Page 118 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

Formal elements
Contour
Number of colors Color saturation Color brightness Hue
Mixture of color Symmetry Rhythm
Linearity
Line quality Movement Dynamic
Texture
** p < .001
κ
.56** .83** .76** .80** .71** .68** .61** .41** .56** .63** .50** .65** -.012
STUDY 3: CLINICALLY RELEVANT FORMAL ELEMENTS
Most formal elements can be operationalized reliably, however, it is still unknown which of these formal elements are clinically relevant. Especially as the art therapy literature is inconsistent when presenting tools or suggestions directed towards the clinical use of formal elements in art therapy observation and assessment (Pénzes, et al., 2018; Schoch, et al., 2017). Eight art therapists with diverse clinical backgrounds, training orientations, and nationalities identified seven relevant formal elements. The combination of “movement” “dynamic”, “contour” and “repetition” construe the overall structure of the art product and are conceptualized as “primary formal elements,” while “mixture of color”, “figuration” and “color saturation” weaken or enhance this structure and are conceptualized as “secondary formal elements”.
These seven formal elements show some resemblance to the formal elements incorporated in existing studies on formal elements in art therapy, for example, “mixture of color” is also incorporated in the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) (Cohen, 1986, 1994; Cohen et al., 1986), “color saturation” resembles “color intensity” in the Descriptive Assessment of Psychiatric Art
116 | Chapter 5