The Japanese practice of forest bathing lies in a long line of rituals from many cultures which teach the importance of reconnecting to our ancestral home. This illustration was created for Performance Frontiers's content month about regenerative thinking.
For inspiration, and to be able to truly know the feelings one may experience by forest bathing, I began my process by heading to the Botanic Gardens a few minutes away from my apartment. The plan was to spend some time there, and engage my five senses. To forest bathe. I had never spent time in nature before, with no purpose other than to just be there. Sounds and colours jumped out at me, I heard the hum of the ecosystem, and felt so present and full of belonging.
I took pictures of moments, selected dominating colours, and created various colour palettes of my experience. I chose a warm, serene, and calm scheme of slightly muted greens and dusty pinks to use in the illustration.
I illustrated fauna and flora that impacted me. I tried to capture senses such as the warmth of the sunlight on my skin, the wind in my hair and the sensation of the soil.
