Crayons are an underrated art implement, and everyone should know it! In my free time, I enjoy making art that expresses the indescribable scrunched up explosions of emotion that I sometimes experience. 

I love love! Not the dramatic sort you see in romance movies and fantastical novels—though those are nice too—no, I love the everyday kind that shows up in people’s faces and postures: laughter shared amongst friends, the glint of someone’s eyes when they’re happy, sitting next to a loved one with shoulders touching and knees angled together. 

In my drawing “The Simple Affections of Love,” I wanted to convey the joy that comes just from spending time with someone you care about, and the wonders for your mental health that comes just from doing small activities together and expressing simple affections. Sometimes, all I need to uplift my mood is to laugh with a friend or eat oranges (they’re my favorite fruit) with my brother. 

The two frogs in my drawing are sitting under the gentle rays of the sun, amidst the greenery of an open field, holding hands and sharing an orange that one frog peeled for the other. I purposefully left the nature of their relationship vague, because I wanted to leave it up to interpretation. They may be two family members having a snack, best friends basking under the sunlight, lovers appreciating a moment to themselves…it’s up to you!

At the end of the day, it’s love and connection that ameliorates your mental health.