Art Is Good

Select 1 of the images provided.  Copy text below into your own blog.  Under each heading (Describe, Analyze, Interpret, Judge) respond to the statements and erase the “directions” text.   Post the image you choose and your 4 part Critique to your own blog.

Describe
This stage is like taking inventory. You want to come up with a list of everything you see in the
work. Stick to the facts. Imagine that you are describing the artwork to someone over the
telephone. Express what you see in detail.

Analyze
Try to figure out what the artist has done to achieve certain effects. Consider different elements
and principles used by the artist and why the artist might have chosen to incorporate these
essentials.
• Questions to consider:
o Use the vocabulary you learned in class. For example, if you’re looking at mostly
red, yellow and blue refer to the colors as primary colors.
o How are the elements of art (color, shape, line, texture, space, form, value) and
the principles of design (balance, harmony, emphasis, movement/rhythm, unity,
variety) used in this artwork?
o What do you notice about the artist’s choice of materials?
o What grabs your attention in the work, why?
o Do you see any relationship to the things you listed during the description stage?

Interpret
Try to figure out what the artwork is about. Your own perspectives, associations and experiences
meet with “the evidence” found in the work of art. All art works are about something. Some art
works are about color, their subject matter, and social or cultural issues. Some art works are very
accessible — that is, relatively easy for the viewer to understand what the artist was doing.
Other works are highly intellectual, and might not be as easy for us to readily know what the
artist was thinking about.
• Questions to consider:
o What is the theme or subject of the work? (What from the artwork gives you
that impression?)
o What mood or emotions does the artwork communicate?
o What is the work about; what do you think it means or what does it mean to
you? (What from the artwork gives you that impression?)
o Why do you think that artist created this work?

Evaluate
This is a culminating and reflecting activity. You need to come to some conclusions about the
artwork based on all the information you have gathered from your description, analysis, and
interpretation.
• Questions to consider:
o What are your thoughts on the artwork based on the three steps above and why?
o Why do you like or dislike the artwork (explain).
o What have you seen or learned from this work that you might apply to your own
artwork or your own thinking?