bgcolor=black text="#AFAFAF" Looking at Works of Art

Works of art are created to be seen and apprciated, This is true for your own work and artwork by your peers, as well as well-known artworks. Appreciating art means that you take time to look at artworks and think aboutwhat you see.
Art criticism is a method for looking at art and a method for judging art. These methods are oftenused by artists, art historians, art critics and other art experts.

Art Criticism

Principals of Design
Art Criticism is more than saying "I like it" or "I dont like it." Its is a step-by-step process of logical thinking. Similar steps are used by scientists, lawyers, and othera who present ideas clearly.
The major steps in art criticism are describing what you see, analyzing relationships, interpreting meanings and judging.

Step 1 - Describe your work

Take time to look at the work. Describe it in detail using facts, not opinions. In this step you are an art "detective." You are gathering visual evidence or clues. You will use these clues to interpret the artwork.

Step 2 - Analyze relathionships

Analyze the evidence. In this step, you look for similarities, differences or repeated patterns in what you have observed. You look for the most important features. These will help you interpret the artwork.

Step 3 - Interpret the meaning

Interpret the evidence. In this step, you develop a hypothesis (a good guess) about the meaning of the work. A good interpretation explains what you have observed and analyzed. You will use all your knowledge about art and life to interpret the artwork.

Step 4 - Judgement

A critical judgement can be made after you have interpreted an artwork. Judging art is always a matter of being fair and logical.

These four steps will be discussed further.


Step 1 - Description: What do you See?
Take time to look at the work. Describe everything you actually see. Use factual, objective language. Objective means you describe only those features you can point out and other people can see. Avoid judging the work. Do not use word such as pretty, ugly, wierd, sloppy and so on.
Here are some topics for your description.
ART FORM, MEDIUM, and CONDITION. Name the kind of art and the medium used to create it. For example, is it a painting in oil or in watercolor? Is it architecture? Is it made mostly of wood? Stone? Or glass and steel? Does the artwork appear old, damaged or repaired? Are you looking at an original artwork or a photograph of it?
DIMENSIONS. What are the actual dimensions of the work? If you are looking at a photograph, try to visualize the size of the original art work. If the dimensions are given, the first number is the height. The second is the width. A third number will be the depth.
SUBJECT MATTER. Name things you recongnize, such as a house, grass, animals, a man or a woman. Be specific, but also cautious. For example, you may see a boy and a girl. Do not say they are a brother and sister unless there are other clues to the relationship.
SENSORY QUALITIES. Describe the visual elements you see - colors, lines, shapes, textures, spaces and the like. Combine words into sentences and phrases such as "I see a small, dull blue circle." "I see a rough border of pink near the right side," or "I see large patches of blue and yellow in the green grass."
TECHNICAL QUALITIES. Describe how the artist used materials, tools and techniques. Use what you know about art materials and processes. Here are some sample statements: "The pencil was applied lightly on a smooth paper." "I see smooth brushstrokes." "I see rough chisel marks in the wood." "The large wooden beams support the low flat roof."


Step 2 - Analysis: How is the Work PLanned?
Analysis means finding relathionships in what you see. To find relationships in an artwork, you may refer to the principals of design. They can help you describe many of the formal qualities of an artwork - the planned similarities and differences in parts of the work.
Analyze the work for relationships such as these:
BALANCE. Are the main forms arranged in a symmetrical, asymertical or radial plan? Why? Are the main forms near the top, center, bottom or all over? How are the large negative areas balanced?
RHTYHM, MOVEMENT. Are there special rhythms in the colors, shapes or other elements? Can you see definite paths of movement? Are they vertical, horizontal or diagonal? Where do they begin and end? Why?
PROPORTIONS. Are they about normal? Are they exaggerated? Are they ideal?
EMPHASIS. What are the most dominant visual elements? Are there smaller visual elements repeated throughout the work? Is therea focal point or center of interest? Where? Why? Features like these may be the most important part of the work.
PATTERN. Is there a pattern of light, shadow, color or other visual elements? Do you find any small designs, motifs, repeated within? Do the motifs create an all-over pattern, or are they repeated only in parts of the work?
UNITY and VARIETY. What principals help to unify the work? Are some more important than the others? Why? FOr example, is the work unified by repeated pattern, rhtyms or other features? Are there other dominant elements? What parts add variety?
RELATIONSHIPS IN SUBJECT MATTER. IS there a definite subject , features you can recongnize in the work? How are the features related? For example, are there implied interactions between people? Does the artist seem to invite you to walk through or around the work? How? Why? Do you seem to be an observer of a scene or part of the action?


Step 3 - Interpretaion: What are the expressive qualities?
When you interpret a work of art you ware telling about the main expressive qualities in the artwork and what they mean to you. Your goal is to understand how all the visual evidence fits together. Like a good detective, you should trust what you've seen, the clues or evidence, and your hunches