How do you examine art?



The first thing you should do when analyzing an artwork is to break it down in terms of the visual elements. What do you see in terms of lines, shapes, colors and textures? By doing this, you will be able to objectively analyze what you are seeing.

What are the 4 steps of evaluating art?

Evaluating a work of art isn’t as difficult as it may seem. There are four basic steps: describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating.

How do you formally analyze art?

The goal of a formal analysis is to explain how the formal elements of a work of art affect the representation of the subject matter and expressive content. The emphasis should be on analyzing the formal elements—not interpreting the artwork.

How do you describe art?





Use words such as lustrous, shadowy, radiant, glossy, and saturated when describing colors. These words articulate the depth of the color. The average person will see your artwork in a different light if you describe it using words that connect your artwork to the smell and feeling of everyday objects.

What is the first step in critiquing art?

Description. The first step in art criticism is description. When we look at a work of art, our minds naturally take notice of the general information that’s present. If we take The Mona Lisa for example, we notice, “Hey, this is a painting of a woman.”

Why do we analyze art?

The purpose of a visual analysis is to recognize and understand the visual choices the artist made in creating the artwork. By observing and writing about separate parts of the art object, you will come to a better understanding of the art object as a whole.