Color You Happy
If at some point, you find yourself lonely, it will not hurt to be reminded that some things exist to represent loneliness. And you would perhaps feel a little better because the Earth is fair and naturally gives happy, and you will find them.
In a color.
In a bird.
In a flower.
In a word.
The Drawing
Color You Happy is the product of another want to express. This time, the concept of happiness. In a 2010 scientific research, it was found that happy people become selfish, while sad ones are the most fair. I wanted a play on this context and visualize it in my drawing.
The artwork took me more than 12 hours to complete in total. Certainly a couple more hours than I am used to, but this was definitely something I wasn't sure how to proceed with.
The Symbolisms
As usual, this piece is peppered with symbolisms. I loved including flowers and birds into my works because the generally mean something. They will always represent something, and sometimes even the bad ones. Often, they would be of different meanings based on one's culture, but they always have value, and that's what I love about symbolisms.
While yellow is usually the color associated with happiness, I decided to pursue indigo. The color expresses fairness and impartiality, something that apparently naturally comes to us when we are in a bind and, according to research, when we are sad. I guess being fair is our response to tip the balance in our favor.
Happiness, in this work, comes in the form of a lily of the valley. Also called May lily, it is a flower that means "return to happiness." And we find happy most in our peace, in prosperity, and in the love of people we hold dear. All these are represented by a kingfisher.
Finally, the water lily. One of the significant meanings to a water lily is rebirth. Sometimes, I think about reincarnation. I don't believe in it, but it's a nice concept: if you aren't living your best life at the moment, then maybe you'd find comfort thinking about past lives and future generations, even when they might not exist at all. That you could have lived the best life in your previous one, and it transcends to the present. That maybe your future self will do better than you did.
Notes
As usual, I had so much fun conceptualizing and working on this one. It's minted over at Ghostmarket.io in 2 editions!
