I think there is definitely a correlation between drawing (visual journaling) and psychology as drawing can act as a form of therapy especially for many who are currently struggling during these tough times dealing with COVID 19. Transitioning to remote has been tough for us all especially students who crave the one on one attention in class. Visual drawing is special and gives students time to work undistracted. Visual drawing focuses more on the experience and not the end product of the paintings. I think the idea of visual journaling is extremely interesting as it includes not only text but also paintings, drawings, and even real life objects which shows the true experience students have. I think not being afraid to fail and not drawing something that is “accurate” is extremely important to learn and grow to be better, in fact It’s liberating. Blind contour is quite interesting and a unique way to learn. Visual journaling is personal and special to the creator and its also important to put yourself in a child’s viewpoint, just have fun with it.
Like Ian said, We’re being so much less stimulated by sitting in isolation in our homes. When stimulation decreases, our brains slow down so anything we can do to stimulus ourselves is a good thing. And this is what is great about visual journaling. It is difficult to create the same experience at home than in the studio surrounded by an environment of peers doing the same thing. Visual journaling can be used as a therapeutic technique during these difficult times as it forces the viewer to really feel what it is like to be in that particular spot in a physical and cognitive way. It makes the viewer wonder how the artist made the piece and what they were experiencing producing the piece emotionally. It’s more about the gesture and less about the accuracy of a painting. Everyone tends to have different feelings and emotions towards specific paintings which is really unique.
The more you look at a visual journaling picture the more you learn about the piece or landscape which becomes a personal story for each specific viewer. I agree with Jaosn when he says that actually being put in this situation with COVID forces us to realize how lucky we are to be able to enjoy art and music and that it is important for us to not take that for granted when life goes back to normal again. There is something about physically drawing something you feel that simply can’t beat writing, it’s its own language.