Comic Affirmations, 1-7
Comic Affirmations, 1-7
An exercise in simplified line and positive thinking, a daily affirmation comic for the 2024 100 Day Project.
I outlined the comic affirmations self-portrait project I am doing for the 2024 100 Day Project in this post.
I think I will put the daily pieces into posts like this one, grouping a week at a time, but adding each day to the file so that I post the new art daily. This sets up an easy overview and accountability page for me.
1/100: I am accepting what is now.
(Thoughts on day 1: To me this statement isn’t necessarily positive, except that “accepting” implies something active in a philosophical sense—and positive. This statement feels a bit weak to me, but there is power (and peace) in being able to look at reality head-on and simply embrace it. Day 1 was also tied to a regular Sunday post.)
2/100: I am weaving the story I need.
(Thoughts on day 2: Choosing and crafting a statement each day is such a “blank slate” moment. The immensity of it surprises me. There are an infinite number of words I could put in the box, in the affirmation, in the simple statement of positive awareness. I am prone to overthinking, and so I am trying to go with what rises.)
3/100: I assume positive intent.
(Thoughts on day 3: she doesn’t look convinced, does she. Say it a thousand times. Maybe it will become second nature. This guiding principle is one I try to keep in mind. I tend to read too much into things. I tend to assume the worst. Assuming positive intent is a way of neutralizing and reframing. It’s a reminder that things are probably well-intended even when they seem otherwise. Maybe it’s simply a wish, a hope that people are generally good. It doesn’t mean I trust you. But I try, at least initially, to interpret things from this vantage. When I first heard this phrase, a number of years ago, I found it really powerful.
About the art: I spent far too long on this, far too long debating, reshaping, and recoloring. I had a funky day, and after work it was easy, so easy, to lose myself in these lines, in trying lines, and in trying to smooth lines. Digital continues to be hard for my perfectionist streak, hard for me to let go and move on. But the thing I stressed over the most, other than the color? The box. And then once I was all done, I looked at the finished piece and got worried that my final addition, the shirt emblem, might be a known insignia. Hopefully not. I tried a few new things here that I feel good about! I’m also obsessed with the halftone dots.)
4/100: I gather the good in each day.
(Thoughts on day 4: I am not quite content with this one, but with 96 to go, I am telling myself to just let it be. I debated on these words, and I am not sure I hit the most powerful form of the sentence. It is simply a reminder. About the art: The time spent is really on the image. I continued some things from day 3, but this one falls flat for me. It’s in the shape of the face, I think. These colors also don’t work (for me). I am really looking to pull a limited palette that I return to — in addition to black and white. These are things I will be playing with. Definitely made some breakthroughs though on the technical side. I have more to say, but I am off to a meeting and will have to update later.)
5/100: I remind myself that not all reactions are about me.
(Thoughts on day 5: Most affirmations are longer than the few words I’m trying to put into a panel. It makes crafting the line a puzzle. This one hits close to the heart right now, and I know the words may not make sense. It’s important to remember that everyone has things going on, and sometimes, words and actions aren’t about you even when they seem to be. That’s still an awkward summary. About the art: Still working on a better flow between my line art layers and color layers. I’ve learned a few new tricks, but this file, like the ones before, is a mess of 50 or more layers. (I’ve used Photoshop for the last 20 years, so I use a lot of layers, but something about Procreate makes me me even more wary of having things combined that I may need to isolate later.) Working on adding a bit of shading. And getting comfortable with turning and angling the head is a big part of this exploration. This is not innate for me. Ultimately, this one looks more sad than intended. I didn’t intend it to be sad. I intended it to be a moment of calm. The tilt is a bit too dramatic, or maybe it’s the slump of the shoulders. But, this one gets some things right.)
6/100: I trust things will look up.
(Thoughts on day 6: Oof. This series is taking a turn. This is a valid statement, but the comic approach is definitely keeping them super short, coffee cup slogans of a sort. (Things are fine. These lines are drawn from life overall.) About the art: Oof. So many things wrong here and things I couldn’t sort out. I looked at online references. I drew and erased over and over. I still didn’t get it. Frustrated, and I wish my younger artist-in-residence was here so I could ask. He always gets it. It’s not a “text message” question. Not putting stupid questions out there. This one needed a necklace and a shirt thing, but it will have to be a someday edit if I ever go back and try to resolve the other issues.)
7/100: I make my own magic.
(Thoughts on day 7: The words are such a puzzle. These statements I am using are short. They are positive statements. They don’t have the specificity (or powers of manifestation) that I think about when I privately explore affirmations. That’s the disjunct with a public project, and I expected it. Even so, the words each day are a puzzle. I moved from “I make my own magic” to “I deserve magic” to “I look for magic.” Each is slightly different. Each has a slightly different meaning. All are positive. One is a bit pompous, but affirmations often are self-aggrandizing in a way. The goal is to retrain our thought patterns and to empower our thinking. In the end, I went with the least assertive, but the more I looked at all three of them on the page, the more I felt that the first one was right and was right for this panel.)
Through week 1!
➡️ Days 8-14
➡️ Days 15-21
Feedback?
Feedback and comments make a difference in a project like this. I appreciate your comments.
More Information
I have written about the 100 Day Project, working in series, and affirmations several times recently. These posts contain some background on what I’m doing and how I think about this kind of project:
I love this Amy! What a lovely stack of cards they could make at the end of the project :) Look forward to following along!
I love today’s affirmation!