Art with Ms. Doyle

Grade 9 - 12 Painting critique

Part of developing your skills as an artist is knowing how to properly critique, and describe art works other than your own. You need to be mature with your opinions and answers and avoid writing basic responses to each question.

You are responsible for analysing a painting of your choice from the images at the bottom of this post.

Below is a basic structure of how to write a case study. Your writing should continually flow rather than be short disjointed answers to each question.

Step 1 - Copy and paste these questions into a word document

Step 2 - Choose an art work from the bottom of this post and paste it into your word document

Step 3 - Answer the questions

Step 4 - Begin forming paragraphs from the answers to your questions (see example case study below) Hint - pretend you are writing this article for an art magazine

Looking at art: Seeing Questions.

Describe it.

What kinds of things do you see in this painting? What else do you see?

What words would you use to describe this painting? What other words might we use?

How would you describe the lines in this picture? The shapes? The colors? What does this painting show?

Look at this painting for a moment. What observations can you make about it?

How would you describe this painting to a person who could not see it?

How would you describe the people in this picture? Are they like you or different?*

How would you describe (the place depicted in) this painting?

Relate it.

What does this painting remind you of?

What things do you recognize in this painting? What things seem new to you?

How is this picture different from real life?

What interests you most about this work of art?

Analyze it.

Which objects seems closer to you? Further away?

What can you tell me about the colors in this painting?

What color is used the most in this painting?

What makes this painting look crowded?

What can you tell me about the person in this painting?

What can you tell me about how this person lived? How did you arrive at that idea?

What do you think is the most important part of this picture?

How do you think the artist made this work?

What questions would you ask the artist about this work, if s/he were here?

Evaluate it.

What do you think is good about this painting? What is not so good?

Do you think the person who painted this do a good or bad job? What makes you think so?

Why do you think other people should see this work of art?

What do you think other people would say about this work? Why do you think that?

What grade would you give the artist for this work? How did you arrive at that grade? *

What would you do with this work if you owned it?

What do you think is worth remembering about this painting?

EXAMPLE CASE STUDY.

The painting is a basic gestural representation of a typical English landscape. Mountains dominate the painting and small green trees can be seen in the foreground. The painting is has been created using a dark palette of colors that are split up by small beams and shards of bright colors. The most obvious example of this can be seen at the top of the painting where five shards of sun light are cast upon a red mountain top. The lines that make up the painting are built up using layers of colors and framed by thinner black outlines. The painting is relaxing in mood and appears to show an autumnal dawn. If I had to describe the picture to a person without sight I would describe the painting as a having a jigsaw like composition, made up of layers sections.

The painting reminds me of walking through welsh countryside when the sun is bursting through the clouds. I can recognize the beauty in the countryside but the use of different shades of blue within the painting are a new observation I have made. The picture is different from a realistic country scene because of the artist’s use of bold and bright colours. The use of these unusual layered colours has drawn me to this painting of Geoffrey Key’s.

Most of the objects in the painting appear to be at a distance, obviously the mountain in the background appear further away. The colours used in the painting are muted colours that have been applied in layers. Various tones of yellow and orange are most prominent in the painting, this gives a sense of warmth to the viewer. The trees in the bottom right hand corner are the only section of the painting that appears crowded, this helps communicate the idea of a dense forest. I think the artist has created the work by using layers of acrylic paint and gouache applied with a palette knife. I think he has then worked back into the painting with a fine paint brush and black paint creating areas of definition. IF I had the opportunity to discuss the piece with the artist I would asked him to describe how he had created the work, and also where he found inspiration.

I think the way in which the artist has captured the scene is very effective, it is a unusual representation of the countryside. To improve the painting I believe the artist could have captured further detail by adding more definition using the black lines. I think the artist has done a fantastic job at capturing the spirit of the countryside. I think the work belongs in a well lit large neutral coloured room to draw attention to the piece. The most valuable visual piece of information I have taken form this painting is how effective layering painting and materials can be. Geoffrey Key’s Use of layered paint emphasizes the shadows and areas of light within the scenery he has observed.