Name(s)
ART CRITICISM
A way to talk about artName of the work __ Artist’s name __
Size Medium ____ Date ____
STEP 1: The Facts--Describe what you see in the painting
- LINES What kinds of lines do you see?
sharp thick jagged heavy choppy vertical diagonal
horizontal graceful straight curved thin fuzzy smooth - SHAPES What kinds of shapes do you see?
circles rectangles curved soft-edged squares triangles
angular hard-edged - TEXTURES What kinds of textures do you see?
rough smooth shiny soft hard dull - COLORS What kinds of colors do you see? bright soft dark strong
WARM COLORS: reds oranges yellows
COOL COLORS: blues greens violets
NEUTRAL COLORS: browns grays whites
OPPOSITE COLORS: blues and oranges red and greens yellow and violets - OBJECTS What kinds of objects do you see? There are no objects
young people old people buildings boats animals trees
sky rocks water food musical instruments _ others ____
STEP 2: Analysis--Look at the way facts are put together
- BALANCE: What kind of balance is used?
symmetrical (each side of the painting is the same)
asymmetrical (each side of the painting is different)
__ a bit symmetrical (each side is a little different) - LIGHT AREAS: Squint your eyes and look at the painting. Where do you see the MOST
light areas?
right side left side bottom top middle ____ - DARK AREAS: Squint your eyes and look at the painting. Where do you see the MOST
dark areas?
right side left side bottom top __ middle ___ - FOCAL POINT: What is the first thing that you see when you look at the painting?
- SPACE (not outer space!): What kind of space is used?
deep space (painting looks like you can see for miles)
shallow space (you cannot see very far)
__ flat space (things do not seem very 3-dimensional)