A turn on the path...

 

It's been around for decades, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). I hadn't heard of it until recently although I had seen the initials and wondered for about 30 seconds. It was a Reiki video and I thought it must be a new variety. New personalized versions of Reiki pop up everywhere. The woman whose name I don't remember was whispering in what seemed like an imitation of Marilyn Monroe and was jingling her earrings as she chanted on about sending healing. The comments were complimentary. I made none and never watched another video because I found her whispering contrived and irritating. Last week I came upon an ASMR drawing video. Okay. It has nothing to do with Reiki. I looked it up and from my take these are supposed to be relaxing videos. Some may send you off to sleep. Well, I did find the drawing video relaxing and I watched a few more. Some I liked and some I didn't. I watched ASMR videos where people crackled plastic and brushed the microphone. They were okay and I might listen while I was going to sleep. In one article they mentioned Bob Ross and the relaxing effect his voice had on the viewers. I got it!

It was what I wanted to do all along and thought wouldn't work because people would want instruction. But I enjoy listening to the sounds of materials and pencils brushing across paper. So I published two and I have two more upcoming along with my narrated videos. There is no time lapse because time lapse rushes the eye. My thinking anyway. Click on the images above to see the videos. 

At any rate, I prefer to work in silence or giving little commentary while painting. In real time the viewer can see what my hand is doing; what materials I am using. I created these two videos specifically as ASMR projects. The others are videos I was going to narrate so I didn't. I am whispering in a normal manner in some of the videos I am recording now and in others I don't.  I'm trying to find what works best for me; what's most comfortable.

This is a real thing, not just an internet meme. Scientific American even published an article about it. This is the link:   https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-asmr-real-or-just-a-pseudoscience/

Although my videos only date back to February 2021, I have been making and posting videos on other media. When I decided to leave the others behind and concentrate on pastels and graphite, I deleted the old ones. It didn't occur to me to just make them private. I still have them saved and I'm reviewing them to see if anything is worth working on. Some are in pastel so I'm still on track with my favorite medium.

I know when people, most people are making ASMR videos, they are planning around the repetitive sound. What I like is that I can just paint with my pastels and forget the instruction. I am trying to be careful to let my movements be clearly visible but beyond that, I'm just painting. I LOVE IT! or in ASMR  i love it .