Does Painting Help to Relieve Stress?

If you feel like your life is turning into a bundle of stress, there is one thing you can try that works amazingly well as a stress reliever. Try painting! The process of painting can reduce stress and lower down the level of anxiety. Even one of the greatest artists of all times, Pablo Picasso, once admitted: “Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” And art therapy does wonders even in the extreme cases of mental disorders, cures depression, and can eliminate the feeling of loneliness.

Some people compare the process of painting to the joy of taking a nice long swim in cool crystal clear water during a hot summer day. People who like to paint say that it helps them to overcome stressful days, alleviate pressure, and chill out while feeling anxious. Painting can soothe your mind by taking it to a different and more beautiful place. 

Since painting has much to do with observation and focus, putting what you observe on canvas helps you put some of the stress aside and forget about it for a little while. Of course, it depends on how deeply you are concentrating and how much the process of painting can engage your mind. Some artists can even lose track of time and enter into a semi trance-like state. So, why is painting so relaxing? A definite answer to this question is going to be very unique to different people. 

Read this blog post, if you want to know more about the benefits of relaxation and mind soothing that painting delivers.

Is Painting a De-Stressing Mechanism?

Okay, let’s talk some science now and how it explains the effect that painting has on our brain. When it comes down to painting, science acknowledges that this process can help to reduce stress and develop happy hormones in the body. When you paint, your mind shifts from survival mode which is high beta into the creative mode which is alpha. The high beta mode is especially related to high anxiety and stress and alpha is the semi-trans mode. 

The other fact that science talks about is that the right side of the brain is the one that processes visual perception and spatial arrangement. While the left side of the brain is in charge of our speech abilities and analytical matters. Since the two halves of the brain are connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called the “corpus callosum”, the right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body too. Therefore, the right-brained activity is more creative and visual.

Some of you might ask: “But isn’t painting very similar to problem-solving?” Yes, but at the same time, it’s not a logical or analytical activity. When you work on the paintings, eventually you can get absorbed by the process entirely. Some even say that their “inner voice” shuts down. And, somehow, a mind becomes peaceful or at rest. And sometimes hours go by quickly in this meditative state.  

There are people who naturally possess more right-brained creative intelligence than others (based on multi-intelligence theory). We also know some examples of unique individuals who are talented on multiple levels and could equally efficiently use both sides of their brain, like Leonardo da Vinci, for example. So, if you think that you are one of those whose left side of the brain works better than the other, exercise your creative side of the brain by practicing painting! If you do it regularly, there is a good chance that you’ll develop impressive artistic abilities. Go ahead, pick up the brush and start painting to get on a path to becoming a much happier and creative person in life!

Are There Any Other Benefits to Painting Besides Creating Artworks? 

There is a common belief that being an artist is rewarding and alluring emotionally (as well as spiritually). Yes, art allows us to enter a world of ever-expanding awareness and enhance the already existing beauty of creation. The freedom to express and create what you see through your own eyes is, indeed, a very personal and rewarding endeavor.

More benefits of painting:

• Good training tool for your memory. Painting improves memory and sharpens the mind through conceptual visualization.
• Develops emotional intelligence. Yes, emotions play a huge and important part in the creative world. So, painting helps to make these emotions flow through your soul and create a perfect harmony between the heart and mind. And, if you keep that balance, you’ll have a life of happiness, empathy, and peace.
• Promotes an optimistic attitude. The more you create beautiful artworks, the more painting encourages you to feel more optimistic and have a positive approach to life.  
• Improves focus and concentration. People who immerse themselves in painting and paint for several hours, eventually achieve a strong focus of mind. 
• Boosts self-esteem. Working in a non-competitive and easy-going environment (most of it depends on your art teacher) makes you more relaxed. And this is something that can boost your self-esteem and make you feel happy.

Finally, let’s say a couple of words about an obvious benefit that painting provides – spirituality. Of course, the topic of spirituality vs. painting is so incredibly vast that it can’t be explained in just one article. But what we’re trying to say in this particular case is connected to most people. 

Okay, if you’d look at some people who seem to have it all – high-paying jobs, lots of money, prestige, etc. In actuality, many of them confess that they feel miserable despite all these good things in life. One of the reasons why they’re not happy is because they just don’t have any other interests but either their jobs or routine. But if you have a passion for painting, you are incredibly lucky! The process of painting can be so enthralling that other material things and issues, which seemed to have bothered you before, won’t even matter anymore. And that’s how you get on this path of becoming a spiritual person.

Does Painting Really Help to Improve Our Positive Emotional Side?

Since painting is all about expression (and it is a form of expression), if done right, it can express a plethora of different emotions. Each color that has been used in a painting often has a remarkable significance. Sometimes, people manifest their true emotions and feelings through paintings, which can say much more than words. There are things you cannot even convey in the form of words. Sometimes it’s even hard to knit sentences with your emotions to express what you truly feel. But when you paint, all of it comes out.

Oftentimes emotions shine through little things that the artist brings to the attention of an otherwise unseeing world. The artist is offering the opportunity to hear and appreciate the unheard whispers that flow from the weathered tenure of an old barn. The titillating dance of poppies swaying in a gentle breeze. Or the lavender shades that ripple across a wooded path. Or the cool cerulean waters that lap at the shore’s edge. And it is an artist’s sole purpose to aesthetically express these compassionate muses of life and share them with the rest of the world.

When you dive deep into painting, you won’t see your subject just as a collection of dots, shapes, lines. For example, if you are painting a lion, what you see is a beautiful wild animal and not just some circle shape of its head. Yes, your mind is looking for the best ways to draw the shape of the lion’s body and to make those yellow spots on the lion’s body look just right in your painting. At the same time, there is no judgment, nothing stressful or negative – just pure awareness. You emerge yourself into positive emotions and feel some kind of emotional serenity that people usually experience during meditation. 

Learn From Professional Artists How to Use The Process of Painting As Your Stress Buster!

So far we learned that, apart from being a marvelous way of relaxation, painting ameliorates concentration. Also, painting teaches how to appreciate art from all around the world. We hope that by now you have a better understanding of what a painter goes through while creating his magnum opus. 

Every artwork becomes your baby whom you’re deeply in love with. You create it, preserve it, protect it, and present it to the world in your arms. You perceive colors, not just for what they are, but the depth and story behind each color. How beautifully is it related to the human mind! Practically, it also augments your critical thinking, reasoning skills. You become much more positive, nonchalant, and confident than ever before.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a brush, get a canvas, and paint some love! Show the world who you are, what you want to be, and what you couldn’t be. What do you want the world and people around you to be? Break the shackles of your brain and let your art blossom! 

These awesome online courses can get you a really good start on that!

Art Therapy: Release Stress and Play with Watercolors

Learn how watercolor painting helps to deal with stress and anxiety and convert negative emotions into fun experiences! This class will help you to dive into a meditative state taking your mind away from anything that’s been bothering you. Good for any level of skills and you don’t need to be an experienced artist to take this course!

The Art of Painting Beyond Technique

Learn how to make a great painting with a lot more than just paint. This awesome class teaches how to fine-tune each aspect of painting and transform images into their full viewing potential! It includes thirteen great step-by-step educational videos along with a pdf version of the artist’s fully illustrated tutorial called “Create Perfect Paintings”! Follow along at your own pace using the course videos, book, as well as supplemental materials, and craft your mastery!  

Alternative Inking: Go Beyond the Brush and Pen

Learn how to go beyond traditional drawing and painting tools! After taking this class, you’ll be truly surprised by the tons of DIY tools that you’ll find in your home that can create unique and interesting effects in your paintings. Take this class today and learn all about exciting and cool painting techniques that you can do with non-conventional painting tools. Take your creativity to the next level!

New & Easy Color Mixing – for Acrylic & Oil Painters

Learn all about color mixing in a whole new way with this eye-opening color course! A professional painter and best-selling author share her secrets for easy and quick color mixing. Mix color to perfection immediately while painting, without having to stop to check color wheels. Learn the difference between organic (modern colors) and inorganic (mineral colors) and why they matter so much in color mixing. 

This course is incredibly useful for any painting style or medium and benefits all artists from painters/photographers/sculptors to digital designers/interior designers, and hobbyists! After taking this course you will mix colors with confidence, know how to set up a palette for a wide range of color accessibility, and gain a full understanding of basic color theory. 

Add WOW to Your Paintings!

Learn how to fix the most common painting issues to make your paintings more attraction-getting. Learn to view your paintings with a keen eye, sharpen how you see images, and know-how to proceed on a painting when you feel stuck. 

By the end of this course, you will achieve exciting images using the artist’s distinctive method of eye choreography and watch your paintings transform from good to great. Oil, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, and photography – all painting mediums and styles will benefit! You can shrink that learning curve with this awesome course and master painting in record time!  

Master your painting skills with even more art courses on Grinfer! You’ll find online courses that were created for anybody who loves art, looking forward to learning painting from ground zero, broadening knowledge in art or mastering skills in painting. All courses were created by professional and highly experienced artists for any level of skills.  

There are no strict prerequisites for enrollment in art courses on Grinfer. But if you’ll be concerned about whether any one particular course or another is for you or not, read through courses’ descriptions and watch “welcome” intros to get more info. 

To make everything even easier, sign up for our 3-day trial and access any course that you like for free! Once your 3-day free trial is over, it will be up to you to decide whether you want to keep on learning more or cancel. But we suggest you subscribe and continue to master your art skills!

Bottom-line

Art (in any form) is beautiful and divine, pure, and eternal. From getting invigorated with positive emotions to depicting reality in its every form. For many people art is more of a stress buster, allaying your fear and giving birth to hope that takes you to a more perfect and beautiful world that belongs to you and only you.  

Yes, one of the best ways to express yourself is painting. There are many knowledgeable people out there who can tell you all about painting and the right way to paint. But essentially, for an amateur, there is no right or wrong. There is expression and joy, a release of emotion. For many people, color translates into emotion. So, next time you paint, release your emotions and let them flow! And this is why art therapy is so effective!