Assessing Visual Art

Analyzing, Interpreting, and Assessing Visual Art
• Describe the artwork in terms of the six elements of visual design: line, space, light and color, texture, pattern, and time and motion. Focus on the elements that are most relevant to your selected work of art.
A line is a path left by a moving point. There are four main functions of a line, they are: to outline a shape; to create movement or emphasis; to develop pattern and texture, and also to shade and model using techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching and stippling. To further define a line, there is more than one type. There are an actual line which is a visible mark made by a type of medium, there is psychic line where there is no real line yet one of is felt, another type can
Focus on the principles that are most relevant to your selected work of art.
Design is the qualities of balance, emphasis, proportion & scale, rhythm & repetition, and unity & variety. There are five principals of design: balance, emphasis and focal point, scale and proportion, repetition and rhythm, and unity and variety. There are three types of balance: symmetrical balance, asymmetrical balance and radical balance. In symmetrical balance there is absolute symmetry where each side is exactly the same, however, bilateral symmetry is where each side is almost the same. Asymmetrical balance is where it is not the same on either side, however, it is not out of balance. Radical balance is where everything radiates outward from a central point. Then there is emphasis and focal points. Focal point is the area in a pictorial composition which artists can employ emphasis to draw attention. Afocal: no focal point which deletes a specific point of emphasis, but provides no place for our eyes to rest. Scale is used to describe the dimensional of an art object in relation to the original object. Proportion is the relationship between the parts of an object and the whole or the relationship between an object and its surroundings. Pattern is a repetitive design and rhythm is an affect achieved when shapes, colors and a
Most people would say that his paintings communicate a message of escapism. The art world refuses to consider Kinkade’s work seriously because of the disparity between his pre-modern style and subject matter combined with the manner in which he intentionally “commodifies” his products without incorporating an awareness of this strategy in his art. In my opinion, his work is beautiful. He usually uses very pastel like colors [unlike the one pictured above], not overly vibrant, however, he pays so much attention to details. His artwork makes you feel so warm on the inside. They create a sense of “home”. Most of his work involves nature and small houses or cottages, as well as, beautiful gardens and water. Kinkade paints in a romantic realist style. The artist says that he considers himself “a romantic or imaginative painter,” and depth, mood, and light are the most important elements of his work (quoted in Raffety