Line Quality and Emotion in Art

This project is a study focused on the question: can line quality be used to objectively determine the emotional state of an artist? This will be conducted with archival research into line quality and with scientific research. A survey will be sent out instructing artists to indicate their mental state and submit a pencil drawing of an owl. Pencils will be provided pre-sharpened. The collected owls will be sorted according to the emotion indicated and similarities of line quality will be examined. The similarities will be used to create a chart indicating which emotion each line quality points to. This will be the ‘key’ for this technique. This will then be tested with more owl drawings to determine if it is accurate. This will be conducted with college students so the data can be directly applied to them. This will allow students to conduct their own free and accessible art therapy to better understand the emotions they are currently experiencing. If the method works, they will be able to draw an image and analyze it to determine their emotional state. This will aid anyone who has difficulty determining their emotions.