I love to watch people draw and create. People reveal aspects of themselves through the way their bodies move and the facial expressions they make when they draw, paint, and play instruments. Some people move with aggression and furrow their brows, and others move with melancholic lethargy and have a sullen look in their eyes.  Some people make bold, confident gestures while painting, and others make tiny, meticulous brush stokes.  When we are engrossed in the creative process, we are not using our cognitive energy to monitor our facial expressions or body movements; instead, we are using that energy to create.  Our need for control takes a back seat and our sadness, anger, jubilation, and many other aspects of self rise to the surface when we stop using our mental power to stifle these things and instead use it to express ourselves through artistic media.

I have noticed that the most outspoken individuals tend to also move the most while creating; one man in particular at common art moves his whole upper-body while painting his pieces. His brushstrokes come from movement in his shoulder as opposed to only his wrist or finger tips, and he turns his whole torso to move his brush across his paper.  His movements are quick, and the pressure he applies to create his lines is visible.  Through the conversations I have had with him, I can tell that he is a confident and loquacious person, but, without this knowledge, I could guess the same characteristics if I just watched him paint. He uses bright, saturated colors and quickly scratches the surface of his paper with his brush.  Each stroke is so confident; he is so assured that he won’t make a mistake. Likewise, when talking to this man, it becomes apparent that he is equally assured in his logic and knowledge, and he is always assertive in his opinions. He is confidence incarnate, often in a way that is overpowering. The art he makes expresses this aspect of him just as the movements he uses to create that art does. Somehow watching him work helps me grow more compassionate toward someone who is difficult for me.

If we sit back and observe those around us, it is amazing what we can glean.  Sometimes people show things about themselves subconsciously that they would never consciously reveal.  Acute observation of how someone moves and how someone creates has the potential to deepen our understanding of them. When we talk to one another, we reveal one dimension of ourselves, but we are each multidimensional people with a wide array of thoughts and feelings.  By being observant and deepening our understanding of others, we can increase our empathy for them.

–Briana Heller