How does stress affect the theme of your art/writing?

[caelesc]

Hey all!

I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one whose art changes when they are stressed/anxious etc. Whenever I'm stressed I subconsciously start drawing angsty/depressing pictures. Usually I tend to draw happy and soothing pictures, so the contrast is certainly there.

I've been super stressed out for the past couple of weeks now. So sure enough, when I finally sat down tonight and started drawing something fun just for myself it instantly turned dark.
Here's the sketch to show what I mean:

So, show me how your art or writing changes when you're stressed. Maybe it's the reverse and you draw happy pictures when stressed in an effort to cheer yourself up or something! I'm excited to see and hear about your guys experiences. : )

[violin]

When I'm stressed or upset, I write terribly nihilistic stories that reflect my inner state. For example, here is an ultra-short story I wrote when I was in a bad mood:

once upon a time two cats were in love. but they quibbled all the time which lead to shouting and scratching and catfights, which made them both very unhappy. they went to a wise old cat for advice. "ah," said she. "you are too much alike. like repels like, my dears. opposites attract." so the cats split up. opposites attract, thought one. i will go find my opposite, then. she was sweet and shy and pretty and a cat, so she found a big mean vicious drooling dog. can't get more opposite than that.

but,

that's strange, thought she. i don't feel attracted to him at all.

then the dog woke up, saw her, and ate her.

the end.

I have a ton of these from my angsty teen years lol... I'm less angsty now but my mood definitely still affects my writing XD

[kyurenai]

I simply draw whatever when I'm stressed. As of this year, it's been an effective method to bring my destress sketchbook to work. I can feel all the negative energy is transferred to whatever sketch I came up with that moment.

[kaiwang868]

I use writing to escape from my stress. Like if I had a really bad day at work, I try to concentrate on my writing even more to forget about the stuff that happens outside of the world that is my laptop screen

Although maybe stress makes me write shorter sentences? I dunno, sometimes I'm worried that my sentences might be getting too short.

What I'm currently working on:

Elina | Tapas

[spadesart]

for some weird reason i project onto my character william so much that when im in a bad mood or my depression flares up i tend to draw him with grumpier expressions in my comic, hes almost like a self insert for me?

if its real bad tho my art quality just gets worse and takes longer

[Kann]

When I'm stressed, I draw random drawings with techniques I don't usually do. Sometimes they have some blood. My style gets overall messy, when I try to draw some pages.

[grimnir]

I'm not much of an artist, but I've found drawing or writing to be very calming when I'm having a bad time.
Looking back I've definitely created some darker things because of it, but some good ones too. At one of the lowest points of my life, I planned out a story (which may or may not ever see the light of day, and certainly not without heavy revision) about unhappy people fighting literal and figurative demons.
I think it actually makes me more determined for characters to have happy endings, though, even if the paths they take to them get darker.

[silverraven0]

I'm a very sad and lonesome person years ago (and I still pretty much still am), and I remember that one time, I made some short writings about child and animals death.

It's kinda light if I thought about it (I think???).

I just sort of writing it on the flow and in one sitting, and I did still keeping those things until now.

[ar-ninetysix]

When I get stressed, I temporarily lose the motivation to keep writing. Aside from that, it has a tendency to make my depressive side bleed into my writings. Thing is, by then, I stop writing my comics immediately and start writing sad stuff on a separate sheet of paper or document. Gotta keep that personal sad stuff away from my comics.

[dawgofdawgness]

I actually write significantly better when I'm sad or stressed. That's when I tend to get emotionally vulnerable and kind of understand emotions in general a little better, so it becomes easier for me to write about them. I've always wrote fictional characters with ease while I was depressed, and that was when I had some of my best ideas. But when it came to actually venting out my feelings, I had NO IDEA how to do it.

I wrote this meaningless dump when I was depressed back in March:

I think back when I was actually writing it I thought I was William Shakespeare, but now looking back on it... It's just some self-pitying blurb. Kinda sad. And venting by drawing things never really helped. If I really wanted to channel my sadness and anger onto paper, it would just look like scribbles. When I actually did try to draw something "meaningful", it would look like this

this is literally just me crying!!! Depressed me was so uncreative

[monotone_ink]

(‘A`)

[indagold]

Most of the time I stop drawing and do something else like stare at memes since its basically an art block for me. Although people look at my work because its macabre and assume I'm making it because i'm totes suffering 24/7 and not because its a medium that sells well and is interesting to write. There is no possible way I could produce all this work while in a slump for that long period of time lol

[Klaustasya]

Well, if i stressed i just can't bring myself to draw anythig at all.
There was a time when i used to like drawing even when i was clearly depressed, always using black ink for those anguish sketches, but now i only draw when i'm more or less fine.
This is also why i don't understand some artists who say they love drawing to feel happy again, because i love drawing as well...but it can't ease up my mood that much. IDK, am i the weird one? xD

[A-weird-girler]

Oh boy. Don't get me started. When I'm stressed or upset I start writing the most self deprecating crap ever. I will literally write 47 paragraphs on why I make the worst things ever and why I'm the worst person ever. I will then read it and cry, but that's another thing for another day. (I like your drawing too)

@violin Ah yes the ol' bed, wed, behead.

[caelesc]

@kaiwang868 Oh yeah, I can totally do the same with drawing - if something stressful happened I can forget everything else and just draw for hours. It really helps you clear the mind and come back to the issues with a new outlook. : )
And now I kind of want to see a full analysis of the regular length of your sentences and the length when you're stressed. For science. : D

@stnmaren That's really interesting! I've never heard a specific character being affected. I'd imagine if you're in a bad mood or depressed that it would affect all the characters. Then again, having a character to let out all the feelings does sound quite therapeutic. : )

@ar-ninetysix Oh yeah, the same! The reason I found time to sit down and draw some separate art was to make sure I wouldn't deviate from my comic script too much and make it unnecessarily ansty.

@dawgofdawgness Lol, yes, it's kind of cringy to look back on the things you've written/drawn when you were down. I'm certain most people feel that way. : D I love the picture though! Something about it's simplicity makes it really easy to relate. : )

@monotone_ink Oh wow, that is dark alright. Hope drawing it out made you feel a bit better!

There were so many cool replies that I didn't have a chance to read, but they were all really insightful and interesting!

[monotone_ink]

From what I remember, it didn't ;-;

In terms of stress though - I seldom use any creative outlets for such stress - can't bring myself to do anything, as I fear whatever I draw or write does not fully express what I'm feeling at that moment (of which it never does even when I do take on the task). I really just have to sit and wait for it to sizzle out until I can work normally again.

[Shanny8]

If I'm really stressed about something- depending on how bad it is, it can trickle over into other aspects of my life- such as creating my comic & make it hard for me to focus on doing it. If it's really bad, I try to tackle as much of it that I can take on, and just leave the rest to settle itself...when it's done, I can return my focus to working on my comic.

If the issue isnt major, then I can usually compartmentalize that stress and stay focused on getting my comic done.

[caelenmustang]

When I'm feeling down in the dumps I tend to write comfort pieces - couples being good to each other, cozy scenes. It's... weird

[SaintKind]

Some of my best work comes from stressed times or when i feel extreme emotions LOL I use writing to de-stress myself I suppose. Though I have a constant on going theme with my story ideas, where there is always a character that has lost faith in the world to some extent. Writing happy characters as main characters was never something I've been drawn towards