Writing a Visual Analysis of an Artwork

Definition of Visual Analysis

Visual analysis is the basic unit of art historical writing. The purpose of a visual analysis is to recognize and understand the visual choices the artist made in creating the artwork. By observing and writing about separate parts of the art object, you will come to a better understanding of the art object as a whole.
A visual analysis addresses an artwork’s formal elements—visual attributes such as color, line, texture, and size. A visual analysis may also include historical context or interpretations of meaning.

How to Begin Your Analysis

To write a visual analysis, you must look closely at an art object—or at a photograph of an art object—and translate your visual observations into written text. However, a visual analysis does not simply record your observations.

Observe the artwork and write down your observations. Be precise. Consider the composition, colors, textures, size, space, and other visual and material attributes of the artwork. Go beyond your first impressions.
Making a sketch of the work can help you understand its visual logic.
Make a list of all the words that come to you that describe the work of art. This can be color, form, line, texture, narrative, actions happening.
Imagine as if you were going to have to describe this artwork in as much detail as possible to your friend, who has never seen it before. Write a 5 sentence description. TIP: It helps to start with the overall image, or one corner and then become more specific.
Answer this question: Why do you like this work? What do you dislike about this work? What connections to the real world and your experience can you make with it? Write 2 sentences.
Identify vocabulary words we have discussed in class that are appropriate to use for your artwork. Make a list.
Write down any data on the wall label for this piece, and in the museum/gallery catalog.
Take a photo of your artwork to reference for later.
Consider why the artist made this work, and what it might be saying through elements of design or narrative? Write down some thoughts.
Consider why these works are on display right now? What is happening politically or culturally that could influence the way you view the artwork?

How to Make Connections between the artwork and the world

Questions to ask yourself when considering the purpose of this work:

● As a creator or evaluator of a visual text, do you see a visual metaphor at work?

● How might the arrangement, content, symbolism of the visual text provide the basis for a metaphor that grants access to a larger meaning, or to a cognitive model/concept/way of looking at the world?

● What experiences from your own life are evoked by the image?

● What emotions are provoked in you by the image?

In your visual analysis:

use descriptive words on the piece

describing how this work relates to you and why you chose it

answer: why did the artist choose this subject to draw, how does the way they did it add to the piece?

_____________________________________________________

What is an Artist Statement?

An artist statement is text that accompanies and explains the artist’s intentions of their body of work. A strong artist statement supplements the visual information in a portfolio or exhibition so that the reader/viewer can better understand it. Your artist statement should stand on its own so that the reader can imagine what your work looks like even if they have not seen it. An artist statement generally ranges between 100 – 300 words.

Tips and Advice

• Write a strong, compelling statement that connects the viewer to your work

• Develop a strong first sentence

• Keep it as short as possible

• Focus on topics that may not be apparent from viewing your work

10-Minute Writing Exercise

The best way to get started with an artist statement is to begin writing about your work in a 10-minute brainstorming session. Do it quickly, and don’t worry particularly about grammar. There is no structure or format to this. Just write or type everything that comes to mind about the piece. Some questions to get you started:

• What does it look like? (Size, colors, shapes, textures, light, objects, relationships, etc.)

Make your description visual.

• What inspired the piece and/or where does the impetus for the piece come from, personally speaking?

• Talk about the work from a conceptual, thematic, and/or emotional point of view

• Is there a central or guiding image or idea?

• What are its different elements and how do they affect each other or interact?

• What kind of materials did you use/are you using to create the work? Why?

• What was the process of development for the work?

• How does this work fit into the overall flow of your development as an artist?

• Where does it fit into (or relate to) your awareness of other contemporary work?

Artist Statement Sample

I began using a typewriter for its obvious function- to record my thoughts and ideas. Communicating is a crucial constant struggle for me. The more I typed, the more the letters and words on the pages began to take on a new function, a new language. My discovery of this new language created with my typewriter and paper was one made up of patterns and grids formed by punctuation marks: commas, colons, apostrophes, and brackets. It was as if the typewriter was experiencing a breakdown, and this breakdown was my breakthrough. I had discovered a new way to communicate. There is an endless source of information that can be created through a limited use of materials: paper and a typewriter. I became, and am still, intrigued by this process.

- Allyson Strafella (Taken from The Artist’s Guide by Jackie Battenfield)

How to draw & paint faster: 15 tips for Art students

Are you struggling to get your Art projects done on time? Some students – even those who are dedicated and hard-working – find it challenging to work at the pace required in a Visual Art course. The skilful, perfectionist student usually falls into this category; those who produce meticulous, highly-detailed observational drawings or paintings.

1. Use a ground

There are many benefits to working on a ground. One of these is increased painting or drawing speed. A ground covers a painting or drawing surface from the outset. It can act as mid-tone, with only black and white used to apply dark and light areas (as in the examples below) or be left partially visible in the final work. This results in an artwork that is much faster to complete (see our article about painting on grounds for more information).

An A Level Art portrait by Mariam Shafei-Sabett from Dame Alice Owen’s School, Hertfordshire, England and a teaching exemplar from Amiria Robinson:

using a painting ground — The beautiful A Level portrait on the left has been completed upon a pale brown ground (this provides a mid-tone skin colour and is also left visible in the background). On the right, a wash of ochre, blue and brown provides a background to the drawing black and white pencil drawing.

2. Incorporate mixed media /patterned surfaces / textural elements

As with using a ground, patterned, decorative or textural items can cover areas of an artwork quickly. Although this strategy should be used with care, selecting only materials which support or enhance your project (usually with reference to a relevant artist model) this can be a great way to speed up your project and introduce creative use of mixed media.

Two AP Studio Art (Concentration) pieces by Alyssa Church from Bingham High School, South Jordan, Utah, United States:

Domestic Violence series by artist Scott Waters:

Please read this article for more exciting ideas about how to use mixed media within your work.

3. Work on several pieces at once

Working in series – completing several paintings or drawings at one time – is a very helpful strategy for Art students. This speeds work up for a number of reasons:

A single colour can be used throughout a number of works, without needing to stop for remixing / washing brushes
While one work is drying, another one can be worked on
Similar processes or techniques can be mastered quickly and repeated on subsequent works

In addition, when working on several pieces at once, ‘preciousness’ about the work tends to be lost, leading to more experimentation and greater work speed.

The studio of artist Willem de Kooning:

Willem de Kooning studio — These photos of Willem de Kooning’s studio show several works in progress pinned to the wall and scattered across the floor. Although creating a glorious working environment such as this is not possible in most high schools, many Painting classrooms have small pin board alcoves which can be used to display work in progress.

4. Paint things in the right order – background areas first

Painting things in an illogical order is surprisingly common amongst high school Art students. In almost all cases, the background should be completed first, followed by the middle-ground, ending with the foreground. This is easily understood when considering a tree in front of a cloudy sky. If you make the mistake of painting the tree first, the sky has to be meticulously painted around every leaf and branch: an irritating task that takes hours (and ends up looking a little shabby). Painting the sky first, however, means that a large brush can quickly be used to paint the sky, with the tree then easily added over the top. Painting in the correct order also results in a painting that has layers (which gives it a richness and lustre, as with using a ground). If you find that subsequent layers of paint do not adequately cover earlier ones, you have an inferior brand of paint. (We will detail our paint and art supply recommendations in an upcoming article – stay tuned)!

Note: Once you understand how to build up a painting in layers, you will realise that often this involves drawing items in stages also.

Paintings by artist Susan Danko:

Susan Danko artist works — These vibrant, architecturally-inspired abstract works by Susan Danko are a prime example of an artwork that must be painted in a logical order. These paintings would have been exceptionally tedious had the rays of light had been painted first.

5. Use masking tape to create straight edges

Some students are concerned that it might be necessary to ‘prove’ that a straight line can be painted by hand. This is not the case. Your control of a paint brush can be ascertained immediately by looking at the remainder of your painting. Masking tape creates straight edges in seconds. Once mastered, this trick can save you hours – and make your paintings sharper, cleaner and more professional in the process. If you haven’t used masking tape before, buy some now!

This painting is by Amiria Robinson (me):

Amiria Gale paintings — Enlarged details of this seascape painting can be seen to the right. All of the straight lines were created using masking tape.

6. Leave artwork purposefully incomplete

Artist work is sometimes purposefully ‘unfinished’. Art students shouldn’t feel obliged to ‘complete’ every item. There are many occasions when a fully rendered drawing is not necessary. Drawings, especially those in sketchbooks, can be left with edges trailing away and tone only applied to some areas. Leaving work unfinished is particularly useful when conducting visual research, exploring ideas and experimenting with media. Depending on your artist influences, this may even be appropriate in final works – as a way to draw attention to focal points and direct attention within an artwork.

Note: This should not be used as justification for avoiding homework tasks set by your teacher!

Jim Dine’s tool drawings:

Jim Dine tool drawings — Jim Dine is an outstanding artist to use with middle and high school Art students. His charcoal tool drawings combine precise, analytical outlines (which fade away and are incomplete in places) with perfectly rendered areas and gestural, and expressive mark-making in some of the negative spaces left around the tools.

Drawings by Megan (left), Parrish (top right) and Anna (bottom right) from the Art Department of Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough, North Carolina, United States:

line drawing to create emphasis — Completed as part of the high school qualification AP Studio Art (2D Design) these drawings are purposefully rendered in small areas only, creating emphasis and directing vision.

7. Omit parts of a scene

Deliberately picking out certain parts of a scene to draw has a strong impact on the final work and must be used with care to ensure that the resulting image supports the ideas explored in your project. As with the previous option, this allows you to demonstrate strong observational drawing skills, while saving time by omitting part of the scene.

A graphite pencil drawing by Langdon Graves:

Langdon Graves artist — This contemporary drawing by artist Langdon Graves involves carefully selected regions of a face: well-balanced curving forms of an ear, eye and glasses.

An A Level Art drawing by Madeleine Ferns:

drawing of men walking — Eliminating certain areas of a scene is a dramatic measure that brings immediate focus to an artwork. This drawing by high school student Madeleine depicts only men walking down a street – with all aspects of the surrounding obscured. This immediately suggests monotony; the daily grind; living on autopilot; and carrying out the daily routine without ever stopping to notice the world passing by.

8. Selectively flatten tone

Another option that students have is to flatten tone – to remove the smooth blending gradations from dark to light. This strategy should be used with caution – and usually only in certain areas – as unintentionally flattening tone can be the hallmark of a weak student. As indicated by the artist examples below, however, there are times when all or parts of the tonal variation within an artwork can be omitted with great success.

‘No one wants to play SEGA with Harrison Ford’ by artist Brandon Bird:

Brandon Bird painting of Harrison Ford — In this contemporary oil painting depicting Harrison Ford, artist Brandon Bird carefully positions three realistically rendered figures and a SEGA games system upon a wide flat area of tone (interestingly this is available in prints with different coloured backgrounds). This eliminates unnecessary clutter and swiftly focuses the attention of the viewer.

Self portraits from Annemarie Busschers’ ‘Beyond Grief’ series:

Annemarie Busschers artist — The faces in Annemarie Busschers’ self-portraits are stunningly rendered, with extreme attention given to fine details and irregularities of skin. The hair and body are pale; the hair almost completely devoid of tone. This pushes all attention to the face; the turn of the lips; the emotion in the eyes.

9. Focus on Line

There are many occasions where it may be appropriate for a high school student to draw using only line (it is often the application of tone that is time-consuming for students, so working exclusively with line can provide a welcome relief). Blind drawings, contour drawings, cross contour drawings and other hatched drawings (please see our collection of beautiful line drawings for ideas) can form an important part of your project.

Note: It is usually necessary to demonstrate an ability to apply tone at some point to examiner, so it is not wise to exclude tone from your project altogether.

A Level Art sketchbook pages by Annie Jones:

A Level Art architecture project — This A Level Art project uses line to show complex architectural details; drawings applied over beautiful mixed media layers, which helps to create rich, visually interesting sketchbook pages.

Contemporary drawings by artist Federico Infante:

Federico Infante drawings — These works by artist Federico Infante contain a focus on line (in this case used to create residual after-image effects) with tone applied in certain areas only. This helps to draw the viewer in to the world of the central figure, so we share the emotion of this captured moment in time.

10. Include photographs

While there is a certain quantity of painting and drawing that must take place within a Painting or Fine Art portfolio, photography can provide an excellent mechanism for moving a project forward at a faster pace.

An AS Art sketchbook page by Littlemissnoface:

composition development A Level Art — Photography can be used as a tool to develop composition, as in the beautiful AS Sketchbook pages above. Rather than ordinary snapshots of source material, the photographs here are complex digital manipulations, which help refine ideas and compositions.

In addition to helping with composition planning, photography can be collaged into artworks or used as painting ground (but not as a mechanism for avoiding observational drawing – this is perceived by examiners as cheating). If the photograph remains visible in the final work, less paint needs to be applied, thus speeding up the art-making process.

Painting on photographs by artist Charlotte Caron:

charlotte caron artist — These artworks by Charlotte Caron show animal faces painted on top of photographic portraits. Note the clever unity of the colours in each image.

11. Progress to abstract (or semi-abstract)

Producing abstract work is often the first solution that comes to mind for those who work slowly; students can be fearful that this will not allow them the opportunity to demonstrate strong observational skills. The solution is to produce abstract work that is derived from earlier realistic works, as in the A* A Level example below by Hania Cho:

realism to abstraction in A Level Art — This project begins with precise, meticulous realistic drawing, moves towards impressionism and finally abstraction. This allows a student to benefit from speed in the later stages of the work, while still having the opportunity to flaunt superb observational drawing skill.

Another equally successful strategy is to incorporate realistic elements with abstract works, creating a work that is part realistic, part abstract.

Part of an AS Art examination by Nikau Hindin:

A Level Art painting of fruit — Excerpts from this AS Art examination show realistically depicted rotting fruit (partially complete, with edges trailing away) painted upon a rich, torn, abstract background.

12. Use a bigger brush

There is something surprisingly liberating about painting with a bigger brush – especially if you have previously worked at a microscopic scale, picking out detail the size of a pin prick. You will soon discover that it is just as easy to achieve clean edges with a larger brush and that an unexpected level of detail can be achieved. Most enjoy picking up a larger brush – even if this just becomes a way for creating grounds and applying background layers.

Daily paintings by artist Cathleen Rehfeld:

Cathleen Rehfeld art — Cathleen Rehfeld paints a new painting each day and shares it on her blog. It is evident that a larger brush does not impinge upon your ability to record tone, capture lighting conditions or render form: rather, it creates refreshingly raw and soulful images: painterly snapshots in time.

13. Be more gestural

Instead of artwork being a laborious process that grinds away for days, images can be created quickly, using rich, expressive mark-making. Those who have only produced realist, tightly controlled drawings usually take some time to adapt to this approach and not all students find it easy; selection of the right drawing tools and mediums can help. Charcoal, chunky 5mm wide graphite leads, Indian ink, big brushes and paint applied with pieces of card all lend themselves to gestural mark-making (please read Beyond the Brush: Inventive Mixed Media Techniques if you are looking for more ideas). Even if this style of working is not your preference and not something you wish to pursue, it can be useful to practise, particularly when planning compositions and drawing from life.

Paintings by artist Jason Shawn Alexander:

Jason Shawn Alexander art — These stunning paintings by Jason Shawn Alexander have tighter, more realist faces, with surrounding areas becoming gradually more gestural and abstract. This is a superb strategy for creating focal points and creating rich, gutsy images that command attention.

Compositional sketches and a final painting by artist Edward Hopper:

Edward Hopper drawing — Even if a final work is realistic and tightly controlled, compositional sketches can be much rougher. This is an excellent method of working, when quickly testing and trialling ideas.

14. Trace or photocopy your own drawings

Tracing is frowned upon in most circumstances (see our article about observational drawing for more on this), however there are occasions when tracing is a valuable strategy in a high school Art project. For example, a compositional plan could be quickly enlarged on a photocopier and traced/modified as required, instead of being redrawn at a larger scale; an existing drawing could be traced or photocopied in order to trial application of a different medium or technique (this should be kept to a minimum, however, to ensure that your work doesn’t become too repetitive); repeat patterns could be traced; or different drawings could be overlaid and arranged together, tracing the composite work.

A Level Art Coursework by Nikau Hindin:

A Level Art portraiture — You will note that the figure at the far right in the first work has been repeated in both works. A number of other time-saving strategies have also been used in the second work, such as painting on a ground, fading images away, using line only in places and incorporating abstract elements.

15. Use digital manipulation

Scanning existing artworks and editing and combining these with other artworks holds exciting promise for Painting / Fine Art students. Once a student has practised using image manipulation software (such as Adobe Fireworks or Photoshop) creating images and then printing them can be a very fast way to create amazing artworks.

Digitally manipulated images from Nikau Hindin’s A Level Art Coursework Project:

art by Nikau Gabrielle Hindin — These images were created in Photoshop, using scanned images of paintings that were digitally overlaid using different transparencies, with text added. Professionally printed onto high quality paper, these works integrate seamlessly with other hand-generated works.

OUTDOOR Painting composition Tips

Painting Composition Tip 1: Are You Using a Viewfinder?

If painting from the real world - whether landscape, still life or portrait, or to

create an abstract composition - use a viewfinder to isolate your subject

and the key elements in a scene, check their placement, and determine

the format.

Painting Composition Tip 2: Where is the Focal Point?

The focal point is the thing that is the main subject of the painting. The

focal point should draw the viewer's eye to it. Place the focal point on one

of the 'intersection spots' from the Rule of Thirds, then check the other

elements in the painting, which should lead the eye towards this point. It

doesn't have to be an overt 'path', such as a road leading to a house; it can

be more subtle, an implied line such as a color repeated in flowers. (Also,

don't try to include too much in one painting.)

Painting Composition Tip 3: Are the Values Varied? Is There Contrast?

Do a thumbnail sketch of your painting's composition in just three values:

white (light), black (dark), and grey (mid-tone). Now check how much of

each value there is in the drawing. For a strong composition, you want

them to be in quite different amounts, not similar. Try this rule to start: "two

thirds, one third, and a little bit." For example, two thirds dark in tone, one

third light in tone, and a small area or object that's mid-tone. Often the

focal point is the area where there is greatest contrast in value.

Painting Composition Tip 4: How Many Elements are There?

Have an odd number of elements in the painting rather than even. For the

reasons why, see Composition Class: Choosing the Number of Elements.

Painting Composition Tip 5: How Are the Elements Spaced?

It's rare to find neat and orderly arrangements of elements in nature. Just

think of the difference between a natural forest, where the trees grow any

which way, and a plantation, where the trees are planted in evenly spaced

rows. Varying the space between the elements in your composition, the

angles at which they lie, and their sizes makes a painting more interesting.

Painting Composition Tip 6: Are Any Elements Kissing?

Kissing, in this context, means just touching. Elements must either be

definitely apart or definitely overlapping. No kissing please, as this creates

a weak, connected shape which will distract the viewer's eye, causing a

momentary pause as they puzzle it out.

Painting Composition Tip 7: Do Warm or Cool Colors Dominate?

It doesn't matter whether the overall feeling of the color in a painting is

warm or cool, it just shouldn't try to be both.

Painting Composition Tip 8: Is There Unity?

Do the elements in the painting's composition feel they belong together, or

are they separate bits that just happen to be in the same painting?

Sometimes simplifying a painting and creating more negative space can

help create unity. You can also help unify a painting coloristically by glazing

over the whole painting with a single color; you can always touch up the

highlights again if necessary.

Painting Composition Tip 9: Is There Variety?

A painting should have variety as well as unity. Change any of the elements

of art to create variety within the composition - for example, a curved line

to offset straight lines, a spot of red against a green background. Don't get

stuck in a rut and use the same composition all the time, either, no matter

how successful it is. Vary the size, vary where you put the horizon line,

where you put the focal point, swap between portrait (vertical) and

landscape (horizontal) shaped canvases. You can even try shaped

canvases.

Painting Composition Tip 10: Is the Underlying Composition Obvious?

The painting isn't finished yet if the first thoughts of someone seeing your

painting is going to be analytical: "There's the focal point, with a spot of

yellow to highlight it; that line there leads my eye in; that object was placed

there for balance, etc." Run through a checklist for helping you determine

whether your painting is finished, including whether your composition is

strong and helps your painting convey the message you intended.

_________________________________________

Vocabulary List:

Please study and think about how you can visually show these (or rather draw/paint these) for your quiz.

Hue: the attribute of colors that permits them to be classed as red, yellow, green, blue, or an intermediate between any contiguous pair of these colors — compare brightness, lightness, saturation

Value: relative lightness or darkness of a color : luminosity, the relation of one part in a picture to another with respect to lightness and darkness

Saturation: chromatic purity : freedom from dilution with white: degree of difference from the gray having the same lightness —used of an object color : degree of difference from the achromatic light-source color of the same brightness —used of a light-source color — compare hue

Intensity: the magnitude of a quantity (as force or energy) per unit (as of area, charge, mass, or time)

Chroma: a quality of color combining hue and saturation

Temperature: degree of hotness or coldness measured on a definite scale

Local Color: the presentation of the features and peculiarities of a particular locality and its inhabitants in writing

Complimentary: relating to or constituting one of a pair of contrasting colors that produce a neutral color when combined in suitable proportions

Split Complimentaries: separate pair of contrasting colors that produce a neutral color when combined in suitable proportions

Analogous colors: like colors, similar in value and hue on the color wheel, adjacent

Tint: a variation of a color produced by adding white to it and characterized by a low saturation with relatively high lightness

Shade: a color slightly different from the one under consideration, adding black to a color to make it darker

Additive & subtractive color process: adding and taking away paint

Highlight: the lightest spot or area (as in a painting) : any of several spots in a modeled drawing or painting that receives the greatest amount of illumination

Midtone: a shade in between two tones

Shadow: A darkness created by another object from light in one direction

Shadow core: the light spot at the center of a shadow where the light is reflected through

Re-reflected light: light that is reflected from one surface to the other and reflected back with a different shade and pattern

Chromatic gray/neutral: a color gray or neutral and all the colors that fall under that shade

High key: the highest chrome in the work

Low key: the lowest hue in the work

Texture: a difference in surface heights that appear as thick and thin layers of paint

Palette Knife: tool used to apply paint directly to the surface and mix colors on your palette

Under-painting: A light application of one color that is done to establish value of a painting before the full color palette is used.

Washes of Paint: Applications of paint that are diluted with gamsol, damar varnish, galkyd or linseed oil to increase transparency in color.

Dry Brush: paint is applied to the surface with only paint and no other medium or gamsol mixed into the color

Rubbing: alternative

ADDITIONAL VOCAB

painting vocabulary

VOCABULARY

Positive Space: The figure(s) or object(s) or tangible thing(s) in a composition. Sometimes an object can be both positive and negative depending on its relationship to other tangible things in the composition.

Negative Space: The “empty” areas; the space that exists between, around, and behind tangible forms and in part defines tangible forms. Negative space is as significant in a composition as positive space.

Proportion: The relative size or amount of one element to another.

Planes: Imaginary, transparent flat surfaces, infinite in size.

Picture Plane: The area the canvas takes up containing what happens in/on it

Framing: The edges that define the given space in which a work of art is composed. 

Value: The relative degree of lightness or darkness given to an area by the amount of light reflected from it. High value means approaching white. Low value means approaching black. 

Volume: The size of a three-dimensional space enclosed within or occupied by an object. In a drawing we create the illusion of volume in a 2-dimensional plane.

Linear: Relating to, consisting of, or using lines. 

Composition: The way that the elements (formal components) are arranged in a given space. 

Figure/Ground Relationship: Similar to the positive/negative space relationship, the ground represents the picture plane or the surface of the paper. 

Balance: A feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various visual elements within the pictorial field as a means of accomplishing unity. 

Symmetrical Balance: A form of balance achieved by the use of identical compositional units on either side of a vertical axis within the confining pictorial space. This creates a static, formal composition.

Asymmetrical Balance: A form of balance attained when the visual units on either side of a vertical axis are identical, but are placed within the pictorial field so as to create a “felt” equilibrium. This creates a more dynamic composition. 

Repetition: In repetition, some visual element(s) are repeated, providing stepping stones for our eye to follow.

Rhythm: The orderly repetition of visual elements or repetition in a marked pattern, which creates flowing movement.

Pattern: A two-dimensional application of rhythm or repetition, such as the repeated motif in a wallpaper or textile design.

Biomorphic shapes: Irregular, curvilinear shapes resembling living organisms.

Geometric shapes: Triangle, rectangle, circle, or composites thereof.

Texture: the surface quality or “feel” of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures can be actual or simulated. Actual textures can be felt with the fingers, while simulated textures are visually suggested by an artist when drawing things like drapery, metal, rocks, hair, etc.

Surface: the outside part or uppermost layer of something (often used when describing its texture, form, or extent)

Installation:  the way art is installed: the way it alters the way a space is experienced, as a gallery; an exhibition of such artworks: An art installation means taking a large interior and loading it with disparate items that evoke complex and multiple associations and thoughts, longings, and moods.

Media: materials used to make the work- the ground and the mark making materials

2D: having the dimensions of height and width only: shape

Shape: the external form or appearance characteristic of someone or something; the outline of an area or figure.

3D: having, or seeming to have, the dimension of depth as well as width and height. Form

Form: at its most basic, a form is a three-dimensional geometrical figure (i.e.: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, etc.), as opposed to a shape, which is two-dimensional, or flat.

Formal: form refers to the visible elements of a piece, independent of their meaning. For example, when viewing Leonardo's Mona Lisa, the formal elements therein are: color, dimension, lines, mass, shape, etc

Focal Point: Area of highest visual interest in a composition. Composition lines lead the viewer’s eye toward the focal point. It usually consists of a shape with the greatest meaning, greatest or smallest size, greatest controlled central position.

Subjective: existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought (opposed to objective ).

Objective: Existing independent of or external to the mind; actual or real: objective reality. Based on observable phenomena; empirical: Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices

Abstract: simplification and alteration of forms to present the essence of objects, people, or places

Analogous Colors: colors that are side by side on the color wheel and have a common hue 

Color Scheme: plan for organizing colors (monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triad, split complementary, warm, and cool)

Color Wash or Glaze: to apply a thin second color on top of a first, allowing the undercoat to show through

Color Wheel: radial diagram of colors in which primary and secondary, and sometimes intermediate colors are displayed as an aid to color identification, choosing, and mixing

Complements: colors opposite each other on the color wheel

Composition: the organization or arrangement of a work of art 

Cool colors: violets, blue-greens and blues (colors that recede) 

Earth colors: colors including yellow ochre, burnt umber, raw sienna, and burnt sienna 

Focal point: portion of an artwork's composition on which interest or attention centers 

Gesso: white mixture of chalky pigment combined with glue used to prepare a canvas for painting

Hard Edge: edges of shapes are crisp and sharp, not blurred

Impasto: thick textured build up of a picture's surface which is created through the repeated applications of paint

Intensity: brightness or dullness of a color 

Intermediate color: color made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color (ie: red orange) tertiary colors

Juxtaposition: in painting, the close placement of colors on forms side by side, often oppositional

Limited Palette: a palette of just three paints such as blue, yellow and an earth color

Local Color: Natural color of a subject

Luminocity: exceptional brightness and clarity

Matte: Lacking highlights or gloss

Monochromatic: consisting of one color and it’s tints and shades

Neutral Colors: Neutral colors include browns, blacks, grays, and whites. A color can be neutralized by adding some of its complement to it.

Opaque: opposite of transparent. Pigment does not allow underneath colors to show through

Primary Colors: (blue, red, yellow) cannot be made from mixtures of other colors 

Prime: to prepare a canvas, usually with gesso

Saturation: intensity of a color

Secondary Colors: colors obtained by mixing equal amounts of two primary colors

Solvent: liquid that controls the thickness, or thinness of paint

Medium: Material you mix with paint to extend the paint and make it easier to work with, thicker or thinner

Split complements: one color and the colors on each side of its complement on the color wheel (ie: red, yellow green and blue green)

Subjective color: colors that have no connection with object reality

Tertiary colors: colors made by mixing a primary color with its adjacent secondary color (ie: red and orange = red orange)

Tint: light value of a color, made by mixing the color with white 
Triad: three colors equally spaced on the color wheel (red, yellow and blue form a triad) do (orange, green and violet form a triad)

Trompe L’oiel: to paint a subject on a wall or furniture so realistically it “fools the eye” 

Warm Colors: (red, orange, and yellow) warm colors seems to move toward the viewer 

Stretcher: wooden strips of varying lengths fitted together to make a support frame for canvas

Critique: reflection or discussion when dealing with works of art

Dyptic: a work of art in two sections or parts

Craftsmanship: quality of what a person does

Resources for Artists

Books to get you started:

Vitamin D (Phaidon Press) A huge book with nearly 500 images of drawings by contemporary artists, along with descriptions and analysis.
Drawing Projects: An Exploration of the Language of Drawing (Black Dog Publishing) ten key contemporary artists and illustrators reveal their working environments and practices, and there are 15 exercises to work through
John Berger - Ways of Seeing. One of the most stimulating and the most influential books on art in any language.

Blogs and Website to Follow:

The Jealous Curator
Art Forum
Art 21 Blog
Art F City
The Bomb
Contemporary Art Daily
Two Coats of Paint
Painter’s Table: highlights writing from the painting blogosphere as it is published and serves as a platform for exploring blogs that focus primarily on the subject of painting.
HyperAllergic: reviews of contemporary art, with info about artists.
Juxtapoz: A beautiful website featuring emerging artists and illustrators.
Contemporary Daily Art: One of the most famous art blogs, offering a real dose of inspiration to art lovers.
Arrested Motion: Online magazine providing exclusive worldwide coverage of the low brow, urban and contemporary art scene on the daily.
We Heart: We Heart explores the intersections between arts and culture, and lifestyle, living and travel.
Beautiful/Decay: A former printed publication that now has an online home, sharing the same exciting content that made Beautiful/Decay a widely loved and revered creative bible.
My Modern Met: My Modern Met is where art enthusiasts and trend-spotters connect over creative ideas
Colossal: Colossal is a Webby-nominated blog that explores art and other aspects of visual culture. And it's bloomin' lovely.
Drawn: Still one of the biggest and best blogs to go to for illustration inspiration, Drawn is all the daily dose you'll need to be inspired by a whole range of different artwork.
IllustrationFriday: Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.
Brown Paper Bag: An interesting blog that celebrates beautiful illustration in creative and clever ways.
Hi-Fructose is a quarterly print art magazine,focuses squarely on the art which transcends genre and trend, assuring readers thorough coverage and content that is informative and original.
BOOOOM: It is Canada’s highest traffic art blog and an authoritative voice in the new contemporary arts scene, highlighting emerging talents, and launching the careers of many young artists internationally.

Painting 1 / Fall 2017

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Resources