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Emma Carson

Cunningham

Literature/ Per. 4

15 March, 2019

Blog #4

My Capstone topic was using art and creativity in place of social media in my free time. I

chose this topic because I am certainly addicted to social media and would like to fix that issue to

make myself a happier person. The problem I was hoping to solve was taking time away from

being on social media, which can be very detrimental to one’s mental health. The possible

solution I found was adopting a new hobby, and in this case I used art to do that. I hoped to find

a new passion with this experiment and I also wanted to learn how to become a better artist.

At the beginning I planned to make at least ten pieces of art using all kinds of mediums. I

would work on two pieces a week to reach my goal. I also planned to do many other things such

as make time lapse videos and write journal entries each week to track how I was feeling

mentally. I encountered many obstacles over the course of five weeks including work from my

other classes I had to prioritize, theater rehearsals, my home responsibilities, and the biggest

obstacle was not having all of my supplies in one place. When I was working, I would take at

least thirty minutes to work on a piece on the days when I wasn’t busy. I dove right into my

project and began with the schedule of finishing two pieces a week. I kept this up for two weeks,

then I got off my schedule and had to finish my pieces later than I had expected to. I did take one

time lapse but I was unhappy with the outcome. I didn’t really have people to help me out which

was another big obstacle. I watched many youtube videos and found art pages on Instagram,
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hoping to pick up some techniques. This went against my whole idea of not being on social

media, but it did help me.

Though I didn’t finish all ten pieces, I am happy with the nine that I did complete. It was

a little frustrating that they didn’t match up with what I thought of in my mind, but I am still

proud that I didn’t give up. In this process, I learned how to sketch; what pencils to use and how

to do certain techniques. I learned to be patient, and that it is going to take a lot of time and

practice to become the best artist that I can be. I learned that I easily get frustrated when

something doesn’t look right, but I didn’t give up which is huge progress from being in a

depressed mindset. I also learned that I actually really like sketching and it might have been my

favorite thing to work on. I did feel more relaxed when I was working and I believe that is a big

step to feeling content with my life. I am particularly proud my last two pieces because It shows

the progress I have made in becoming a better artist. The thing I wish I would have done

differently is taking my time to work on five bigger pieces with more intricate details, instead of

rushing to get ten smaller pieces done.

I believe I made a small difference in the way I see the world. I have to cherish my time

here and a way to do that is to capture nature and life in paintings and sketches. Instead of

switching between social media apps for hours on end I began to use my time more wisely even

if I wasn’t using that time for painting. It is easier for me to put my phone aside and not worry

about what is going on in the social media world. If I had more time and resources I would make

bigger pieces and tediously work on them. I would do more research and go to museums and talk

to other artists that I know.


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To incoming seniors; start small with your project. It is not this big stressful thing you

make it out to be. I made my project out of my capabilities, but if I started smaller I could have

made a better product.

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