Art Critique Paper

ARTS 1301 | Art Appreciation
Art Critique Paper
Due: TBD
Required Details: cover page (include your name, assignment, course/class
meeting time, date submitted), minimum of 500 words/2 pages, typed, 12 pt font,
double spaced, submit by the due date (no emailed papers please)
First, select an artwork in D2L. After you select one of the artworks that are
provided in D2L, read through the following sections and prompts to have a good
idea as to what your paper will need to include.
Most importantly, this is a paper about YOUR description and YOUR opinions. Take
time to write about all of the details in the artwork, and note your initial reactions
and thoughts during this time.
Required Format: Use the following prompts to help guide the writing about
the artwork you select. (Not all questions need to be answered)
I. Describe: Tell what you see (the visual facts).
1.(required) What is the name of the artist who created the artwork?
2.(required) What kind of artwork is it?
3.(required) What is the name of the artwork?
4.(required) When was the artwork created?
5. What do you notice first when you look at the work(s)? Why?
6. What kinds of colors do you see? How would you describe them?
7. What shapes can we see? What kind of edges do the shapes have?
8. Are there lines in the work(s)? If so, what kinds of lines are they?
9. What sort of textures do you see? How would you describe them?
10. What time of day/night is it? How can we tell?
11. What is the overall visual effect or mood of the work?
II. Analyze: Mentally separate the parts or elements, thinking in terms of
textures, shapes/forms, light/dark or bright/dull colors, types of lines, and
sensory qualities. In this step consider the most significant art principles
that were used in the artwork.
Describe how the artist used them to organize the elements. Suggested questions to
help with analysis:
1. How has the artist used colors in the work(s)?
2. What sort of effect do the colors have on the artwork?
3. How as the artist used shapes within the work of art?
4. How have lines been used in the work(s)? Has the artist used them
as an important or dominant part of the work, or do they play a different
role?
5. What role does texture play in the work(s)? Has the artist used the illusion
of texture or has the artist used actual texture? How has texture been used within
the work?
6. How has the artist used light in the work(s)? Is there the illusion of a scene
with lights and shadows, or does the artist use light and dark values in a more
abstracted way?
7. How has the overall visual effect or mood of the work been achieved by the
use of elements of art and principles of design?
8. How were the artists design tools used to achieve a particular look or focus?
III. Interpretation: An interpretation seeks to explain the meaning of the
work based on what you have learned so far about the artwork, what do you
think the artist was trying to say?
1. What was the artist’s idea/statement/message in this work?
2. What do you think it means?
3. What does it mean to you?
4. How does this relate to you and your life?
5. What feelings do you have when looking at this artwork?
6. Do you think there are things in the artwork that represent other things–symbols?
7. Why do you think that the artist chose to work in this manner and made
these kinds of artistic decisions?
8. Why did the artist create this artwork?
IV. Judgment: After careful observation, analysis, and interpretation of
an artwork, you are ready to make your own judgment. This is your
personal evaluation based on the understandings of the work(s). Here are
questions you might consider:
1. Why do you think that this work has intrinsic value or worth? What is the
value that you find in the work(s)? (For example, it is a beautiful work of art,
conveys an important social message, affects the way that I see the world, makes
insightful connections, reaffirms a religious belief, etc.)
2. Do you think that the work(s) has a benefit for others? Do you find that the
work communicates an idea, feeling or principle that would have value for others?
3. What kind of effect do you think the work could have for others?
4. Does the work lack value or worth? Why do you think this is so? Could
the reason you find the work lacking comes from poor use of the elements of
art? Could the subject matter by unappealing, unimaginative, or repulsive?