The Wonders and Healing Powers of Watercolor Painting in Children and Adults
Genoveva Uzunova, M.D., Ph.D.
Physician -Scientist Studying and Developing Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Treatments for Psychiatric, Neurologic, Immunologic, Rare Disorders, Artist, Ballerina, Art Therapist, Positive Psychiatry Enthusiast
July 2024 Edition of the LinkedIn newsletter "The Biomedical Artist"
Usually, I focus my “Biomedical Artist” newsletter on ballet. Since July is World Watercolor Month, this month’s newsletter will focus mainly on watercolor painting and its numerous benefits for mental and physical health. July is a great opportunity to discover the wonders of painting with watercolors. Watercolors are very ancient paints that are non-toxic and are great for children and adults alike.
“Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art.” Nita Engle
Summer is a season with ample opportunities to increase one’s creativity. It is usually a time for vacations and lower stress, which stimulates creativity. Conversely, acute stress inhibits creativity and divergent thinking, as science studies show:
How does stress shape creativity? The mediating effect of stress hormones and cognitive flexibility
In summer, there are more opportunities to take a break from work or school routines, read inspiring literature, visit unfamiliar places, meet new people, and step away, even if temporarily from the demands and schedules of everyday life. All of these activities may have a beneficial effect on creativity. Therefore, people may be more inspired to create art and to paint with watercolors. In turn, painting may reduce the stress levels of the individual, a form of positive feedback!
Watercolors are a very ancient form of art and painting likely dating thousands of years back to the Egyptians, Chinese, and Japanese. The name of the paints originates from the Latin word “aqua” (French and Bulgarian “aquarelle” and the paints consist of vegetable glue and water.
This is a wonderful primer on watercolor paints and painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
For those of you who wish to paint with watercolors and are wondering where to start and what paints to choose, there are many different options. In April 2023, I discovered an excellent brand of watercolors, Chromatek, on Amazon, which may be bought with brushes, watercolor paper, pen, and online instructions for beginners. The colors of these paints are especially vivid, in my view, and they have a very light pink flesh color for painting human skin and face. They offer many nuances of green and blue for painting nature scenes.
This is the Chromatek ordering information:
I have my own larger palettes for paints from other watercolor sets, but as a beginning, one can use the palette provided with the Chromatek paints. If one wishes, they may purchase a larger watercolor palette with more wells to dilute more paints simultaneously.
Here are the online Chromatek instructions/ tutorials for beginners:
I love to use a larger size 15 inches X 11 inches watercolor paper from Strathmore, which has a grainier side than the paper provided by Chromatek. But every artist has to try for themselves and decide what works best.
Here are photos of my Chromatek set with the accessories and my Strathmore paper:
Now, to say a few words about the biomedical aspects of watercolor painting and painting in general with emphasis on the health conditions, in which it has been found in clinical studies to be beneficial.
Watercolor painting is a fun activity for children and adults. Painting is a perfect way to express emotions, and dreams, develop one’s imagination, alleviate stress, fear, chronic pain, and fight loneliness. It is helpful in stimulating observational skills and may be used as an aid to goal setting and visualizing, in addition to being a fun activity. Both, painting watercolors and appreciating the paintings of others are beneficial for health. Clinical study shows that murals with nature paintings (green spaces and aquatic environments) in children’s hospital rooms alleviate the fear, stress, and powerlessness that children experience during hospitalization. They slow the heart rate and lower the blood pressure, which is an indicator of lower stress levels.
The Physiological Impact of Window Murals on Pediatric Patients:
Therefore, it is not surprising that hospitals have many paintings. Painting in the hospital is a means for patients to express themselves. For example, as a child, I was often hospitalized or in bed at home with recurring tonsillitis and chronic glomerulonephritis, and loved to paint. Perhaps this is partially responsible for my love of painting.
Clinical studies in various human populations support the healing effects of watercolor painting in a wide range of health disorders that are largely due to stress, including:
- Patients with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, autism, schizophrenia, mild Alzheimer’s disease and dementia;
- Cancer patients with various types of cancers including breast cancer and gynecologic cancers. It has been found that painting reduces the distress in cancer patients receiving chemo- or radiotherapy.
- Children and adults with diabetes:
a) Painting is beneficial in diabetic children:
b) Painting is beneficial I diabetic adults by reducing the depression and levels of blood glucose:
From here, it is evident why painting may be beneficial in mild Alzheimer’s which is alleged to be “Type III diabetes”. For example, my Dad had Type I diabetes and developed Alzheimer’s disease.
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- Painting like other art forms instills hope, and confidence and improves the quality of life:
Although many clinical trials and papers exist in the scientific literature about the beneficial effects of painting on human health and well-being, more clinical studies in various patient populations will be very useful.
Since I am a visual person and love painting and taking photos, and to inspire you to paint more with watercolors for the rest of July and beyond, I would like to share some of my more recent paintings with watercolors. Watercolor paints are my favorite art medium. I love their softness and ease of use. Hopefully observing my paintings will spark joy and bring health. It is known that positive emotions are key to achieving one’s dreams and goals.
My painting of a ballerina, which captures the essence of one art form with another:
My painting series of roses, a favorite flower and painting subject of mine:
My painting of waterlilies:
My painting of a blue lagoon I wish to see as I have never been to a tropical beach in my life:
My painting of a couple on a tropical beach with orchids:
My painting of a bride and a flower girl:
It will be great in the future to try to understand in more detail the brain mechanisms and regions that are involved in watercolor painting and that benefit from the therapeutic effects of watercolor art. If watercolor painting fights depression and anxiety, likely the same regions implicated in mood and anxiety disorders will be involved in watercolor painting. To illustrate these regions, I would like to share my figure of the brain regions involved in mood disorders (rasterized by the publisher from my original drawings, both included) for our educational chapter on Mood Disorders Scientific American Decker, 2018.
In my Biomedical Artist newsletter, I always like to have a section on ballet as I love it and dance it every day. The hot, humid weather we had in the Greater New York City area in July was not great for physical exertion. So, it is important if you continue to dance ballet, to modify your schedule and dance at earlier hours in the morning or later in the evening when it is cooler, stay properly hydrated, wear light clothes from fabrics that keep your body cool, and dance shorter times. You may substitute pointe shoes with flat shoes to minimize muscle work and sweating. Nevertheless, I learned and danced several ballets and will show one of them, “Paquita”. As always, hopefully, it will provide you with ideas to dance and bring health and happiness to you just like it has to me during my stressful job search. For more ballet dance videos, you can visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel:
My ballet Paquita:
In conclusion, July is a time to create and appreciate more art for health and happiness and especially a month to discover the wonders of watercolor painting.
This is my video summarizing the benefits of watercolor painting:
Here are some quotes I love from the great American choreographer and artist Jerome Robbins:
“I've realized that what I want to do is help the ordinary person relate to dance, not just the elite.” Jerome Robbins
“Movement is freedom, a way to break free from the constraints of everyday life.” Jerome Robbins
My addition to this wonderful thought of J. Robbins would be that “art and watercolor painting are freedom, a way to break free from the constraints of everyday life”!
Thank you! Your comments are welcomed and will be appreciated!
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