how your body feels in this moment.
- Draw yourself in the body position you feel best describes how you feel. Don’t worry about drawing yourself accurately—draw stick figures if you like. Are your shoulders slumped over? Is your head hanging low? Are you close to crying? Is your hair a mess? Don’t worry about getting it right, draw many different versions expressing different aspects.
- Now think about what thoughts you’re having, and jot them down in speech bubbles from your drawings. Perhaps one of them says, “I’m tired” or “I can’t handle this”.
- This act of drawing how we’re feeling can help us recognize and understand how we’re feeling better. It can also help to alleviate the pain by giving us a quiet space to reflect on our thoughts and soothe our minds. Drawing in this way can help lift the dark cloud from our heads and spark our creativity again.
- Bonus: Share your drawing with someone else. Perhaps a trusted friend, family member, therapist, or artist community. Be sure to choose someone you trust who will be respectful and understanding, and offer love and support. Sharing how you’re feeling, and your art, with someone can be a wonderful way to connect, which in itself is a powerful antidote to sadness. It helps us realize that others feel like we do, so we feel less alone.
Alternative Assignment: Allow Yourself a Break
Sometimes our mood is so low that making art (or doing anything, really) feels impossible. When even our daily tasks (eating, showering, leaving the house) seem overwhelming and exhausting, we need to focus on our wellbeing. We’ll never be able to make art consistently if we don’t listen to our minds and bodies and take care of them.
If you’re feeling overly fatigued and burdened—perhaps by a major life change or burning out—you may need to take a break from making art. When you’re stuck in a state of continuous exhaustion, resting and focusing on your mental and physical health is the best thing you can do for yourself and your art right now.
If you feel this dark cloud is where you are today, here’s your assignment: Take a break from making art, and get yourself back to a place where you’re sleeping well, eating well, and functioning well. Allow yourself this time of healing, whether it’s a day, a week, a month, or whatever you need, and trust that you’ll get back to your art when the time is right and you have recovered. Your creativity will always be inside you.
Your Art Mood Is…
Shame
About Your Mood
Mood Variations: Embarrassed, guilt, self-doubt, comparison
Purpose: Remind yourself of your worth.
Gifts: Humility, vulnerability, connection
You Need Emotionally: Kindness, self-awareness, understanding
Your Mood + Art Making
You Need Artistically: Empowerment, encouragement
Shame asks us to remind ourselves of our innate value. We need to remind ourselves of our worth, and accept our imperfection.
Shame isn’t only felt when we’re confronted with a mortifying situation. Artists commonly feel shame when making (or attempting to make) art—we feel we’re not good enough, are plagued with self-doubt, compare ourselves to others, and give in to inner critic. We also, as humans, can be doubt our abilities, worry what other people think of us, and feel like we can never do enough. Shame carries us from the passing thought of “I made a bad piece of art” to the difficult to shake belief that “I am a bad artist.”
With all this self-doubt in our heads, sitting down to create a piece of art can be challenging. When we’re in a shameful mood, we need an assignment that is empowering and encouraging.
Your Art Assignment: Draw Yourself as a Warrior
A empowering drawing of yourself can be just the right match for a shameful mood. Here’s how:
- Open your sketchbook or get a blank sheet of paper
- Optional: Get inspired by looking up photos of warriors on the internet. Try searching for different time periods, cultures, books, and movies. Don’t spend forever doing this though—try to limit your inspiration search to 10 minutes.
- Imagine and draw yourself as a warrior. What kind of armor would you wear? Would you have a helmet? A sword? A shield? Do you wear chain mail or leather? Do you have a horse or wolf companion? Can you do magic? What pose are you in or action are you doing?
- This exploratory way of drawing can help us see and tap into the power and worth inside ourselves. Drawing in this way can help alleviate our artistic shame and spark our creativity again.
- Bonus: Share your drawing with someone else. Perhaps a trusted friend, family member, therapist, or artist community. Be sure to choose someone you trust who will be respectful and understanding, and offer love and support. Sharing your art and how you’re feeling with someone else forges connection, a powerful antidote to shame. Sharing our experience and hearing theirs helps us realize that others feel the way we do too, so we feel less alone.
Alternative Assignment: Allow Yourself a Break
Sometimes our mood is so low that making art (or doing anything, really) feels impossible. When even our daily tasks (eating, showering, leaving the house) seem overwhelming and exhausting, we need to focus on our wellbeing. We’ll never be able to make art consistently if we don’t listen to our minds and bodies and take care of them.
If you’re feeling overly fatigued and burdened—perhaps by a major life change or burning out—you may need to take a break from making art. When you’re stuck in a state of continuous exhaustion, resting and focusing on your mental and physical health is the best thing you can do for yourself and your art right now.
If you feel this dark cloud is where you are today, here’s your assignment: Take a break from making art, and get yourself back to a place where you’re sleeping well, eating well, and functioning well. Allow yourself this time of healing, whether it’s a day, a week, a month, or whatever you need, and trust that you’ll get back to your art when the time is right and you have recovered. Your creativity will always be inside you.
Your Art Mood Is…
Joy / Passion / Love
About Your Mood
Mood Variations: Cheerful, lively, relaxed, carefree, serene, compassionate, caring, tender hopeful
Purpose: Enjoyment of life and connection with others.
Gifts: Gratitude, happiness, energy, excitement, connection, spirituality
You Need Emotionally: To enjoy and share
Your Mood + Art Making
You Need Artistically: An outlet for your passion
Joy asks us to enjoy the present moment and ask ourselves how we can build more of this sensation in our lives. We need to allow ourselves to feel happy and share our joy with others.
Joy isn’t only felt when we’re presented with a dream-fulfilling situation. Artists commonly feel joy when making (or attempting to make) art—joy of creating, joy of expression, joy of freedom. We also, as humans, can be grateful for friendships, excited about future plans, and cheerful from the tiny joys of life, like a warm chocolate chip cookie.
With all this joy in our heads, sitting down to create a piece of art can feel exciting. When we’re in a happy mood, we need an assignment that aligns with and fulfills our passions.
Your Art Assignment: Start Your Dream Project
Starting that project you’ve been dreaming of can be just the right match for a happy mood. Here’s how:
- Remember that art project you’ve been dreaming about starting for years but keeping shelving away for another day? Maybe you’ve always wanted to make a children’s book? Or write a novel? Or paint a huge, messy canvas? Remind yourself of what you hoped to do.
- Today’s the day to start! Your upbeat mood will give you the energy, confidence, and mojo you need to take the first steps. Or if you’ve already got a big project going, today’s the day to jump back in!
- Be sure your project aligns with your true passions and interests, not what you think you should be doing.
- Remind yourself that this isn’t a project you will finish today, you’re just taking the first steps. Perhaps you can write out a list of what you’ll need to do to achieve your goal. Or research other projects that are similar to yours. Or, if you’ve already begun, you can put in a couple hours (or whatever time you have) or solid work.
- Try not to get overwhelmed, and remind yourself to be patient. A joyful mood doesn’t last forever, and it’s ok for it to come and go—our motivation and excitement ebb and flow, but this project will always be ready to continue when you are.
- This gentle way of starting (or continuing) a dream project can help us cultivate the positivity and motivation we need to see the project through to completion. Creating art in this way can help harness our joy and passion and keep our creativity sparked for the long run.
Ready to discover your mood and
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Hi, I’m Christine Nishiyama!
I’m a sketchbook-drawing, book-making, essay-writing, class-teaching artist and founder of Might Could Studios. I love to help other artists discover and explore their artistic styles.
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Wow. Never in my life have I heard something so profound. I have been drawing my whole life, and I’ve always struggled with finding my artistic voice. I’ve never understood how to find myself in my art. This is so helpful; thank you so much for sharing this with me!
I love the way you tap into the mind and emotion, and connect it with art and the whole creative process. It just all makes so much sense.
I’m ready to explore [art] again with you Christine. You are the best thing that happened to me during Inktober 2019. Thank you so much for inspire us discover we can always doing better.
Just a quick note to say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for your weekly essays! I ALWAYS enjoy them (now more than ever as I adjust to the new normal of life in captivity) and you always seem to know EXACTLY what I need to hear. Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous!
Hello Christine! THANK YOU!!! I’m signed up to various newsletters. And when I got your first one in my mailbox, I opened it as many other occasions… without expecting too much. But you’ve said and wrote about THE things I’m in so need to hear and finally understand. That’s why I’m so grateful to you. I always read you in the morning, at my office and when I read you I want to go out and draw!! You’re speaking to my heart and mind so directly, that you’re helping me so much. So I just wanted to take a minute to write these lines and saying thank you again! Looking forward to hearing from you always from now on!!