Why You Should Paint in 2024: The Psychology Of Painting

The mere process of painting actually has far greater positive impacts than you would expect.

When we dig deeper into the psychology of painting itself, the simple practice has been proven time and time again to play an integral role in maintaining your mental health and wellbeing.

From a passionate hobby that can provide immediate gratification to a practical outlet that serves as a cesspit for emotional stresses — you will find that the actual process of creating our paintings actually might be even more valuable than the paintings themselves.

Here are some of the reasons you should begin or continue to stick out with painting this year.

Creative growth

The act of painting has proven to stimulate both left and right hemispheres of the brain simultaneously to improve upon our neurological health.

This has been referred to as “neuroaesthetics”.

Whilst grappling with logical challenges and decision-making opportunties that arise during the painting process, the left side of the brain takes charge.

Alternatively, the right side of the brain is responsible for your visualizations and the imagery you desire to relay onto canvas. This can be especially beneficial for left brain dominant individuals, as painting will foster and nurture greater creative skills — one of the attributes of highly successful people.

I mean, take it from Steve Jobs who places quite a big emphasis on creativity as a common ground for great innovators.

This originality stems from the right hemisphere of the brain which can be exercised! And this is very important as “[c]reative people are better at recognzing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way — seeing things that others cannot see”.

Seeing things that others cannot see.

Now that is a habit of smart, intelligent and successful people; something in which you practice every time you paint.

In the very process of attempting to form lines, play with shape language and stylistic decisions, you are essentially flexing one of the most important parts of your body; your brain.

Mindfulness

So the gift is the present moment right?

Painting is my personal favorite way to let all external stresses and daily worries settle for a while.

But there’s actually something deeper to this…

Much like the magically transformative act of meditation, painting also triggers the same release of endorphins which are the body’s natural painkillers.

Patients suffering from chronic pain conditions often find physical relief through creative expression, typically in the form of painting and other physical endeavors.

Just as painting can heal your physical health, it can also have a profound effect on your mental health as you practice mindfulness in the process.

Just as Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross put in their book, ‘Your Brain on Art‘, “there is a neurochemical exchange that can lead to what Aristotle called catharsis, or a release of emotion that leaves you feeling more connected to yourself and others“.

Supports emotional wellbeing

In a similar way to journaling (I’m sure you know the many benefits of journaling), painting can serve as a physical reflection of your thoughts and emotions.

Such a creative process can help us deal with and reach greater access to feelings that may be buried deep within your subconscious.

It’s not just me saying this…

“In the creation process of oil painting, people express their subconscious and inner repressed feelings and conflicts…which is a nonverbal expression” (The Practical Application of Oil Painting in the Treatment of Mental Illness, Xiaoming Sun)

It is usually these feelings that are the most important to confront, and painting can become one of the ways you give them physical shape and come to terms with.

This is quite evident in the art therapy world as practices such as painting (in addition to other art forms) encourage individuals to rationalise emotions deeply embedded within their subconscious.

It’s like having a deep conversation with yourself, which will not only make you a better and more introspective person, but will give you greater awareness of who you are and the direction you are heading.

Strengthened Memory

In a 2018 study titled ‘The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory’ (Fernandes, M., Wammes, J., Meade, M., et al.), researches found drawing to be “an effective and reliable encoding strategy, far superior to writing.”.

Now this can be translated too painting as it essentially involves the same key feature that makes drawing such a powerful memory tool.

Painting and drawing both require elaboration on the meaning of the term as your own imagination fills in the blanks of what you interpret something to be.

This interpretation and translation into physical form is a highly active process that fires up synaptic connections as our brains are forced to draw from its bank of memories in order to formulate an image for us to relay.

The specific term for this is ‘pictorial processing’ as we build upon the semantic features of what we remember on the page.

In this process…

You are simultaneously strengthening and developing your memory.

Personal growth

In the creative pursuit of painting, you place yourself in the journey toward improvement and gradual development of skills.

This ‘journey’ can be extremely rewarding and create a sense of accomplishment that ultimately catalyses a momentum that can be carried into other aspects of life.

Such momentum builds upon the mentally relieving quality that painting offers, evident in a 2020 study titled ‘Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & life satisfaction: fixed-effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study’ (Wang, S., Mak, H. & Fancourt, D., 2020) which saw 23,000 participants who created art at least once a week be happier than those who didn’t.

This specific study was conducted irrespective of age, marital status, income and health behaviors, indicating the potential for painting to improve your personal health regardless of your current situation right now.

The next steps:

Now that you understand the huge benefits of painting, I’d personally recommend that you dive into watercolor painting first.

The paired fluidity and simplicity of the medium acts as a perfect starting point to embrace all these benefits at once.

Trust me:

Laying down watercolor paint whether your simply creating abstract pieces or intricately replicating an image, is freeing in every way.

If you’re wanting to use another medium, do that!

But I’d really suggest giving watercolors a shot too.

How To Start Watercolor Painting for Beginners in 2024