During the pandemic, making art has been pretty difficult for me and I’m sure many others can relate. This discussion brought up a lot of things that made sense to me that I have been putting off thinking about (distraction is fun), mainly how hard it has been on my mental health to sit in front of a computer for so long without really engaging in what I’m doing. I’ve been trying to keep stimulated but nothing keeps me as engaged as making art, the issue there being the lack of motivation and concentration brought on by the pandemic. I don’t have the urge to sit and paint for hours like I used to, so the idea of visual journaling is appealing to me because it’s much more casual. Through the process of visual journaling, I can refocus on art, my surroundings, and how I’m feeling without the weight of working on art that might take weeks to finish.
It was also refreshing to see the various paintings/drawings of nature, as it’s something I don’t usually make myself. I can see how beneficial it is to sit outside and focus on nothing but the natural beauty surrounding you. I quite often appreciate the beauty of the nature around me and now I’m inspired to take some time to create something with what I see! Having said this, it is frankly too gross outside to sit and draw so I focused on my bedroom.