Tinctured – Mental Health In Pictures – Colouring Book by Dorota Chioma

The idea behind Tinctured Colouring Book formed
spontaneously.
In late 2021 I was dealing with an extremely hyped state of mind; practically not sleeping, certainly no more than 3-4 hrs a day and not always in one go. Anxious pacing; racing thoughts; pressured speech… etc. These may sound familiar to some of you.
I indeed experienced a long-lasting episode of hypomania, which was my first such extreme episode. The only way to keep still for a moment was when doodling, hence I doodled and doodled, driving my household to run out of drawing paper. I completed dozens of them. Approaching the doodling without much direction, often starting from just an angry scribble, taking a line for a frantic walk, streamlining the intersecting lines, connecting them.
I began to notice that doodling was making me feel a bit of control, at least in the doodling area.

After a while, I looked at these doodles and decided to colour them in. I then thought about how it made me feel and then, a thought about others who could potentially enjoy the idea popped into my mind.
Most of my work relates to mental health, even if I do not plan for it. It was no surprise then, that many completed pieces linked to this subject already. During an episode at 3am an idea popped up in my mind: let’s do more of them, and talk about mental health using these doodles as the focus and colouring-in area.
Not long after my revelation, I selected 31 images which I believe illustrate aspects of my attempts to maintain a balanced mental health, with some degree of success from my efforts. 

Alongside these 31 images (*one image per day for a month if you wish to look at it as such), I provided a bit of narrative to allow some insight.
It is believed that the process of colouring-in provides an opportunity to relax and reduce stress.
Please find an extract from these colouring book. Happy colouring.