Assignment Task:
Introduction:
These evaluations are for helping you practice writing about art. They are also here so that you get more practice looking for visual evidence and relating that to the effect or meaning of the artwork as a whole.
Understanding a work of art really means thinking about the artist's choices. Everything in a work of art the artist has chosen to put there or chosen to let it to remain there. An artwork is really just a big pile of choices, and if we think about each of those choices, we can come to a better understanding of the work. Each choice is an expression. Why this kind of line, or that kind of shape, or this color rather than a different line, shape or color, or even none at all? How we interpret, think and feel about a work is based on the total effect of these choices.
The first set of choices to think about are the Visual Elements. Like the individual words in a paragraph or tones in a song, visual elements don't convey the whole experience on their own, but they are a vital part to building it. When thinking about a work of art, looking at each visual element and how it is used or not used and what that conveys tells us a little bit more about what's going on.
Unit Learning Outcomes
The student will demonstrate that they can:
- Describe the different qualities that line might possess
- Differentiate between Shape and Mass
- Describe the ways in which artists use light to represent space and model form.
- Explain how color might be used both in representational painting and as a symbolic tool.
- Outline some of the ways in which time and motion inform our experience of visual art.
Directions:
- Take a look at the image of the painting Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps by Kehinde Wiley (2005).Download Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps by Kehinde Wiley (2005).
- Review your reading and/or the videos about artistic elements.
- Writea paragraph for each item on the list below explaining how each artistic element is used in this artwork. Use specific examples.
- This is not an essay. Introduction and conclusion paragraphs are not necessary. Just write the individual paragraphs on the elements
For each item below, write a paragraph describing how this artist uses the element in their artwork. Use specific examples.
- Paragraph 1. Line
- Paragraph 2. Choose one: shape or space
- Paragraph 3. Choose one: light or color
- Paragraph 4. Choose one: texture or time or motion