Diary Comic #1
Yosemite
I am headed to Yosemite, yay!
Which has got me thinking about why spending time in nature is so vital for our mental health.
I have always been very sensitive to my environments; which I had chalked up to being sensitive as fuck; or as professionals call it, “neurodivergent”.
I’m sensitive to the bone, baby. I’m a fragile lil’ porcelain doll with a bleeding heart that gushes out onto unsuspecting victims. Just kidding, I save most of it for my husband: a fully suspecting victim.
But I’ve come to learn that visual environments affect everyone. It’s just human to be responsive to what we see.
Part of what led me to this realization was studying comic art, strangely enough.
Comic art is sequential art, which makes the visual pacing incredibly important. In movies, you increase the number of cuts to indicate an increased speed of pacing.
In comics, you depict pacing by the size of your panels. Scrunched panels indicate that a scenario is playing out quickly.
If you want your reader to sit with a moment, you need to increase the size of your paneling.
The Yosemite Valley does the same exact thing. It slows you down by consuming your entire visual field; it begs to be taken in. You are compelled to be present with the stillness all around you.
It’s one of the healthiest feelings I’ve had in my adult life.
Perceiving the enormity of nature (or a giant ass) forces you to experience the world in a different way. It gives you the chance to pause, which leads to reflection. It gives context to the lives we are otherwise living.
Next week I will be writing my first Artist Inspo / Fresh Finds article! Which artist or art shall I feature? No one knows! Not even me!
Listening to: