Analysing artworks

Analysing artworks

1. Emotional impact: record immediate effect - like/dislike/feelings

   • Then read the artwork by recording the journey your eye takes
   • FIRST:

2. Relationship between effects and techniques (or the FORM of art)

   • COLOUR
     • Wide or narrow palette
       • Wide may convey confusion
       • Limited maybe = calm
     • Contrasting colours next to each other
       • Can suggest drama/tension/vibrancy
       • Can affect the reading by drawing attention to areas of importance
     • The Warm to Cool colour ratio
       • More warm : positive/cheerful mood
       • More cool: calmness/serenity or sadness/gloominess
     • Colour value: the way dark and light colours are used
       • Concentrating each in different areas: emphasising one area over the rest
       • Light and dark adjacent & distributed throughout: sense of mvt causing the eye to move rather than focusing on one area
       • How wide is the range & what effect: Mostly dark can =gloomy/sombre feel, mostly mid-range can convey softness/harmony, mostly light might equal cheerful feel
   • COMPOSITION
     • Representing DEPTH
       • VERTICAL PLACEMENT
       • OVERLAPPING
       • DIMINISHING SCALE: depiction of similar objects as being smaller the further they are from the picture plane
       • ATMOSPHERIC (AERIAL) PERSPECTIVE by use of colour and value. Object closer to picture plane = brighter & greater value contrast. Objects further away can have lessening of design/dulling of colours + reduction in colour value.
       • LINEAR PERSPECTIVE or the optical illusion of lines appearing to converge as they move further away from the spectator. All lines will eventually meet (and disappear) at a single vanishing pt on the horizon and all shapes will get smaller in all directions as the distance from the eye increases
       • MODELLING: the use of value contrast to suggest three-dimensional forms in a painting.
   • MEDIUM
     • Does the medium/media impose any limitations on the way the artist works or allow any particular effects?
     • Is the medium used unconventionally or is teh medium itself umnonventional? if so, does this contribute to the effects of the artwork?
     • Does the medium used suggest a particular mood?
     • Does the medium used prompt the spectator to read the work in a particular way?