Art and the Healthy Brain: A Learning Guide to Basic Painting

By Carol J. Heischober

Art and the Healthy Brain is a comprehensive guide for teaching basic acrylic painting that focuses on increasing the longevity of brain health. The guide includes the study of color theory, the principles of design, painting techniques, vocabulary, and art history. Anyone who desires to assist others in their creative endeavor toward a healthy brain can help fill the large gap in the mental health field by providing brain-stimulating, quality-of-life enhancing art activities from this learning guide. This multipurpose instructional handbook can also be adapted as a self-paced tutorial for individuals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781504388047

Carol J. Heischober

Carol J. Heischober is the founder of Art and the Healthy Brain, a program that is implemented in numerous health, educational, and residential facilities in Virginia. Ms. Heischober has a B.A. in Studio Art, B.S. in Education, B.Arch. in Architecture and a M.S. in Education with an emphasis in psychological development. She is an educator, a commissioner with the city of Virginia Beach (VA) Mayor’s Commission on Aging, and an award-winning artist with over 40 years of experience. Ms. Heischober creates art at the Inner Light Art Studio, located in Virginia Beach, VA. Robin J. Baugh (editor) is a lifelong learner, educator, and reading advocate currently residing in Virginia. A graduate of Old Dominion University, where she earned degrees in Education and Library Science, Ms. Baugh recently retired after thirty-four years as a library media specialist and classroom teacher with the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. An avid bibliophile and armchair literary critic, Ms. Baugh is actively exploring the opportunities retirement life offers.

Book preview

LESSON ESSENTIALS

The following learning plan information is included to ensure a successful art program. It is important that the teacher refer to this information when preparing for each lesson. Use this information when noted in lesson as: See Learning Essentials. Additional materials and procedures required for a specific lesson will be included in its learning plan.

Materials needed for class session:

• Paper towels

• Containers filled with water (one per student)

• Acrylic paintbrushes – (specified in each lesson)

• Mixing tray (one per student)

• Watercolor Paper (one sheet per student)

• Acrylic paints (one set for every three students) - consisting of the following colors: (specified in each lesson)

• Handouts, located at the end of this lesson (one copy per student): (specified in each lesson)

• Pencils (one per student)

• Ruler (one per student)

• Painting, located at the end of this lesson (specified in each lesson)

• Notebooks (one per student)

Advanced preparation for class session:

• Review the vocabulary words for this section.

• Review the section on paintbrush care.

• Prepare handouts (run copies and punch holes for 3-ring binders).

• Cover the tables with plastic or newspapers.

• Set up the tables at each students’ seat with paintbrushes, acrylic paints, paintbrush containers, mixing trays, notebooks, handouts, and paper towels.

Clean-up steps for class session:

• The students will put their paintings on the drying table, and insert the handouts in their notebooks. They will then clean their brushes with dishwashing liquid and water following the paintbrush care techniques, and place the brushes in the paintbrush container. Next, they will wipe out the excess acrylic paints from the mixing tray with a paper towel and wash the tray using dishwashing liquid and water. They will then empty and wash out their water container. The students will throw away any trash in their area in the trash can.

• The teacher will remove the table covers and throw them in the trash can. Next, the teacher will place supplies in the art container, and put the container and notebooks in the storage area for art supplies. When the paintings have dried thoroughly, the teacher will place them in the storage area.

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

ART AND THE HEALTHY BRAIN OVERVIEW

Why Make Art?

During the past decade, scientists and medical professionals have been advising us to make numerous healthy lifestyle changes so that we might increase the longevity of our lives. This includes dietary changes, like minimizing the consumption of fast foods and sugar, as well as fitness changes, like participating in exercise groups and programs (Mora, 2013). Now that these dietary and fitness lifestyle principles for improving physical health are the trend; the focus has shifted to exploring ways to improve brain health as we age. Instead of prescribing psychotropic drugs, medical professionals are now advocating more therapeutic methods for treating their patients. This shift has created a resurgence in Academic Arts participation (Hess, 2014).

Researchers have also recently discovered that the frequency of dementia has fallen sharply. This is attributed to a better education, more intellectually stimulating jobs, and participation in hobbies that encourage rigorous brain activity (Szabo, 2016). It was previously believed that you must have innate artistic talent to engage in hobbies such as painting, but researchers have found that training and upbringing may also play a large role in artistic ability (Vincent, 2014). Encouraged by these new findings, many people are choosing to experience painting pictures for the first time, often as participants in socially popular paint nights that are sponsored by various local restaurants and bars. These introductory painting events often inspire individuals to pursue their newly found interest in more serious and long-term ways. Experts in brain health are saying that there is no time like the present, for people of any age, to try new activities, and receive significant health benefits from their endeavors over time.

Many recent studies show a correlation between painting and keeping our brains healthy as we age. These studies have found that artists may have increased neural matter in the parts of their brains that deal with visual perception, spatial navigation and fine motor skills (Brooks, 2014, April 22). One such study, How Art Changes Your Brain: Differential Effects of Visual Art Production and Cognitive Art Evaluation on Functional Brain Connectivity, focused on how making art physiologically stimulates our brains. A team led by neurologists at the University Hospital Erlangen conducted their research over a period of ten weeks. At the start of the study, twenty-eight men and women were tested for emotional resistance by using a scale and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology. The men and women were divided into two groups of fourteen. One of the groups engaged in a hands-on art workshop, while the other group participated in an art appreciation course. The group in the hands-on art workshop attended a two-hour class once a week. In the workshop, they learned the techniques of painting and drawing, while producing their own original art. In the art appreciation course, an art historian taught the other group how to analyze paintings. At the end of the ten-week period, the two groups were retested for emotional resistance using a scale and fMRI technology. In comparing the before and after tests, the team observed a significant improvement in psychological resilience and increased levels of functional connectivity in the brain amongst participants of the visual art production group. The art-appreciation group did not do as well in both areas. The neurologists offer the following possible explanations for the study results, The improvements in the visual art production group may be partially attributable to a combination of motor and cognitive processing. Other recent fMRI studies have demonstrated enhancements in the functional connectivity between the frontal, posterior, and temporal cortices after the combination of physical exercises and cognitive training. The participants in our study were required to perform the cognitive tasks of following, understanding, and imitating the visual artist’s introduction. Simultaneously, the participants had to find an individual mode of artistic expression and maintain attention while performing their activity. Although we cannot provide mechanistic explanations, the production of visual art involves more than the mere cognitive and motor processing described. The creation of visual art is a personal integrative experience - an experience of ‘flow’ – in which the participant is fully emerged in the creative activity (Brooks, 2014, July 08).

Making art for brain health is also advocated by professional groups and support organizations. On their website, the Alzheimer’s Association states that the additional benefits of making art can include improving self-esteem, serving as an outlet for emotions, increasing attention span and focus, activating neurons, reducing isolation, and providing an opportunity to socialize, using memory that still exist, and reconnecting families (Memories in the Making Art Program, n.d.). In addition, the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) defines art therapy as a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use the creative process to explore their feelings, increase self-awareness and self-esteem, manage behavior, develop social skills, and reduce anxiety (American Art Therapy Association, 2013). A recent article in USA Today also describes how using paint and a brush to communicate can help dementia patients with a limited ability to speak. This form of art therapy gives them a way to express their feelings, and often lessens aggressive behavior (Rudavsky, 2013). These are all good reasons why people should make art at any age.

Although not a therapist, an art teacher can help fill the large gap in the mental health field, by providing brain-stimulating, quality of life enhancing art activities. Art and the Healthy Brain is a comprehensive guide for teaching a basic acrylic painting program. The guide includes the study of color theory, the principles of design, painting techniques, and art history. This basic painting program as presented in Art and the Healthy Brain, combines and balances structural and non-structural models, two forms of art therapy. The early learning plans follow the structural art form model, in which the teacher determines the theme, process, and tools that the students will use to create their paintings. Beginning students, students with dementia, or students with other disabilities, find this to be the easiest method to follow. As the students’ ability progresses, the learning plans follow a more non-structural art form model. This model provides them more innovative options, because they choose the theme, process, and artistic tools. The non-structural art form model allows the students to be spontaneous and have more control over their creative decisions (Rubin, 1999). The Art and the Healthy Brain guide is specifically developed for non-artists, volunteers, health professionals, and anybody else in assisting others foster healthy brains by means of making art. The guide’s acrylic painting activities can accommodate interested students of all ages, including those facing mental and physical health issues, such as, the early signs of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The Art and the Healthy Brain program can be implemented in any type of facility. It is currently being used with great success in assisted living facilities, senior housing communities, adult daycare centers, and recreational facilities. After a year of study, Art and the Healthy Brain program participants have shown improvement in eye-hand coordination, focus, memory skills and most of all, an increase in self-esteem. Those who have graduated from the basic painting class to the intermediate level of the program are now successfully showing their artwork in exhibitions and juried shows.

References

American Art Therapy Association. (2013). Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.arttherapy.org/upload/whatisarttherapy.pdf

Brooks, K. (2014, April 22). Artists’ brains have more ‘grey matter’ than the rest of ours, study finds. Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/artist-brains_n_5187216.html?utm_hp_ref=arts

Brooks, K. (2014, July 08). Study says making art is good for your brain, and we say you should listen. Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/how-art-changes-your-brain_n_5567050.html

Hess, F. S. (2014, August 29). The great resurgence of Academic Art. Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-scott-hess/the-great-resurgence-of-a_b_5734384.html

Memories in the making art program. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://www.alz.org/co/in_my_community_art_program.asp

Mora, F. (2013). Successful brain aging: plasticity, environmental enrichment, and lifestyle. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 15(1), 45–52. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC362246

Rubin, J. A. (1999). Art therapy: an introduction. Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel.

Rudavsky, S. (2013, August 19).