Oh, no! You just had to ignore my warning didn't you? So I will give you a second warning. This is a special thread for posting and discussing art that may be offensive to some children, old or young. If you see something posted in this thread that offends you then simply leave. You were warned not to come here.

Ok, seriously, this is what this thread is all about: Some of us have suffered from depression, and I know from experience that depression is like living in a nightmare where we don't wake up. Depression can also convince us that what we do isn't even art and should not be seen by other humans. Often we produce art to either take our minds off of our mental state or sometimes we produce art in an attempt to express the torment or to express just what ever is going on in our minds.

This thread is for this type of art. Because this thread is still part of Drawspace - art that is posted here will still be restricted to a certain degree. I ask that no one comment on any art posted in this thread unless the person posting it has asked for comments. And even then I ask that the comments be positive or constructive.

This thread is also for discussing depression and our experiences with it. It would be great if some one posts their art and then try to tell what they felt about the artwork.

Often depression tells me that I cannot draw and that I am an idiot to even attempt to draw any thing. This is a type of Block. I know others have experienced something similar. We remember that we have enjoyed drawing or painting in the past but at the moment there is no desire or inspiration. I think a lot of erotic, offensive, or even violent art is produced because of situations like this.

BRB.

Thank you very much for starting this thread, Bobby and for sharing your experiences. Someone prominent in the community sharing like this makes it so much easier to be up front about a difficult topic, but one that I think has accompanied the history of Art since time immemorial. So, here goes.

This is directly about depression. Almost the sense of "monster eating the brain"

[attachmentid=9982]

Strangely when I describe my depression through characters they tend to be female even though I am quite firmly and happily male. I have a long term project called "The Breathing of Statues", which has at it's centre a character called Gwen who suffers from severe depression. This pic isn't her but I may post from this series in future. Depression can be sensual as well as negative. That's why many of my other drawings feature women in giant worlds: there is the sense of helplessness and worthlessness and everything seeming an impossible struggle or threat, but also of heightened sensation, a layer of protection removed to reveal a world pulsating with sensual experience. I could imagine a person only a few inches high really feeling and seeing things. depression related illness can be like this too, although sadly not that often!

This is a psychotic episode

[attachmentid=9983]

Moths represent for me the crossroads between fear and depression, here are two Moth drawings

[attachmentid=9985]

This next one actually features me... my fingers in the bottom right corner LOL!

[attachmentid=9986]


Hope this doesn't anybody off. I think this thread should also be about a wide range of moods and states

Concerning things that people have been taught to have aversions to. I feel that art should be about intellectual honesty. This opinion can lead to very disturbing reactions. But art is simply someone's opinion or expression of feelings. If we can't express our true feelings in a non-violent medium such as art how can we live in this world? Art that expresses our true feelings, regardless if they are considered twisted, or insane, should be encouraged and welcomed, or simply ignored and tolerated.

Who ever got killed or battered by a drawing or painting?

Sure, if we express our opinions in any medium picture or writing we will offend some bigot somewhere who thinks he/she is the only one who knows the truth and has animosity toward anyone who holds a different opinion. But it is this type of bigotry that is the true cause violence, not the art that inflames or excites the bigotry.

Also, if we had to be taught to have an aversion to anything it is likely to be a perversion of nature.

I think the world has to learn tolerance of opinions and I think art is the perfect medium for this to happen.

Bobby Burcham.

very well said from both of you...and chesya your art is really very nice work and says so much..my art has kept me going too..I am also recovering from an illness a very long year and lots of treatments..my art has helped keep my mind off of what was going on in everyday life..i could literally escape for hours trying to get "my lines to my liking"..

and i also think this was a very good thread to start

regards
kay

I suffer from depression but it hasn't shown itself in my art; maybe it should..could be therapeutic. At any rate, glad to see it discussed here. WetCanvas has a thread in "CafeGuerbois" for "differently abled artists, a Healing Thread" which discusses depression a lot.

John

I have sufferd from depression too, due to a treatment I had to go through for a hole long year, depression was only one of side effects on the long list of side effects of this treatment. Once depressed always depressed if you know what I mean. You never get over it 100%.) Anyway it never showed in my art either, I think . but then again, during that year the treatment was so hard that I didn't do any art at all. When I feel depressed, I just can't do anything, I have no pacience I just feel like sleeping all the time. That's bad, cause then I feel very frustated that a wasted my time sleeping . Thank God it doesn't happen so frequently nowdays.

Clara

Reading all the replies in this topic causes me to realize just how complex depression is. I guess it is as complex as we humans are.

I know it has been a negative influence in my life, but I also think I have managed to turn it into a positive influence. I see my depression as my enemy inside my head. It tells me that regardless how well I do anything that I'm never good enough. It tries to get me to do the things I don't need to do and it tries to prevent me from doing the very things that would help me.

I also think I partly owe my skill as a portrait artist to my depression. Also, because of my depression I'm now 63 years old and I put more time and energy into self-education and self-improvement than I ever have before.

I have finally discovered the things I can do to fight my depressio and I am focusing my energy into these areas. Walking two miles each morning is the best habit I have ever formed. Proper diet I think has also helped.

For several years now I have been improving my skills at writing. This has also helped me in my fight aginst depression.

Bobby

Depression also makes me sleep excessively. I'm retired and inactive due to health, so there is little to prevent it. This comes in 'attacks' and I sleep until I wake up and eat, take pills, etc. and go back to bed. But it is not always there, in which case I can be productive for awhile. Taking up drawing has been a large help in giving me a stimulating activity and interest to reduce such attacks.

John

As it has already been said here depression(mental illness) is a very complex phenomenon. It can produce art/literature or can arrest any creativity whatsoever.Depending on the form mental illness takes in a person it can alter his/her perception of reality, modify your mood, isolate you, alienate you from culture to the point that you don't become dysfunctional and can still create. There is in this sense the art of the severe mentally ill or less severe like for instance S. Dali. I guess that here(in this thread) the problem is how can art be used as therapy between bouts of depression.
Personally I suffer from manic depressive syndrome from the age of 27. Now I am 53 and still on maintenance drugs.My creativity comes in many forms, philosophy, doll making, art,poetry, webdesign, even culinary decorations with fruits and vegetables(see my Gourmet pages). I have periods of intense activity in which i become obsessed with my projects, I have a great productivity followed by a colapse(even catatonia), and then the down side in which i am depressed and can't do a thing.Last spring I was really depressed for three or four months i couldn't do anything. The feeling of emptiness is the most debilitating for me and now i am very pleased with the fact that i can draw and have a creative occupation.
I feel very good on this website and i think this great community is the most supportive of all i have been with(poets, philosophers, webdesigners, cooks)
For anyone interested in what the specialists think of the relation art and mental illness i recommned the book
MADNESS AND MODERNISM Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought. By Louis A. Sass. The author is a clinical psychologist and discusses culture icons like Franz Kafka, Paul Valery, Samuel Beckett, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Giorgio de Chirico and Salvador Dali. What he says is that these artists tend to decostruct the world and reconstruct human experience without reference to objective reality.
My opinion is that this is possible in arts more than science because art is expression of one's emotions and perceptions of personal, inner world as well. In the work of a physicist, chemist, mathematician his inner life, emotions, perceptions, dreams have no place.
So, yes to art and activity, any type of activity helps only as long as the disease is letting you do things.In so many years i stopped fooling myself that there is a magic bullet. I have been in good health (only on Prozac 10 mg) from 1993 to 1999 and all of a sudden resurfaced with more severity than ever.What i couldn't believe of the medical system of this "great country" was the fact the doctors suspendeded my visits to the psychiatrist and the physician who administered my prozac wanted to take from Prozac too so I had to fight with him and finally change the doctor.When I explained him that Prozac was a maintenance drug he argued that it was the "Pill of happiness". This was the family doctor.So it is important to be prepared for that moment when depression relapses and either take the drugs or see your psychiatrist immediately.Now I am seeing a very good psychiatrist every 3-4 months and take also medication.
Drawing and art in general is an endless source of knowledge of the world and of yourself and the creativity in art is limitless. As they say ART IS LONG LIFE IS SHORT.
Glad to be here.

Drawing is amazing for it's ability to focus on the task at hand. All those thoughts and stresses fade into background noise or become completely silent. When I get depressed I seek complete solitude and have trouble talking to people (even small talk is difficult). Forcing myself to pick up a pencil and even just sketch helps me a lot. I love being in that drawing 'trance' where nothing matters except where to put the next line on the page.

I find that I also have to exercise, have a good diet and have things organised before I can draw. So art really spills out into improving every aspect of my life on a daily basis.

I think I owe my current state of sanity without meds to drawing

This is a bold and personal topic and very relevant to artists, emotional content is possibly the strongest tool that we have at our disposal when producing great works of art. It can mean the difference between a drawing that is either average or truly exceptional. Art that is technically superior and well executed will remain merely an illustration if the artist has not produced the work with emotion and a thorough understanding of how to produce emotive artwork. Art is one of the strongest forms of communication, imagine communicating without emotion.

Depression can be positive, it is a strong emotion that translates well in the drawing process. As artists we can use it to our advantage to produce more emotive artwork

All artists go through three distinct phases in their development, initially learning to see the world through different eyes, capturing the image accurately, then manipulating the image to create the message and finally pure expression linked to emotion. It is in the final stage that exceptional artwork is created. This is the art that evokes a response in the viewer, either positive or negative, the work communicates directly to the person who is looking at it.
All forms of emotion, including depression is positive, if we put the emotion to work and we understand how to reproduce it in our artwork.

regards wayneo

I feel a bit exposed attaching stuff, but I hope others will show work they have done which reflects various states of mind, or which got them through difficult issues.

Disintegration

[attachmentid=10017]

In a bubble

[attachmentid=10018]

Timidity

[attachmentid=10019]

The last one was not about me but a man I saw outside a clinic on the periphery of a group he was trying to socialise with.

I find all your drawings very interesting and I get a satisfaction from them that is difficult to discribe. But that is the way it is art, I think it is a connection of souls.
BRB.

How I understand you my friend. I am retired too, since I was 25 years old!! it sucks!!!!

Kaly, you are a lovely young lady; too bad I'm not about 100 years younger!

John

Thank you
And you are a lovely YOUNG man!!!!!!!!!!

I suffer from some kind of inner depression, like some part of me feels really depressed even though I have no reason to be depressed. It's weired and annoying and it also keeps me from drawing which make the other part of me depressed :S ? . It's like I have a little sad man inside me that is whining without a reason.
Here's a 30 sec sketch:
[attachmentid=10065]

Maybe he needs to speak. Maybe he has something to say. Thank you for letting him out in your drawing. It was nice to meet him!

I've suffered from depression for a years on and off. I also, when I'm down, doubt my drawing ability and feel that I can't even bring myself to pick up a pencil. Last year I didn't draw for four or five months as, well basically, I just couldn't, although I read through quite a few of my huge selection of drawing books. Even though I felt inspired by them....I couldn't work up the inclination to put the ideas I had into action.

Thanks for bringing this subject up Bob, it really helps to know that you're not the "only one"

Have you tried just letting rip?

I'm a total mess about my lack of drawing ability. I know I'm a much better "Artist" than my output would suggest, but what's the point if it doesn't show? It's awful sometimes when what look like impotent scrawls come out. But I keep saying to myself that the quality doesn't matter because the drawing itself is actually essential to my health.

It's really bad at the moment because I do a lot of fetish art and I have an audience who prefer pictures of blow-up dolls to representation of real human beings. It wears away at my confidence a lot that authentic rubbish gets praise and attention I yearn for; but I'm determined to educate those people, whether they want it or not!

Sounds arrogant, but it's us who have to believe in ourselves. We have to keep going and showing.

This is my "Dark Side" contribution.

That's a beautiful and painful picture.

Hello,

For me, finding drawing in February helped me tremendously.

I'd been depressed for several years after my two daughters left the nest. After being a single mom for all those years, learning to re-focus on myself alone was not so easy for me.

But as others have mentioned, drawing has allowed me to almost meditate when getting into a work! I love that. And it makes me feel better about myself in general.

"Kids" leaving the nest is a real tough adjustment in life. My youngest daughter left 2 years ago, living with friends and going to school across the state. My older son is finally getting married this year and moving to Texas. I will hate it when raising a family is just history. I live in an area(Florida) where there is a large number of elderly and other retirees. I see many who are alone and rarely see their grown kids. Suicides are high among those people.
John

brb where is that writing site that you have? i dont know if i have clinical depression or not. it does run in my family and sometimes life gets really tuff. i am so tired alot , most of the time and now i get migrain headaches so bad sometimes. i cant get my creativity going. feel like writing but dont no where to start or how
Lori

I'm not sure which one you are talking about but this is my Blogger with some of my writing on it. I've only posted the short pieces.
http://eternalaffections.blogspot.com/

Bob.

G'Day Lori,

Like many people who have posted here, I too suffer from depression, and have done so for a few years now. I recently wanted to start drawing, as I have had the itch for many years (about 30+), but never had the courage to do it. I have started experimenting, looking up tutorials and observing the artwork of those in this great community.

But writing, that for me is a lot easier to do. I do lots of short stories, mainly inspired from many different roleplaying games (RPGs) I have played in. Some are also inspired by real life events and observations.

What works for me is this. Sit down with some good music playing, and think about something you have seen recently, or thought about. Just write a sentence about it. If you're in the right place, the words will come to you, and the work will grow. If not, set it aside, and do it again with something else. And don't be afraid to come back to your written work. I have had several cases of an aborted work getting a second chance at life.

Anyway, I hope that I have managed to give you an idea of how to move around these obstacles. All I need to do is apply this technique to my drawing and sketching. I know it should work the same way, but my confidence in this area is rather shaky.


Cheers,

Craig.




BRB,

Thank you for sharing this image. I spent a good 10 minutes looking at the technical aspects. In a strange way, it has made me a little more confident that I can do artworks that I would be proud to show other people.

It's a good image for me, because I can see how you have achieved some of the effects within the image. Now, to take those techniques and reproduce them myself - that's the challenge.

And before I forget. Thank you for starting this thread. It's given me the place to stop lurking and to start participating in the community.


Cheers,

Craig.

And thank you very much for the gracious feedback.

Bob.

Credit where credit is due.

Cheers,

Craig

I was going to attach this to my previous post, but thought better of it.


I had a small art shop nearby to where I live, and they had classes for beginners in various art media, including drawing with pencils. Due to various restrictions, including some financial, I was not able to attend. What made these classes good, was you didn't have to attend them in a block. You could book in when you could, and attend that way. The classes were small, no more than 8 students were allowed, and more often than not there are about 5. Now that I managed to squeeze the money together to attend a few of the classes, as well as having the time free to do so, I found that the store has ceased it's business.

I felt that I had been dealt a giant blow. Since I am trying to "teach myself", and I have no one handy to assist me in my learning, I thought I was back to square one. There are parts of my... technique, than I have troubles with, and I was looking to using these classes as a means of getting feedback on what I am missing/not seeing/getting wrong/whatever the case may be. Anyway, I felt really down about it for a few hours. But, where one door closes, another one opens.

Since I have taken the first step of getting involved in the community, I guess I should gather the courage to start showing the tings I have managed to get done, and get assistance from the Drawspace community. Even mentioning it in this posting is making me a little nervous at the thought of showing others what I have done.

Well, I think I have rambled enough for the time being. I shall go over and stalk the galleries, and see what other examples of artwork there are, and see what I wisdom I can get from them.


Cheers,

Craig

Taking a deep breath-
Kaly I have to tell you that your comment"once depressed always depressed" is scary to me. its been 2 yrs since my cancer treatment ended-but that seem to be all that ended. No,actually,my art and my silversmithing stopped too. I,too,feel like sleeping all the time and then feel I'm wasting important time! Worse we are in China! There is so much to see! But I'm hiding like a hermit unless I get pulled out into the world. I'm trying to fight it by teaching art to the secondary kids at my son's school and assisting the art teacher there. Gets me out and doing something with art.
I call it being functually depressed--carrying out survival stuff(shopping,laundry...) but not much else.
this the 1st time I've talked about this ...The thing is I feel like such a whiner... bobbie

A few years back my therapist ask me to draw what I meant when talking about a feeling I had .. he said he would get a better idea from the drawing and it could prove to help ...well I did and I will post those later as I have to take them from a book I used ONLY for art therapy ...but I can share with you a poem I wrote ...its about what happens to me when I get a anxity attack ...its about when i always lost that war and gave in to it .

Nobody knows....whats locked up inside ...

I'd open up and show you ...but you'd run and hide.

Its ugly and scary...something you wouldnt want to see..

It sleeps deep in my head..Its root strong like a tree.

A place most people...would never dare stand..

Oh yes its way worst ...then the boogie man.

When it wakes ..it startles me ...

I feel it in my heart ..

then the fear closes in ..and it all begins to start .

Its like a thousand monsters...dancing on My soul..

I wish I could scream ...but I'm loosing control .

I feel sick ..now I'm sweating...I cant feel your feet..

I'm loosing the battle ...I just cant compete.

Its stands before me ...with open arms ...

I succomb to its wishes...knowing its harm.

The one thing I know ...that I'm absolutly sure...

It's desire for me ..Is soo very pure.

So many of us have so many different issues ...my heart goes out to all of you .. this thread makes me cry ...makes me want to reach out and do a group hug

Kim, did you see me there? I'm sure I have been to the same place. It sounds very familar.

Bob.

ya know that is really beautiful and sad..what wonderful talent you have to have written this and with your artwork...hug to you

this should be published

G'Day all,

Here's my "group hug" to you, Kim.


I found a little written effort of mine which I wrote over 10 years ago during a lunch break working at a tax agent's back office. When I read it now, it seems to lift my mood a little. It even makes me do as it says.

"Luna's Dance"
Every night I have the chance,
To gaze above at Luna's Dance.
As from horizon to horizon she gaily trips,
Each dark veil she slowly strips.
Against the curtain of darkest night
The spray of stars shine so bright.
And then She stands, both bright and bold,
Her loving tale by dance is told.
She waits a little, for there's love in my heart,
As once more her dance she starts.
She returns her veils, with grace galore,
And readies herself to dance once more.

I have written some stuff concerning my wife's depression, but I'm not sure if people here would want to read it. If there is enough interest, I'll post one of the other poems I have done.

Anyway, I hope this brings a little light to someone else, as it does to me these days.


Cheers,

Craig.

I will share one of my attempts to say what i feel inside at times.

Not Now.

I don't notice my wet feet from traffic spraying black oily water as puddles explode from tires.
A greenish gray January sky seems to be leaking, a dew, from metal and evergreen shrubs, or is it the melting snow?
I shiver, not because of the weather, but because of what isn?t inside me. There's an emptiness that has nothing to do with my fleece lined coat or lazy metabolism.
I feel as if I'm at a cemetery funeral as a shroud of clouds threatens to cry the tears I somehow manage to hold inside.
Yes, there's beauty in the world, somewhere, and there are dark things also that no one wants to think about, or discuss.
A cold strong fist squeezes my chest; I swallow against the lump that threatens to choke me. My heart races and my face flushes. I feel like I am sweating but I'm chilled through.
I convince myself I'm still alive. I try to reassure myself, this is what it is to be alive. It's the price! We all have a choice, we can live, feel and suffer, or we can simply exist. Have I simply existed too long? I would love to just go to sleep and not wake up. Somewhere, not inside my head, there is a crash, a loud angry voice. I am brought back to now. I hear again the annoyed growl of traffic and glance at the ominous concrete and glass - the indifferent crowds that do not cure my loneliness.
I don't like now! I want to go somewhere else, but I don't know exactly where 'else' is, or how to get there.
But is it somewhere, or is it someone? Was there a 'someone'? Why have I erased the memories of that 'someone'? Were they too painful?
Why did they take so much of me with them? Why couldn't they just leave and not leave me void?
I walk but with out a destination. I have to stay moving. I don't recognize where I am and that is a relief. I imagine I am on a journey, facing a new world, a glimpse of a new life, with out the old memories.
Only a glimpse and I am back in now. I don't like now - somewhere in the past, or in the future, maybe, but not now.
Not now!



I for one would love to read it, or them.

BRB.

This is a good, healthy discussion and the two previous posts bare deeply the 'soul' of their writer.
Good stuff...keep it up!

John

I agree John this is very healthy to do ....for some it is like therapy .

Ok, it has taken great courage for me to post this one. And honestly, it was posed. I'm not implying I have never felt this way, I just don't normally take a photo of my self when i do.

I think it looks posed but my wife says it looks persuasive. Hope it don't depress anyone too much.

BRB.

I started this thread for art that was graphic or even disturbing because it may be related to depression. I have discussed this issue with fellow moderators and we have decided that while sexually explicit art may be therapeutic we cannot allow it here on Drawspace and will be deleted. We have to draw the line somewhere because members and guests of all ages are encouraged to come to Drawspace.

There are other sites on the Internet for sexually explicit art. The term sexually explicit art is often used as euphemism for pornography. It includes unsimulated sex acts, and sexual intercourse and uncovered genitalia some cases.


BRB.

G'Day Bobby,

I took one look at the image, and I thought "I have been in that exact pose myself, more than once". And I am very serious about that too. The hand and arm placement, and the facial expression is spot on. I'm fairly sure I know what the feelings are that caused that expression, though the cause will be very different.

I must once more thank you for your courage in not only starting this thread, but also opening up a little to those within the community.

I am currently fighting against my own depression right now so I can develop my skills as an artist. I'm getting the whole "It's too hard! There's no one to help! You're not good enough!" thoughts. I still try and practice when I can, but I feel that I am loosing ground a bit at the moment.

I am trying to come up with a good way of approaching those Drawspace members in South East Queensland for a meet and greet, or maybe even finding a mentor, of sorts. Well, scratch that - I just did

Anyway, I have been looking for another example of my writing related to depression. I found it, but on my laptop, which is packed away in it's bag right now. Next time I get on it, I'll post it to this thread.

And one of these days, I'll have something to post in the gallery too.


Cheers

Craig.

BRB - That is a powerful (and excellent)portrait.

John

I must say I have been impressed with the moderation of this site: trying to balance artistic aims with the needs of a very broad community, which includes children is an amazingly difficult task and I thank Bobby in particular for his sensitive and open minded handling of boundary issues.

When I was still at (high) school, my art teacher described for me the concept of the Freudian "censor". S/He's kind of an internal mechanism which stops stuff from rising from the subconscious and interfering too much with our daily lives. My art teacher admitted that hers was like a narrow-minded beaurocrat who tended to stop anything remotely disturbing. It was a real task for her to access her subconscious resources. My censor, however, she saw as laying unconscious, knocked off his chair with blood trickling from his mouth. I have difficulty holding back whats down there, but I think it's also one of my principle attributes as an artist. I remember when I first painted a picture where a penis showed, I was 16 and my father and elder were disgusted implying that I must be homosexual. For me it was simply a legitimate part of the work and not at all therapeutic.

I have a profound need to express myself as freely as possible, therefore appreciate greatly being informed when I cross a line. This doesn't mean I don't try to censor myself (I have taken on board the content of recent deletions) or that I want to offend, or want to create unnecessary extra work for the Mods, I'm just searching for an appropriate mode of expression that allows me to 'be' myself while enjoying the priviledge of being part of an artistic community.

I don't think of my more sexually explcit work as pornographic as I don't set out to arouse anyone in that way (the core of the dictionary definition of ***********).

For an example a fairy pic of mine was deleted for the very good reason that her genitalia wer exposed. I was surprised at the deletion at first because it was not something I remembered about the pic. They were exposed because the fairy was utterly innocent and unselfconscious and didn't see any reason to hide herself.

http://chesya.deviantart.com/art/Siog-ina-...iliunt-80489149 [link protected by an adult membership filter]

I agree that it was totally right to delete the pic in this context, but I would be really hurt if people saw me as a pornographer of some sort, especially when I am now in the process of deliberately distancing my artistic output from this sort of association.

Content that might be 'sexually explicit' isn't simply a matter of therapy but part of continuum of content that can form a work of art.

Another deletion that surprised me, but accept willingly as part of the price for being moderated with such sensivity and understanding showed two women in a passionate embrace. To me this was less obviously sexual than another very well read pic involving a man and a woman. But, I've just noticed that there is a vaguely drawn indication of exposed genitalia. This makes me realise how difficult finding the right boundary is.

http://chesya.deviantart.com/art/Warmer-th...he-Sun-73077931 [link protected by an adult membership filter]

In hindsight the third piece should not have been posted here. It is neverless a sophisticated formal composition and not "erotic art" of any kind

http://chesya.deviantart.com/art/Segmentation-01-86475607

I would like to say that posting here is infinitely preferable to posting on deviantart and it is well worth conforming to stricter boundaries in order to do so. The presentation of and access to images is far more direct and far more attractive. There is also a real sense of community which is of inestimable value.

It's taken me ages, but I found a forum at last that neither lewd nor lascivious in content and is not deviant art, but offers space for 'adult' art. I know that there are other places, but I've expressed the problem in posting on them here.

At last I will feel happy posting and discussing my non-controversial stuff here and have an outlet elsewhere.

The forum is just starting and there are opportunities for new people to really shape that community.



It aims to promote the creation and discussion of intelligent with erotic or otherwise adult material from any art form.

There is a great spirit of tolerance and even my work has been welcomed there.

There is also gallery space which can also be used as an image server.

You can check it out on http://www.eroticartforums.com/forums/index.php

There is also a branch with non-erotic content on http://www.artfreaks.com/forums/index.php

but you need apply directly to the owner

vicrolfe@yahoo.co.uk

to join as he's currently engaged in a battle against spambots.

I hope this can help members whose output straddles this boundary.

I feel as if I have just entered the confessional. It is amazing that depression is so pervasive in our society. I have suffered from depression for many years. Partly from a chronic illness I suffer from, which limits me at times physically from doing anything art related. I am also care giver to my husband, who is 23 yrs older than I and suffers from many serious medical conditions. For all intents and purposes he is an invalid. He rarely gets out, and consequently neither do I. He encourages me to go, to join groups, but I just am not comfortable leaving him for any length of time.
I can relate to many of the feelings others here have stated. It mostly manifests itself in lack of confidence in my abilities. then there are times I am not capable of producing anything I can share. There are times when I just sit in a stupor, my mind is racing with thoughts and I am paralyzed to act on any of them. Like BRB there are things I know I should do which would help me, but I just can't get myself to do it. At times, I feel guilty, there are so many that have things much worse than I do. We live in a time when economically things can be rough. I am not independently wealthy, by any means. We live on a fixed income, which is a joke, isn't everyone on a fixed income? I spend too much time sleeping. I stay up way too late, then get up late in the afternoon. If it wasn't for letting the dogs in and out, I would probably spend more time in bed.
I have started keeping a journal. I have a blog, but it suffers for lack of posts. I have tried to keep a sketchbook journal, but often times I don't sketch there. I have the feeling that the paper is too good to waste on these kinds of sketches that show our true feelings and emotions.
I see that this thread has gone inactive a bit. I don't mean to pick at scabs, but do any of you feel as though you have to put on your happy face to the world, while inside there is a maelstrom of emotions?
Regards to all,
Trish

Trish, if this thread was forgotten it probably means we are all doing fine, drawing or enjoying life normally.I didn't believe when I wrote here a few months ago that drawing could be so beneficial to my mental health and daily routine.I didn't have any sort of ups and downs since i started drawing on a regular basis and my doctor is very pleased with my result and my art.
I am sorry to hear that you have health problems at home and that can negatively reflect on your well being.Maintenenace medication and regular exercise like walking your dogs can help, of course depending of the severity of each case.I would say that participating in challenges also helps as one interacts more with people if going out or being in a group is not available.
I don't keep diaries, blogs, etc or see a therapist since i have no problems to report to him or an emotional troubled interior life to write about. I do monthly an album with my drawings and post it in my site so i can track my progress since drawing became so dear to me again, old passion flame of my childhood. Here is my page with monthly albums:

Wish you best of health and to your husband also.

Dear Elena,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. At times I spend way too much time on the computer and then I don't have any time to devote to art. I have tried to come up with a schedule of sorts, so much time for computer, so much time for art but I haven't had any success with it yet. My husband has begun going to bed earlier so that hopefully he will get up earlier. I have started going to bed a bit earlier too. We have a doctor appointment tomorrow. This usually gives me time to sketch while in the waiting room. Thanks for the suggestions about getting out even if just to walk the dogs. I have to do something, I feel like I am sinking lower and lower all the time.
Again, thank you for replying.
Regards,
Trish