Draw the Feeling (DF) allows participants to improve their ability to observe and recognize basic emotions. DF can also assist in the development of interpersonal awareness. This is accomplished through drawing, drama, and embodying emotions as observed on their own and other's faces. Students observe, imitate, and react to the facial expressions, gestures, and musculature of specially trained actors and then draw the emotions conveyed. We use software that emulates the visual system to create "generic" heads of the participants to help guide their drawing. Photos, film, digital characters, and anatomical materials are also used to ease the drawing of facial expressions. Facial feature shape aggregates that characterize emotion states are also used in DF. Learning to recognize, draw, and model emotions can result in a richer, clearer, and more individuated perception of emotion. DF is a technique to become more empathic and to learn to use creative reasoning in the face of anxiety producing and ambiguous daily events.
DF will teach participants to recognize subtle clues concerning feelings that may be hard to notice, with the aim of developing the ability to visualize emotional conditions and sharpen their cognitive perception in relation to nonverbal situations. Interpreting affect quickly can help lower anxiety and alleviate miscommunication. By drawing one another, participants learn about expression, which leads to understanding of emotions in others. Empathy and focused observation while drawing help capture the interactions between people.
Drawing records and rehearses the facial features in an emotion state. DF can contribute insight into non-verbal communication. Drawing portraits helps develop perceptual skills to translate observations/feelings into more accurate representations. Gesture drawing explores expression through movement. Drawing helps develop freedom of expression and enhances visual thinking. Draw the Feeling practices can be cathartic and liberating.
