Elliot Thompson - Illustrating Emotions

What Do Emotions Look Like?

I'm creating a series of art that will be marketed and used in book form in counseling centers, rehab centers, and also serving as a coffee table book. I will also be marketing the projects in art galleries in print form of the original pieces. 

A counselor often asks, "How do you feel?" The answer to this question will be unique to each person however there are some tools counselors use to guide people along the introspection path. If you ask a 9 year old "how do you feel?" they may answer "good", or "bad."

A counselor will then give them a smile face chart and ask again. The child, looking at the expressions, can then now differentiate between mad and sad, or happy and excited. If you ask an adult, "how do you feel?" they may answer differently than the 9 year old and say they feel, mad, sad angry, frustrated, annoyed, whatever it may be.

However there is another level to emotional intelligence. You won't hear many people describe themselves as anxious, or pensive or joyful. So to take the process one step further a counselor will give a list or a chart of emotions so an adult can better identify their emotions. 

A Smile Chart for Adults

The chart, Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion is often referred to when identifying emotion. I am creating a piece of art depicting each emotion on this chart, so a visual learner can identify with a face as opposed to just a word. 

Poetry and Spoken Word

I reached out to the talented Arielle Estoria. She is an amazing poet, and an absolute wizard in taking ideas and putting them on paper. So now each unique emotional image is accompanied by an equally unique poem, and a spoken word piece!