REQUIREMENTS: 2 FULL pages, double spaced, 12pt font in Times or 11pt font in Calibri
1. Include a ticket stub, or a receipt, a printed out picture of you with the artwork or at the museum if photography is not allowed. Must be current.
2. Include a picture of the artwork (your own picture or one from the museum) and FULL credit line.
3. Address why you selected that particular work of art? What made it attractive to you? What sort of emotional reaction did you have to the work?
4. Describe the subject matter. You might need to do some extra research on this if it is not clear upfront. What is actually being represented? Is the work a portrait, a still life, a landscape? Is it a religious or mythological image? Is it telling a story? If so, what is the source of the story? Are there any symbols in the work? What do they mean? What do you think the work meant to the people or artist who created the work? If it’s an installation, what is like to be in the space? How many people can experience it at one time? Why is this?
5. Analyze the formal elements of the work using the terms that you will find later in this chapter: form and composition, line, texture, mass and volume. Study the color, describing the hues the artist used, the value, saturation and intensity of the hues, and whether the artist emphasized contrasting colors or colors that were very close to each other.
Examples: Consider how the artist organized the forms: the so-called design principles of balance, rhythm, proportion, etc. Is there a focal point or do the forms seem randomly placed? Do diagonal lines or verticals and horizontals dominate? Do the forms seem smooth or jagged, regular or irregular, symmetrical or asymmetrical, dynamic or static? Do the forms seem to stay on the surface or recede into the picture space? Is the space shallow or deep? Did the artist use perspective and foreshortening to create recession?
6. Consider how effectively the artist used the materials and the formal elements to create a particular impression or to illustrate the theme of the work. How successful do you think the artist was? 7. Lastly, do some research. How does the artwork fit into its appropriate time period? How does the meaning of the artwork reflect the artist, the time period, culture, and the context? Who is the artist? What other notable artworks did they create? What was the time period like? What were some of the characteristics of artworks during that time?