Art is about the expression of a creator’s imagination, conceptual, or technical skills. Quarantine began in late March and changed everyday life as we know it. Isolation became an ordinary habit and practice. As people grew accustomed to the strange and challenging hardships of the pandemic, there was a lot of time for self reflection and recreation. All of this time let artists use their expression more frequently. 

”Quarantine didn’t have much of any influence on my art besides me having more free time and healing mentally to be able to feel motivated again,” said Julia Miller, a sophomore.

A reality that is too common for most artists: being mentally drained and exhausted has been positively influenced by quarantine. 

With the busy active lifestyle that school provides for students, there isn’t much time for recreational art focused solely on expression without limits. Art is healing and progressive for the mind especially with so much going on in the world around us.  

Quarantine provided long periods of freedom to work on technique, style, and to refine skills. 

Miller addressed this by saying, ”Through quarantine my art has changed in the amount of time and effort I have been able to put into it. Generally during quarantine I have been able to focus a lot more on the anatomical correctness of my figures as well as finding better references to use.”

As she stated, there is a lot more focus and attentiveness put into the artwork. Honing in on specific parts of artwork and really diving into specific growth areas. 

Or the opposite approach to art for a senior, Samantha Fuentes who said, ”My art has become more of a leisure activity; I do it for fun now then having to get it done.”

Using art to entertain has become more common and there is no rush to finish a piece, rather to simply find pleasure in the process. 

With this comes growth. Regina Ticoalu, a sophomore said,” I have grown in my art, and I have practiced a bit more than usual, and I think it’s safe to say that I’ve grown a lot.” 

The extra time given to practice during quarantine has changed her art for the better as she stated and that remains true for many artists. 

Ticoalu said, ”Honestly a lot of artists on social media like Instagram and Tik Tok have inspired me because they all have their own style with their art and their art is really personalized.”

There has definitely been more art content on social media due to artists having more time to finalize pieces and share them. New art trends emerged rapidly, and more people are inspired to try out new art styles and art in general.

Quarantine has positively benefited new artists and artists who needed more time to focus on the quality of their art.