2D Design Project: Illustrate an Emotion (Limerence)

For my first 2d project we had a list of emotions with which we had to pick one from, and then illustrate. Of course there were the basic emotions, like happy, sad, angry, confused...and so on and so forth. I, naturally, chose the more difficult emotions (because I typically like a challenge) and therefore chose Limerence. See below for a definition and explanation of the word.

Limerence

Limerence, as posited by psychologist Dorothy Tennov, is aninvoluntary cognitive and emotional state in which a person feels an intense romantic desire for another person. The concept is an attempt at a scientific study into the nature of romantic love.

Explanation

Limerence can often be what is meant when one expresses having intense feelings of attachment, preoccupations with the love object, and (as new research on brain chemistry shows) a similar mind-state to obsessive compulsive disorder. According to Tennov, there are three types of love: limerence, what she calls "loving attachment" (the long-lasting love people are capable of having), and "loving affection," the bond that exists between an individual and his or her parents and children..

Limerence is characterized by intrusive thinking and pronounced sensitivity to external events that reflect the disposition of the limerent object towards the individual. It can be experienced as intense joy or as extreme despair, depending on whether the feelings are reciprocated. Unlike English, many other languages have traditional terms to denote limerence, like the GermanVerliebtheit, Scandinavian forelskelse or Russian влюблённость (vlyublyonnost); these expressions may roughly be translated to “fallen-in-love-ness”.

(Design on Bristol Board, using only B & W acrylic paint, mixed for shades of gray)

Explanation of my Design: In my research of this word, I found that it obviously means "the idea of being in love".  So, of course, I am going to use a heart. I used the question mark (representing one half of the heart) bc most people during a relationship, at some point, is going to question whether they love someone or not. They get an idea of what love is, and must ask themselves if what they are feeling is love, or something else. The shades of gray (representing the other half of the heart), signify the different levels of love that one can feel. Some, simply like someone a lot and take that as love (light gray), while at the other extreme, some give their whole selves to someone. Literally not being able to live without that person. Which is what I consider to be true love. I also think that everyone has their own version of what love is. The feeling is different in everyone. Which is also what I was trying to display with the shades of gray. 

This design took me a few hours to do, once I got the design figured out. It was pretty difficult to mix the white and black to get just the shades of gray that I wanted. I quickly learned that it is much easier to put a little bit of black in white rather than the other way around.