Digital drawing and painting: Drawing a State of mind.

My Digital drawing and painting class has been learning the basics of drawing on the computer. Up to thins point, it has been very structured. I would give them a specific assignment and they had to complete it with in a certain amount of time, but near the end of the semester I decided it was time to push them into the deep end.

But first : A lot of these students came into this class with little to no experience drawing on computers, and a few others came with the belief that they couldnt even draw  IRL, so taking on conceptualism at this point was pretty exciting.

The assignment:

1. Choose a state of mind

     - think beyond the surface.
Don't just pick sadness, try to identify the source of the sadness. Create a nuanced emotion that is hard to put into words. (It may also be depression, religious devotion, or anxiety)

2. Then imagine what that state of mind would look like,
- do not represent it with any words, only you imagery.

3. Sketch it out first and take notes on what each element stands for.

4. Using any of the programs draw out and create your final

The students loved the freedom it gave them, and some of them even thought of it as a therapeutic experience.

I gotta tell ya, they were hyper focused during this project,  you could hear a pin drop every day. And I have to say as a teacher, seeing that level of engagement was awesome!

Here is some of their finished work. 

Can you figure out their state of mind?