The Psychology
of Art
Harrison Elias Webb
Project
Goal- analyze how mental illness affects an artist and their work through symptoms and thought processes.
Project- Find 3 different dead artists and 3 different current artists that have different mental illnesses, research their art, history, and mental illness. As I gather research about the artists and mental illnesses, I will make my own art that presents how I feel about my mental illnesses
Procedure-
Warning
This is based on my opinion, and how my brain works. The new art is created based on how I see the art in my mind. Yes, this is based on science and physcology but the artwork I recreate has an inclusion of my opinion and how my brain works. Thank you:)
Vincent Van Gogh
Name- Vincent Willem Van Gogh
DOB-DOD: March 30th 1853- July 29th 1890
Art Style- Impressionism
Art-
*Van Gogh’s style helped to create the modern art foundation because of his usage of vibrant colors and his expression of dramatic feelings
Vincent Van Gogh (Continued)
Well Known Pieces-
Vincent Van Gogh (Continued)
Death- Due to poverty and suffrage of mental illness, Van Gogh killed himself at the age of 37
Mental Illness- Schizophrenia
Then Vs. Now
Schizophrenia
Definition-A long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.
Brain Chemistry- poor connection of left and right brain, lack of emotional response
Biological Defect- Up to 25% less gray matter in their brain, especially in the temporal and frontal lobes
Schizophrenia (Continued)
Symptoms-
Schizophrenia (Continued)
The Starry Night- Vincent Van Gogh
Painted in June 1889, it describes the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an ideal village. Regarded as among Van Gogh's finest works, The Starry Night is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture.
Louis Wain
Name- Louis Wain
DOB-DOD: August 5th 1860- July 4th 1939
Art Style- Impressionism
Art-
Mental Illness- Depression and Schizophrenia
Louis Wain (continued)
Then Vs. Now
Depression
Definition- Feelings of severe despondency and dejection
Depression (Continued)
Brain Chemistry-
Kaleidoscope Cats- Louis Wain
This painting was painted late in Wain’s career and it shows the abstract nature of his paintings that arose with the schizophrenia he got from Toxoplasma Gondii. Wain began to only draw cats because his depression only allowed him to have a connection to Peter, his deceased wife’s cat.
Francisco De Goya
Name- Francisco De Goya
DOB - DOD-: 1746- 1828
Artistic Style- Impressionism
Art-
Background- At 46, Francisco became very ill, confined to bed and had lost his hearing. It wasn’t diagnosed then but after he died he was diagnosed by professionals after they careful looked at his artwork. He would experience hallucinations and times of delirium. In his art, he showed the gravity of human melancholy, his paintings often depicted human suffering.
Francisco De Goya (Continued)
Then Vs. Now
Mental Illness- Susac Syndrome
Susac Syndrome
Definition- A very rare form of microangiopathy characterized by encephalopathy, branch retinal artery occlusions and hearing loss
Symptoms-
Witches Sabbath- Francisco De Goya
This is a very dark and twisted painting that was painted to show the worship of human suffering that plagued that time.
New Artwork
Kim Noble-
Having spent many years in and out of hospital, Kim Noble was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder in 1995, Kim Noble has 20 different personalities, 14 of whom are artists. These 14 artists each have their own distinctive artistic styles ranging from abstracts to collages, making Kim one of the most prolific creative around today.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
A disorder characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states. Dissociative identity disorder, previously called multiple personality disorder, is usually a reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories. Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality identities. Each may have a unique name, personal history, and characteristics.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (Continued)
Behavioral: impulsivity, self-destructive behavior, or self-harm
Mood: anxiety, feeling detached from self, or mood swings
Psychological: altered consciousness, depression, or flashback
Also common: amnesia or blackout
Charlie and Eddie Proudfoot
Elusive and secretive, little is known about the Proudfoot Brothers except that they reside in NYC’s Lower East Side, and spent time in foster care, prison and psychiatric care throughout their lives. Creating mixed media works using old magazines and newspapers – the Proudfoot’s art centres on portraiture that obscures the face, making their subjects as elusive as themselves.
Darren MacPherson
Figurative painter Darren MacPherson draws inspiration from his previous life as a social worker in his art. His colourful pieces explore the human condition through a complex process of layering using acrylics, spray paint, pastel and crayon.in acrylics, spray paint, oil pastel and crayon.
Darren MacPherson (Continued)
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events that compose the essentials of human existence, including birth, growth, emotion, aspiration, conflict, and mortality.
Harrison Elias Webb (Me)
This mixed media Non-Objective piece is an expression of how Bipolar Disorder affects my life. It shows the constant chaos of opposing emotions with the use of warm and cool colors of opposite sides, and the chaos that comes with mix media and non objective art represents the random bursts of certain emotions and how confusing it can be.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior. People who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and sluggish. Manic episodes may include symptoms such as high energy, reduced need for sleep, and loss of touch with reality. Depressive episodes may include symptoms such as low energy, low motivation, and loss of interest in daily activities. Mood episodes last days to months at a time and may also be associated with suicidal thoughts.
Treatment is usually lifelong and often involves a combination of medications and psychotherapy.
Causes-
Bipolar disorder is widely believed to be the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. The chemicals responsible for controlling the brain's functions are called neurotransmitters, and include noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine.
Bipolar Disorder (Continued)
Bipolar Disorder (Continued)
Harrison Elias Webb (Me)
This piece was painted with watercolors and is called “Drowning” which represents my struggle to not drown in my own depression. Trying to reach the surface is so close but I can never seem to catch a breath. Depression is a constant battle, however, I know I will prevail and someday beat depression. There is in fact, light at the end of the tunnel, and everyone will reach that light someday. I used a strong watercolor paper and taped a border around it using masking tape. Using a ruler, I Drew a line where the water would end and used a hand reference to sketch out a hand. I then used a kneadable eraser to lightly erase my lines . Using watercolors I outlined the darkest parts of the hand with a small round brush and used much less water to activate the water color dry tabs all in gray watercolor. I then diluted the watercolor little by little with water and filled in the rest of the hand with shading along the way. I then used the same method as before to do the background of the hand in blue and purple at the bottom and the rest with just blue with a fan brush. I filled in the sky with light periwinkle and lavender watercolor. I then signed it and YAY! All done!
Harrison Elias Webb (Me)
PTSD is a serious disorder that has affected my life for and long time. I created this art piece to show how my heart has been disoriented and broken by traumatic in my past. Sadly, my PTSD has really scarred me, however, through my art I find a peace of mind that nothing else can bring. That’s why the heart was left whole and untouched because art has saved me. The process of this piece was long, but I prevailed. I first used Watercolor paper and used masking tape to make triangular shape which I then painted the un-taped parts with red and crimson shades, with a touch of purple as well. I then let that dry and a good trick for artists is to use a hair dryer to dry things quicker if you’re impatient like me! I then use purple, blue, white, black, and red ink to drip on and then spread around in interesting patterns with a hairdryer. I then sketched out the heart on a piece of strong paper using a reference with my lucky mechanical pencil and forming the simple shapes and contour lines. I slowly began to add more detail as I went and began to shade using all different shades of pencils from 4H-6B. I also used methods like cross hatching to add texture. I blended it all throughout with a blending stump to even out the shading. I then used an exacto knife to very careful cut the heart out and glue it on! TA-DA! This may be favorite piece I have done so far!
Harrison Elias Webb (Me)
“Jaws Of The Wilds” is a very important piece to me. As an assignment in my art portfolio class, we had to modify a skull to make it abstract. I wanted to create something that was pleasing to the eye and would absorb you in the art for a little bit, to help escape from the crappiness of the world. This piece was created using a strong piece of sketch paper and an animal skull reference to sketch out simple shapes and contour lines and then drew drips coming off the skull. I continued to sketch it out but instead of shading with graphite pencils, I used PrismaColor colored pencils to create the highlights and lighter colors using the lighter colors on the cool color spectrum. I did the same with the shadows and dark shades with darker cool color spectrum colors. I then colored in the drips with gold and silver. I used a ruler and my lucky mechanical pencil to create some triangular shapes and colored those all in with random warm colors. This is definitely my favorite piece by far and even was nominated into a congressional art contest!
Summary
The point of this project was to find the connection between mental illnesses/psychology and art. I believe I did that, but the thing is I definitely found more than that, I found peace and happiness through art that has helped me cope with my mental illnesses. I have a much deeper appreciation for art now and how it can express the change and devastation mental illness causes.