# Depression and Art, how does it affect you?



## Charrio (Mar 14, 2014)

Being an artist, My emotions lead me most of the time. 
When I'm sad my art changes, part of me resists.

I used to call it my Muse, that little feeling of joy and inspiration driving me on. 
When Depression hits tho, it feels like trying to swim through clay. 

Sometimes my entire art drive leaves, as my emotions fall.
It's happened several times to me, sometimes over a year passes. 

Has any of this happened to you guys?


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## Phyre (Mar 14, 2014)

No...

Actually,all my feelings are my inspiration...Whenever i'm feeling down,i try to picture my feeling as SOMETHING.An object,a person,a place,a phenomenon...Anything.And then i try to put it on paper,and that's how i think of it,as a feeling,not a drawing or painting.My strong feelings,like depression,are the ones urging me to draw.Happiness seems overdue to me,since it's,in most cases,normal.Well,not NORMAL,but,not that special...Loneliness,again,is now mainstream to me.Sometimes,when i'm feeling really relaxed,i draw what i feel then,no matter what...But depression is not an obstacle to me.I feel like i need to share my feelings with someone or something,and that thing is the paper,most of the time.I express myself through drawing and writing.


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## Benji (Mar 14, 2014)

Charrio said:


> Being an artist, My emotions lead me most of the time.
> When I'm sad my art changes, part of me resists.
> 
> I used to call it my Muse, that little feeling of joy and inspiration driving me on.
> ...



Yes.  I totally understand where you are coming from.  

My latest lapse has been this last couple of years.  I pull out my easel and barely eak out one or two pieces before putting it away again.  Of course, I keep telling myself that I'm just too busy with my studies--a completely valid excuse--but it really does boil down to the depression I've struggled with for the last several years.  

I'm only now starting to pull out of this funk after a major car accident--totaling my car by falling asleep at the wheel and driving into a tree full speed, flipping four times.  I've realized how much I have to be thankful for, and that life is too short for me to sit on my hands.  My funk isn't over yet, but I feel it lifting.  I digress.  

However, I have heard that the "fake-it-till-you-make-it" approach works for some. Just accepting the muse as a necessary part of the process might be a way to face your struggle head on.  That's what I'm working on right now--and the tone of my work does change.  But not exactly for the worse.  

It tends to be more grounded in reality...which is sometimes dark, sometimes gritty, and mostly something we want to run away from.


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## Taralack (Mar 14, 2014)

If I'm depressed it's usually because it's art related, and if I'm depressed I usually stop drawing. It's a vicious cycle.


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## Kiracuils (Mar 22, 2014)

I stop drawing almost completely when I get depressed. Meanwhile I churn out tons of drawings if I feel great and I don't have anything else that I need to tend to.


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## Duality Jack (Mar 22, 2014)

I never write a song so well as a day I am in the deepest depression personally. 

Only things I'd call good.


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## MechaChick (Mar 24, 2014)

Art should be a creative outlet for emotions, in depressions and down moods, pull out those feelings into a work of art and don't let any emotions go by is what I say. You should let it flow and not think about what you are sketching. The way I do it is not to paint but sketch, sketch out pictures with those emotions. If I feels down then I will draw something from that emotion. It's not about my muse which is there for fully painted sexy things or happy thing, it's about being in touch with myself and my art. Those sketches, if deemed worthy ingnite my muse on later days to paint something more inspiring from them, or even colour one of them in. Sketches are quick things and won't be taxing, I fire off sketches in 20 mins max, done and saved incase I ever want to reference anything.


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## Vermilion (Apr 3, 2016)

Stopped drawing for about three to four months. I didn't really notice until the second month when I had a breakdown at work. Barely starting to sketch again, but man...I've had art blocks before and just got over it. With depression it felt like I didn't even know how to hold a pencil anymore.


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## Sforzie (Apr 3, 2016)

Sometimes I think I don't actually suffer from depression (just anxiety and other things), since no matter how down I feel, I can always draw.


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## SodaBubbles (Apr 6, 2016)

Sometimes I can't draw because I just don't care enough. I have the basic depression that comes with having bpd, which means when it shows up, it's bad enough to not want to do much of anything. But the up side for me is that it passes fairly quickly.

My gf on the other hand deals with clinical depression, and sometimes she pixels more when she's depressed, and sometimes it's hard getting her out of bed. Just depends, I guess.


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