Sometimes when we get angry, it can be very difficult to control our emotions. But it’s important to not let that anger turn into physically damaging actions.
Art therapy activities for aggression are a fantastic outlet to process your emotions, quickly soothe your mind, and use physical but productive techniques to channel that anger into something beautiful.
In this article, I’ll show you 5 super simple and quick art therapy activities for aggression, like in the image below, their benefits, and art tips for expressing anger in your art.
Contents
- Soothing Art Therapy Activities for Aggression
- What Are Art Therapy Activities for Aggression?
- How Art Therapy Helps with Anger
- How to Express Anger in Art
- Best Colors for Expressing Rage
- Best Colors for Calming Aggression
Let’s get into it!
Soothing Art Therapy Activities for Aggression
Materials: Something to draw with and something to draw on
*For these exercises, I used a black ink pen & a 2B pencil for the black & white doodles on a sheet of copy/printer paper (8.5 x11 inches), & watercolors for the colored drawings, on 120lb watercolor paper.
1. Draw Lines
Time: 1-5 minutes
1. Draw 2 Dots Anywhere on a Page
2. Draw a Straight Line connecting both dots
You can draw as many lines as you’d like for the next 1-2 minutes.
Put pressure on your pen/pencil as you draw the lines. Just make sure it doesn’t mark or indent the surface underneath. You can even place a thin piece of cardboard or extra sheet of paper below.
And that’s it!
If you’d like to take this further, you can try drawing over your lines 2-9 times, making them thicker.
How This Art Therapy Activity Manages Anger in Adults, Kids, & Teens
Not only does drawing lines help focus on the present moment away from angry thoughts, it forces you to practice precision and mental discipline.
When you make longer lines on a page, you’re releasing stress and energy in your arm.
Applying pressure eases tension in your body, making you feel more physically relaxed and calm.
2. Quick Scribbling
Time: 15 seconds-5 minutes
Scribbling quickly on a sheet of paper is a perfect art therapy activity to cope with anger because it requires a release of physical energy.
All you need to do is quickly move your pencil or pen (paints work well, too!) back and forth in arm movements either across the page or in small areas.
Try to move your arm as fast you can while putting a little pressure on the page.
If you’d like to use art therapy on a regular basis, you can try making an art journal & check out this Easy Art Journal Therapy for Beginners!
How This Art Therapy Activity for Aggression Releases Tension
What’s so great about quick scribbling is that it calms you down fast with high-energy physical movements to expend pent-up energy, leaving you relaxed afterwards.
3. Paint Splatting
Time: 3-10 min
Materials: Any type of paint except oils- watercolors, acrylics, gouache, and a container of water (that you don’t drink out of!)
Take your brush and dip it in the water, making sure it’s moderately wet but not dripping.
Then, choose whatever color you’d like and grab a good amount of paint with your brush until it’s mostly covered with the color. You can even mix the colors for a more interesting look.
Hold your brush like a wand, using your index finger and thumb.
Then, flick the brush towards the page in short and quick, but firm movements without touching the page.
The force of the brush will transfer the paint on the page, creating various dots and splatters.
Why this art therapy activity Helps Cope with Anger
When you flick your brush in hard and fast movements, it expends physical energy, releasing it and any physical tension, especially in your arm. It loosens your arm up.
When this energy is released, you feel more calm afterwards due to using a good amount of force to get the splatter effect.
4. Quick Marks or Dotting
Time: 10-30 min
Take your paint brush and hold it in between your thumb and index finger like shown below. Or if you’re using a pencil or pen, hold it like you normally would but straight, completely perpendicular to the paper so you can make dots with the pencil/pen tip.
Grab a good amount of paint then quickly start dabbing the page.
For pen/pencil, use it like a stamp.
Don’t think about what you’re making. Just quickly dab and make contact with the page.
You can cover as little or as much of the page as you’d like and use different colors to get a nice mixed color effect.
Do this for about 1-3 minutes.
Stop when you start feeling exhausted.
Here are some simple examples of artistic mark making if you don’t know where to start.
How This Art Therapy Activity Calms Aggression
The main idea behind this art therapy activity for aggression is to not stop and think about what you’re doing but to go with the flow and let the art happen.
It’s a fantastic way to physically release your anger creatively while tiring you out.
Pent up energy holds in stress and other negative feelings, sometimes building up, where it can be released in physically damaging ways. So physically exerting that energy relaxes both your physique and mind – a double plus!
5. Mixing Colors
Time: 3-10 min
Whatever material you’re using, grab at least 2 different colors.
If using ink or colored pencils, start sketching simple shapes or blobs with one color. Then, with the other color, start layering it or mixing it with your first color. Try to get a nice blend.
If using paints, wet your brush, grab a good portion of paint, and just start filling in random areas with color. You can then use another color and blend them together on a page.
How This Art Therapy Activity Calms Aggression and Impulsive Behavior
Mixing colors is extremely relaxing.
The color mixing process is very slow and gestural.
Not only is it super simple but blending colors together creates a visual consistency that feels fluid and satisfying. Not abrupt or random.
Feeling satisfied makes you feel complete and at ease. It’s a feeling of rest, relaxation, and most importantly, a stopping point for your mind, especially when you have rampant thoughts and don’t know how to quiet them.
If racing thoughts or stress get overwhelming at times, check out these simple and quick Calming Art Therapy Activities for Stress Management or how to make a 10 Euphoric Drawing Art Therapy Prompts for Racing Thoughts for more stress relief ideas!
6. Watercolor Wash / Coloring
Time : 5-15 Min.
Coloring is great for coping with anger because it focuses on repetitive movements, allowing your hand to do the heavy work instead of your mind. In this state, your mind is relaxed and calm because it’s not focusing on any thoughts in particular, just the present moment.
Try drawing a large, simple shape on the paper. It can be anything from a triangle or square, to a cloud or star. Whatever makes you feel more calm.
Then, just start coloring in that shape with whatever colors you like.
I used watercolors in the image above because I find using brush strokes to be quite relaxing and I love the spontaneity of paint and how it seamlessly blends on paper.
What Are Art Therapy Activities for Aggression?
Art therapy activities for aggression are visual art exercises that are meant to provide a safe, compassionate, and creative outlet to express your feelings and process your emotions. They can help provide insight into what’s causing your anger and are effective in calming your mind down, helping you get past what may be bothering you.
This is much better than holding on to feelings of aggression and impulse.
Art therapy activities for anger in adults, kids, and teens are incredibly simple and can take as little as 1-3 min or up to 30 min.
You don’t need to have knowledge of any drawing skills to do these, just your creativity and some art supplies!
How Does Art Therapy Help with Anger?
There are multiple benefits for using art therapy activities to cope with anger.
Here are some of the top ways expressive art therapy can be used for anger management:
- It soothes your mind by shifting your anger to a neutral state instead of focusing on thoughts of anger, dissatisfaction, negativity, and other similar thoughts
- Helps you process your anger & reconcile with it by understanding what caused it
- Can calm you down fast by using high-energy physical movements to expend pent-up energy
- Makes you more aware of how you react to things in certain situations
- Can lessen mental irritability and physical tension
- Explores your creative side
- Helps you understand yourself better
- Allows you to be compassionate with yourself & give grace to yourself when emotions are high
Now, let’s a take a look at how these activities help express anger in art.
How To Express Anger in Art
Art therapy activities can be a huge help in coping with anger because it allows someone to explore their emotions and control their impulses through artistic expression.
Anger can be expressed in art through various artistic techniques such as specific colors, hand movements, quick strokes, and / or the appearance of the artwork itself.
What Color is for Rage?
The main colors used to express rage and anger are variations of saturated reds and oranges, even yellows.
Stick with warmer colors as they reflect passion, fire, and intensity.
You can think of these colors as representing the “heat of the moment”, if you will.
What Color Calms Aggression?
Colors that can help calm aggression in adults, teens, and kids, are usually desaturated or more muted colors that are not super bright, or closer to grayscale. Especially those that are cooler on the color spectrum.
Honestly, it just depends on which colors work for you.
You may find that a red or dark orange is calming for you.
But in general, try sticking with cooler colors at first, like various shades of blues, greens, and purples.
These colors are the most calming for anger and aggression because they are not ‘hot’ but fall on the cooler side of the color spectrum.
Try these expressive art therapy activities for anger management using different colors and see what different shades relax you the most. It’s a great time to experiment!
More Related Art Therapy Activities & Resources:
- Calming Art Therapy Activities for Stress Management | Post
- 15 Relaxing Simple Art Therapy Activities for All Skill Levels | Post
- Enjoyable Art Therapy Activities for Couples | Post
- Free Printable Stress Relief Cheat Sheet | Freebie
- 10 Expressive Art Therapy Activities to Try Now | Post
- 15 Anxiety Art Therapy Drawing Activities to Help You Feel Calm Now | Post
- Download 9 Free Mood Boosting Art Therapy Drawing Activities for Anxiety | Freebie
- Natural Stress Relief with Drawing for Beginners & 7 Ways It Halts Stress | Post
- Comforting Indoor Fall Art Therapy Activities to Get You Relaxed | Post
- The Difference Between Traditional Art Expression vs. Expressive Art Therapy | Post
- 15 Quick Doodles to Draw When You’re Bored | Post
I hope this article on art therapy activities for aggression helps and see you in the next post!
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