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Lesson 5-Analyzing Visual Art

The document provides information on how to analyze visual artworks. It discusses various elements of art like theme, mood, and tone that help understand the meaning and feelings conveyed by art. It also provides tips for analyzing artworks which involve describing elements, interpreting the artist's message, and evaluating the success of the artwork.

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Jessa Mae Basa
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views

Lesson 5-Analyzing Visual Art

The document provides information on how to analyze visual artworks. It discusses various elements of art like theme, mood, and tone that help understand the meaning and feelings conveyed by art. It also provides tips for analyzing artworks which involve describing elements, interpreting the artist's message, and evaluating the success of the artwork.

Uploaded by

Jessa Mae Basa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Analyzing

Visual
Art
How to read and
understand Visual
Art?
When you look at a painting or
sculpture, do you wonder
what it means? How does it
make you feel?
Theme
 relates to the meaning of painting.
 Usually about life, society or human
nature, but can be any other subject.
 Themes are the fundamental and often
universal ideas explored in a work.
Mood
 is the atmosphere in the artwork or the
feeling expressed.
Tone
 refers to the lightness or darkness of
colors used, which can help to create a
sense of depth or distance in art.
 Artists use light and dark colors to
convey a mood or an emotion
The Nightmare
Why do we study
 art?
Arts subjects encourage self-expression and creativity
and can build confidence as well as a sense of
individual identity.
 Studying arts subjects also help to develop critical
thinking and the ability to interpret the world around
us.
 Studying art and design provides the opportunity to
acquire new skills. As well as knowledge of different
art forms, media and techniques you can also gain
specialist skills in areas such as photography and digital
I don’t want to be an artist-
Why bother studying art?
 The leading people in any field are those who can think
creatively and innovatively. These are skills that employers
value alongside qualifications. Making and participating in
the arts aids the development of these skills.

 When you study art you learn to work both independently and
collaboratively, you also gain experience in time management
– skillsets valued by employers
Art analysis
tips
 ‘I like this’ or ‘I don’t like this’ without
any further explanation or justification is
not analysis.

 ‘Analysis of artwork’ does not mean


‘description of work’.
 Cover a range of different visual
elements and design principles.

 Write alongside the artwork discussed.

 Support writing with visual analysis.


Analyzing Artwork (Art
Criticism)
●
A step-by-step guide
●
Follow these steps; answer all the
questions and you can’t go wrong!
1. Description (It answers the question, “What
do you see?”)
Pure description of the object without value
judgments (Elements of Art)
List what you can see in this artwork.
 Objects, figures, colors, shapes, backgrounds, etc.

 Imagine you are describing it to a blind person. Do


this in as much detail as possible and use art terms.
2.Analyze (It answer the question, “How did
the artist do it?”
Determining what the features suggest and
deciding why the artist used such features to
convey specific ideas.

 edged or geometric shapes?


Is there a mixture of different types of shapes or
are all the shapes similar?
 Does the whole composition look full of
energy and movement, or does it look still and
peaceful? How did the artist create this
movement/stillness? ]
 What is the center of interest in the
composition?
 How does the artist draw your
attention to it?
Use the elements/principles to reflect
upon the art form
 Determination of subject matter through
naming iconographic elements, e.g.,
historical event, allegory, mythology, etc.
 Selection of most distinctive features or
characteristics whether the line, shape, color,
texture, etc.
 Analysis of use of light and role of color, e.g.,
contrast, shadowy,

 Illogical, warm, cool, symbolic, etc.

 Treatment of space and landscape, both real and


illusionary (including use of perspective), e.g.,
compact, deep, shallow, naturalist, random
 Portrayal of movement and how it is achieved

 Effect of particular medium(s) used

 Your perceptions of balance, proportion and


scale (relationships of each part of the
composition to the whole and to each other
part) and your emotional

 Reaction to object or monument


3. Interpretation (It answer the question,
“What is the artist trying to say? What is
going on in the picture?”
 Determination of subject matter through
naming iconographic elements, e.g.,
historical event, allegory, mythology, etc.
 Selection of most distinctive features or
characteristics whether the line, shape, color,
texture, etc.
 What do you think the artist is trying to say in
this artwork? What does it mean?

 What is the main theme or idea behind this


piece?

 If you were inside the artwork, what would you be


feeling/thinking?
 Does the artwork have a narrative (tell a
story)? Is it a religious artwork?

 Is it abstract? Is it realistic? Why?

 How would you explain this artwork to


someone else?

 Evidence: What evidence inside or outside the


artwork supports your interpretation
4. Evaluation (What do I think about this
artwork? How do I feel about whether the
artist was successful in conveying an
idea?)
Based upon what you have observed already, give
your opinion of the artwork. You MUST give
reason.

 Use aesthetic theories to help evaluate


 Is it a good artwork?

 Criteria: What criteria do I think are most appropriate for


judging the artwork?

 Evidence: What evidence inside or outside the artwork


relates to each criterion?

 Judgment: Based on the criteria and evidence, what is my


judgment about the quality of the artwork?
Thanks!
CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo,
including icons by Flaticon and infographics & images by
Freepik

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