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ART: HOW TO VIEW, APPRECIATE, & DISCUSS |
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© 2009 The Flash
List |
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Maybe you’ve walked
through an art exhibit at one point or another and thought, “I
could’ve done that!” Or maybe you’ve looked at a piece of art and
wondered what in the world the artist was thinking. Well, the
next time you stroll through a museum, whether
or not you figure out what the artist was thinking, here are some
questions to get yourself thinking: |
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The Elements of Art
and Design |
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Line |
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Does the work of art have lines that seem to cause your eye to move in a certain direction or to a
specific focal point? Are the lines clearly defined or are they implied by
the edges of two colors coming together? |
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Color |
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Do the colors seem warm (reds, oranges, yellows) or do
they seem cool (greens, blues, purples)? Do the colors elicit an
emotional response - peacefulness, coziness, barrenness, coldness, anger, etc.?
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Texture
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What type of texture can you see? Does the artwork seem
rough or smooth or soft or hard or a mixture? Is the texture real
(tactile) or implied (visual only)? |
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Shape |
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Do you see geometric shapes such as rectangles or triangles,
or do you see irregular organic shapes? Are they simplified and
abstract or do many smaller shapes come together to present a
detailed work? |
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Form |
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What
three dimensional shapes do you see? Do they change as
you view the piece from different angles? How do the
forms relate to one another and how do they affect the
piece as a whole? |
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Space |
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What techniques
does the artist use to make a two dimensional piece seem three
dimensional? Do some elements seem to come toward the foreground
while others seem to recede back? What types of secondary shapes
are left in the background? |
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Value |
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Are the colors light or dark or do they offer contrast?
Are the colors bright and intense or dull and grayed out? What
purpose does that serve the work? |
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The Principles of
Art and Design |
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Emphasis |
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What in the piece grabs your attention? How is this
achieved? Where is the focal point and how is it important to the
work? |
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Balance |
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Does the art seem to have equal ‘weight’ on each side, or
does it look heavier in one area as if it might tip? Does one
aspect of the piece seem to be overbearing, or is a sense of overall
stability achieved? |
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Harmony |
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Do the individual parts of the piece seem to ‘match’?
Do they work together as a whole or do they seem to be in conflict? |
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Variety |
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What types of interesting differences can you see? Is
interest created by the use of varying colors or different
thicknesses of lines or contrasting shapes? |
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Movement |
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Is there a feeling of action? Does it seem exciting or
mellow? Is your eye directed in a particular systematic way? |
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Rhythm |
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Do you see a particular pattern or repetition? Is the
pattern one of color or light or shapes or something else? How does
the pattern seem to cause movement in the artwork? |
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Proportion |
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Do the objects seem to be related by scale and size? Or are
they intentionally disproportionate; and if so, for what purpose? |
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Unity |
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Do the parts of the work of art seem to be disjointed or does
the piece seem to come together as a whole? Do you feel a sense of
cohesion and completeness? |
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A Few
Characteristics of Main Art Periods |
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Antiquities |
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Before 500 years
BC |
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Very old items that
look like something you’d find on an archaeological dig. |
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Greeks And Romans |
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500 BC to 500 AD |
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Look for marble
statues of seminude figures, many with broken limbs. |
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Medieval |
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500 to 1500 |
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Primitive looking,
mostly religious relics that tend to be flat looking. |
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Renaissance |
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1400 to 1520 |
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Use of perspective
in highly realistic renderings. |
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Four famous period
artists were Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. |
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Baroque |
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1600 to 1725 |
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Dramatic,
impressive, lots of detail. |
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Neoclassical |
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1700 to 1800 |
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Reintroduction and
romanticizing of classical elements and themes. |
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Realism |
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1800 to 1880 |
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Artists painted
what they saw instead of what they imagined. |
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Modern Art |
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1800 - present |
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Art that breaks
with
former tradition and formal rules.
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Impressionism |
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1870 to 1900 |
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Many tiny ‘dots’ of
paint that add up to one big picture. |
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Post Impressionism |
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1880 to 1920 |
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Thicker ‘swipes’ or
larger 'dots' of paint that add up to one big picture. |
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Cubism |
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1900 to 1920 |
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Using cubes or
geometrical shapes, viewing more than one perspective at a time. |
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Abstract |
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1912 to present |
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No subject
represented at all. Splotches of color. |
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Surrealism |
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1920 to present |
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Weird stuff you
might see in a strange dream. |
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So begin viewing
art and creating your own thoughts and opinions about what you
admire as well as what you can ‘appreciate’ (but maybe wouldn’t have
hanging on your living room wall.) Just start looking around
- art
is everywhere! |
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Artwork: |
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Portrait of an ancient Egyptian
official. |
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Marble sculpture in The Louvre.
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Medieval paintings in a small
temple in Hungary. |
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Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. |
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Baroque Church in
Vienna, Austria. |
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Vincent Van Gogh's Self Portrait. |
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Work by Pablo Picasso. |
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Piet Mondrian’s Composition With
Red Blue Yellow. |
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Work by Alecsandro Andrade de Melo. |
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MORE FLASHPOINTS >> |
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MORE ARTS >> |
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INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. |
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PLEASE CONFIRM DETAILS WITH ALL VENUES BEFORE PLANNING
YOUR TRIP. |
