Neurographic Art: Learning the Basics of This Powerful Healing Art Form

Your Introduction to Neurographic Art

Welcome to the transformative world of Neurographic Art! This revolutionary method blurs the lines between psychology and creativity.

Whether you're a seasoned artist, an absolute beginner, or simply someone intrigued by personal development, this form of art can provide profound insights. Through Neurographic Art, you don't just shape lines and forms on paper, but you also reframe and redesign your thoughts, emotions, and approach to life.

This blog post accompanies the video tutorial I created for you on the fundamental elements of Neurographic art. It provides much more thorough instruction than in video alone.

But before we dive into the tutorial, it’s important to know more about Neurographic art and the “why” behind the steps so you get the most benefit from this healing exercise.

The Origin of Neurographic Art

Neurographic art is a relatively new and innovative form of therapeutic art that was developed by Russian psychologist and artist, Dr. Pavel Piskarev, who introduced the method in 2014.

It combines elements of art therapy, neurobiology, and mindfulness to help unlock suppressed emotions and promote self-healing. By using simple shapes, lines, and colors, Neurographic art allows you to access the inner workings of your subconscious mind and gently release pent-up emotions and traumas.

Its methodology is a highly effective, and scientifically validated, psychological technique that helps you process emotions, reduce stress, and work through various psychological traumas. Its rapid growth in popularity is a testament to its potential as a powerful tool for personal growth and emotional healing.

The Effects of Prolonged Emotional Trauma on the Brain and How Neurographic Art Can Heal These Effects

Emotional trauma can have a major impact on the brain, affecting its structure, function, and overall well-being. The good news is that the brain is also highly adaptable and can change in response to various experiences, including trauma.  

NOTE: Neurographic art is not meant to replace psychotherapy, instead, it is an excellent addition to traditional talk therapy.

Here are some of the ways emotional trauma can affect the brain, and how Neurographic Art can aid in healing:

1. Brain Structural Changes:

·      Think of your brain as a complex machine. Emotional trauma can actually alter the physical structure of your brain, particularly in the hippocampus, a region critical for memory and emotional control. It can shrink or change, affecting your ability to process memories and emotions effectively.

·      While Neurographic may not reverse structural changes, it can stimulate neural connections and promote neuroplasticity. Creating Neurographic Art involves repetitive and deliberate movements, which can help the brain form new pathways and potentially mitigate some of the effects of structural changes.

2. Amplified Emotional Responses:

·      Trauma can turn up the intensity of your emotional reactions. You might find yourself feeling more anxious, fearful, or overwhelmed by emotions than you did before the traumatic experience.

·      Neurographic Art encourages emotional expression in a safe and controlled manner. By channeling intense emotions into the creative process, people can gain insight into their feelings, helping to regulate emotional responses over time.

3. Neurotransmitter Disruption:

·      Your brain uses chemicals called neurotransmitters to regulate your mood. Trauma can disrupt the balance of these chemicals, leading to imbalances associated with conditions like depression and anxiety.

·      Engaging in art can trigger the release of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. This can help balance neurotransmitter activity, potentially alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety.

4. Impaired Cognitive Functions:

·      The prefrontal cortex, responsible for reasoning, decision-making, and emotional regulation, may not function as efficiently. This can make it challenging to make rational choices and manage your emotions effectively.

·      Neurographic Art promotes mindfulness and concentration, which can enhance cognitive functions over time. The meditative aspect of this art form can help improve decision-making and emotional regulation. 

5. Heightened Stress Response:

·      Trauma can put your stress response system into overdrive, resulting in increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. This constant state of alertness and stress isn't healthy for your body or mind.

·      Creating Neurographic art induces a state of mindfulness and relaxation, which can counteract chronic stress. This relaxation response can help regulate the overactive stress system that often accompanies trauma.

6. Intrusive Memories:

·      Traumatic memories can become deeply ingrained in your brain's memory systems. These memories might keep coming back, even when you don't want them to. It's a big part of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

·      Neurographic Art can provide an outlet for processing traumatic memories. By visually representing their experiences, individuals can gain a sense of control over intrusive memories and potentially reduce their frequency.

7. Dissociation:

·      Sometimes, when the trauma is too overwhelming, your brain may try to protect you by making you feel detached from reality. It's like a defense mechanism to cope with the extreme stress.

·      Engaging in the creative process of Neurographic Art can ground individuals in the present moment. It can serve as a form of mindfulness, helping to reduce dissociative experiences and fostering a sense of connection to reality.

The good news is that your brain is remarkably pliable, like a muscle that can recover from injury. Neurographic

Art can serve as a healing bridge between the brain's response to trauma and the healing process. With the right therapeutic support, time, and self-care, your brain can heal and rewire itself.

Therapists, coaches, even little ol’ me, can teach you techniques to help you manage and heal from the trauma. It may take some time and effort, but your brain has the capacity to heal and regain its balance.

The Video Tutorial

In this video tutorial, you'll learn the basics of Neurographic Art, from choosing your materials to creating your first Neurographic Artwork. I'll guide you through a step-by-step process that empowers you to harness the transformative power of Neurographic Art for yourself. Whether you're a seasoned artist or an absolute beginner, you'll find that Neurographic Art offers a safe and welcoming space for creative exploration and emotional healing.

Art Supplies Needed

For this project you’ll need paper, pen or pencil, ruler or object to trace the outline (preferably square or rectangular), something to color with such as crayons, colored markers, paint, or whatever you have available.

What I used in the video are a super cheap watercolor paper that I got at the dollar store, a Micron 05 black ink pen, a square cork coaster to trace the outline, and Crayola colored pencils.

The Steps

Step 1: Select Your Topic

Selecting a topic is the first crucial step in the practice of Neurographic Art. It sets the foundation for your creative process and therapeutic journey.

1. Choose Your Topic: Begin by deciding what you want to explore or express through your Neurographic artwork. Your topic can be a specific emotion, a personal experience, a challenge you're facing, or even an abstract concept you want to delve into. It should be something that holds meaning for you and connects with your emotional or psychological state at the moment.

   - For example, you might choose "happiness," "fear," "freedom," "a recent breakup," "a childhood memory," or "anxiety" as your topic.

2. Consider Your Intentions: Reflect on what you hope to achieve or explore by working with this topic. Are you looking to better understand your emotions, release pent-up feelings, or simply engage in a creative process for relaxation? Clarifying your intentions will guide your approach and help you connect more deeply with your chosen topic 

3. Visual Representation: Think about how you might visually represent your chosen topic. It could be through abstract shapes, symbols, or even a concrete scene or image that comes to mind when you think about your topic. This initial visualization doesn't need to be detailed; it's more about getting a sense of what your artwork might look like.

   - For example, if your topic is "happiness," you might visualize bright colors, flowing lines, and a sense of lightness.

4. Trust Your Instincts: In Neurographic Art, there are no "right" or "wrong" topics. Trust your instincts and choose what resonates with you in the moment. Your choice may evolve as you begin the creative process, and that's perfectly fine.

Remember that Neurographic Art is a highly personal and intuitive process. Your chosen topic will serve as a focal point for your creative exploration and emotional expression. Embrace the freedom to select topics that speak to your inner world, and allow the art to guide you on your journey of self-discovery and healing.

Step 2: Drawing the Initial Lines

This second step is where you begin to translate your chosen topic into visual form, and it's a pivotal moment in the creative and therapeutic process.

1. Connect with Your Topic: Start by revisiting the topic you selected in the first step. Take a moment to connect with the emotions, memories, or ideas associated with your chosen topic. This emotional connection will infuse your artwork with personal meaning and depth.

2. Create a square or rectangle: You can either use a ruler or trace around an object. My advice is don’t make your shape any larger than 6x6” and don’t create more than 10 different lines for your first artwork, or it could become overwhelming to complete.

2. Choose a Starting Point: On your paper, choose a point on your square or rectangle where you'd like to begin drawing your initial lines. There's no specific rule for where to start; it's entirely up to your intuition and creative impulse.

3. Draw a Line: With your chosen starting point, draw a single line. This line can take any form you like—straight, curved, wavy, or even a combination of these. Make sure to end your line on any one of the other 3 sides, in other words, don’t double back to the same side.

The purpose is to let your hand move freely, without overthinking or worrying about how it looks. This initial line represents the beginning of your creative journey. The key is to create completely random patterns with no repeating elements. In doing so, your brain is forced to think differently, which is what creates the new neural pathways.

4. Flow with the Motion: As you draw the first line, pay attention to the movement and direction of your hand. Let your hand move in response to your emotions and thoughts related to your chosen topic. Don't be concerned about creating a specific image or shape. It's about allowing your SUBCONSCIOUS to guide your hand.

• If you’re finding it difficult to “let go” and draw freely, you can use your non-dominant hand to draw with, or you can use a coin, ring, or any small circular object to push with the pen using your dominant hand to gain the randomness and “outsmart” your brain.

5. Explore and Expand: After drawing the initial line, continue to add more lines as you feel inspired. These lines can intersect, overlap, or diverge in any way that feels right to you. This process is organic and intuitive, so don’t try to plan ahead. Let the lines flow naturally from your initial mark.

6. Embrace Imperfections: Neurographic Art encourages the acceptance of imperfections and unpredictability. Your artwork may take unexpected turns, and that's part of the beauty of the process. Mistakes or "messiness" can lead to creative breakthroughs and critical insights.

7. Stay Present: While drawing your initial lines, try to stay present in the moment. Focus on the act of drawing, your topic, the sensations in your hand, and the emotions that arise. This mindfulness can deepen your connection to your topic and promote self-awareness.

Remember that the second step, "Drawing Initial Lines," is about letting your subconscious mind communicate through art. It's a form of expressive therapy that allows you to tap into your inner world and process emotions and thoughts visually. Don't worry about creating a finished artwork in this step; instead, embrace the process and the journey it takes you on. Your initial lines will serve as the foundation for further exploration and transformation in Neurographic Art.

Step 3: Rounding the Intersections of the Initial Lines

The third step in Neurographic Art is rounding the intersections of the lines you created in Step two. This must be done individually, one intersecting line at a time, instead of all four corners at once. By doing this intentionally, it serves a symbolic and practical purpose.

1.  Symbolizes Integration: In a symbolic sense, rounding intersections can help manage perceived conflicts or stress points in your life. As lines can represent aspects of our life experience or thought processes. Rounding also represents the integration of different aspects of your chosen topic or emotions. It suggests that conflicting or intersecting elements can coexist harmoniously, which may have a therapeutic message for your subconscious mind.

2. Promotes Harmony and Flow: Rounding can create a sense of fluidity and harmony in your artwork. In nature, nearly everything has some form of a curved line, so this aesthetic choice can also evoke feelings of balance and interconnectedness, which may have a calming and grounding effect on your mind.

3. Enhances Aesthetics: From a creative standpoint, rounded intersections can enhance the overall visual appeal of your Neurographic artwork. It can make the composition look more cohesive and pleasing to the eye, potentially increasing your satisfaction with the final result.

4. Encourages Mindfulness: The act of rounding requires attention and focus. It encourages you to be present in the moment as you make deliberate decisions about how to connect and shape the lines. This mindfulness can have a soothing and centering effect on your mind.

5. Reduces Perceived Complexity: Rounding intersections can simplify the visual complexity of your artwork. This simplification can make it easier for your brain to process the information presented in the artwork, potentially allowing you to gain insights and clarity about your chosen topic.

This deliberate rounding encourages a therapeutic focus on the interconnectedness of different elements, contributing to a calming and grounding effect on the mind. It’s one of the key principles centered on your neural pathways favoring smooth transitions and connections, with the brain more likely to repeat these smoothed connections, hence possibly establishing a more positive pattern of thought or behavior. In essence, you are effectively influencing your subconscious mind, shifting it towards a more harmonious integration of your life’s complexities.

Step 4: Strengthen the Lines (Overdrawing)

During the Overdrawing Stage, you're adding layers of lines upon the already established structures. This is a method for quite literally 'drawn in' new connections and possibilities. Similar to the complexity of the human brain, the drawing begins to fill up and form a network of interconnected lines that resemble neural networks.

The purpose of overdrawing is to create a conceptual model of the idea that there can be multiple pathways leading to the same outcome. In other words, if one path is blocked due to an issue, there are other roads we can take to achieve our goals. This promotes expansiveness and rerouting.

In physiologically symbolic terms, the "overdrawing" stands for the creation of new synapses or connections in the brain. This stage allows for additional perspectives and possibilities to emerge, allowing you to understand your problem in a new light.

This is how you tap into your subconscious, as the drawing becomes a complex integrated system of lines. This also helps bypass conscious criticism, as the complexity of the picture makes it hard for you to maintain control, pushing you further into a meditative or subconscious state of mind.

Step 5: Coloring Your Artwork

The next step is coloring your drawing. This allows you to engage with your chosen topic visually and emotionally, adding meaning and symbolism, as well as personal expression. It provides an opportunity for you to explore and process your emotions while making your artwork more meaningful. As well as creating a calming, meditative state.

1. Color Choices: Choose colors that resonate with you and your topic. It’s more than just the aesthetic appeal, it’s about your individual journey.

• Here are some tips if you’re struggling with your color choices:

o Use highly saturated/bright colors sparingly to avoid overwhelm and/or harshness.

o Using contrasting colors (i.e. purple & yellow, blue & orange, etc.) can make them stand out and look more distinct.

o Look at a color wheel or you can click HERE to go to Canva’s online color wheel and learn more about color theory. Including monochromatic, complimentary, analogous, triatic, and tetratic color combinations.

2. Emotional Expression: Different colors can represent various emotional states or feelings. For instance, red might denote anger or passion, blue might signify tranquility or sadness, green could mean growth or jealousy, etc. As you color, you can reflect on what particular colors mean to you personally, therefore exploring and expressing your own individual emotions.

3. Relaxation and Meditative State: Coloring in Neurographic Art can be very relaxing. It can put you in a meditative state, allowing free thoughts and ideas to flow, and helping you to disconnect from your daily stresses. This could bring to light subconscious thoughts, feelings, and solutions to your problems.

During coloring, some people choose to outline shapes using different colors or fill the gaps between the lines with vibrant hues. It's also a time to further emphasize the drawing, adding more to it as inspired.

The guidelines and rules for coloring are flexible. You can play around with the density of the colors, the variation, or the intensity based on what you intuitively feel is right for you. Remember, the main goal is self-expression and self-discovery, not on how “pretty” it is.

Step 6: Analysis, Interpretation, & Integration

This final step allows you to process, reflect, and understand what your artwork represents, and how you can apply the insights you’ve gained into your life situation.

1. Analysis: This is a self-reflective point where you’ll contemplate the artwork you’ve created. Think about the feelings and emotions that arose during the creation process. It’s also the time to consider the thoughts that went into your design; the fears, aspirations, challenges, or joys that found their expression in your artwork. The colors, shapes, intersections, and circuits all serve as visual metaphors for these deeper emotions and thoughts.

2. Interpretation: Interpretation is about understanding the meaning behind the patterns, colors, and intersections in your art. By engaging in a dialogue (meaning talking out loud) with the drawing, you can begin to understand what your subconscious mind is trying to tell you. This process doesn't need to follow logic or rational thinking; instead, it's more about intuition and personal significance. You’ve assigned meanings to different parts of the drawing based on your feelings, insights, and intuitive ideas.

3. Integration: And finally, set intentions for how you want to integrate the insights and emotions from the session into your daily life. Consider how you can apply the learnings to promote growth and well-being. It could involve taking concrete actions, making decisions, changing behaviors, or just shifting perspectives in response to the insights from your artwork. Specifically, the new positive decisions and affirmations drawn from the exercise are to be implemented to create constructive change.

These final steps involve thoughtful introspection and a sense of closure, providing an opportunity to gain clarity and meaning from your creative journey.

Now You Know the Basics of Neurographic Art

And those, my friend, are the basics of Neurographic Art. I hope you're excited to start exploring your own mental landscapes through the intriguing language of lines, shapes, and colors. Remember, this form of art isn't just about creating something beautiful, but also about exposing your thoughts, seeing them in a new light, and perhaps even guiding them towards more positive, productive paths. With patience, a little introspection, and lots of creativity, every piece you work on can be a tribute to your strength, a window to your deepest self, and a testament to your personal growth. So, grab your art supplies, unleash your imagination, and let the transformation begin!