ARTIST ESSAY

Critique Prompt (2000 word minimum)
Artist Essay: 345 points (a minimum of 2000 words) All written assignments must be in MLA (Modern
Language Association) format and a Word document (.doc or .docx). Any other formats will not be graded. If
you have any questions or problems with file formats, please contact the MSCC Online (D2L) Technical Help Desk:
d2lhelp@mscc.edu
Format:
• This essay will focus on a single artwork by one of the artists listed below.
• Review the work of all the artists on the list and select one that interests you. A quick way to
review the artists is to do a Google image search.
• Once you have selected your artist, do more intense research and select one of their artworks to
critique that is not featured in the texbook. Make sure to do a Google video search to view
critiques, interviews, and commentary.
• Begin by focusing on a critique of the chosen artwork.
• Follow the directions in the 5-paragraph outline provided below to help you structure your essay.
Your essay can exceed 5 paragraphs if necessary but must meet the minimum 2000-word
criteria.
• This essay, as with all of your work in this class, must be in your own words. You are not required
to reference a source for this assignment. If you do quote a source, you should properly cite it
using the MLA form of documentation including all internet sources. This essay must be written
with correct spelling, grammar, and sentence structure.
• An image of the artwork selected must be included at the end of your document or as a separate
upload.
Artists to choose from:
Rogier Van Der Weyden
Andrea Mantegna
Titian
Hieronymus Bosch
Caterina Van Hemessen
Judith Leyster
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Edvard Munch
Marcel Duchamp
Salvador Dalí
Anselm Kiefer
El Anatsui
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Artist Essay
5-PARAGRAPH OUTLINE
I. Introduction:
• Need to find a hook to bring the reader in.
• What is your Thesis
• What are you going to discuss in your paper, so the reader has a vague knowledge of where you are
going with your writing.
• You need to make sure to list five things, so the reader knows exactly which artwork you are writing
about:
o Artist Name
o Title of the piece (italicized)
o The year it was made
o What medium or mediums were used to create this artwork (example: oil on canvas, charcoal on
paper, marble)
o Dimensions (Height is always given first followed by width) since we live in the United States,
please give all measurements in inches. Example; 23 x 14 inches OR 23” x 14” both are OK. (H x
W x D) if it is three-dimensional artwork.
• Transition sentence.
II. Visual Elements: (discuss only those visual elements that are in the artwork you have chosen)
• Each paragraph must contain a clear topic sentence and supporting details, all relating to the thesis.
• Line
• Shape
• Light
• Value
• Color
• Texture
• Space
• Time and Motion
Mentally separate the elements within the artwork thinking in terms of Line, Shape, Light, Value, Time
and Motion, Texture, and Space. In this step consider the most significant Visual Elements that were
used in the artwork.
Suggested questions to help with analysis:
o What kinds of colors do you see? How would you describe them?
o What shapes do you see? How has the artist used shapes within the work of art?
o Are there lines in the work? If so, what kinds of lines are they? Has the artist used them as an
important or dominant part of the work, or do they play a different roll?
o What role does texture play in the work? Has the artist used the illusion of texture or has the artist
used actual texture? How has texture been used within the work(s).
o Is there a light source? If so, how does the artist use light and value to describe form?
• Transition sentence.
III. Principles of Design: (discuss only those principles of design that are in the artwork you have chosen)
• Each paragraph must contain a clear topic sentence and supporting details, all relating to the thesis.
• Unity and Variety
• Balance
• Emphasis and Focal Point
• Rhythm
• Scale
• Proportion
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Mentally separate the Principles of Design: Emphasis and Focal Point, Balance, Unity and Variety,
Rhythm, Scale, and Proportion. Describe how the artist used the Principles of Design to organize the
Visual Elements.
Suggested Questions to help with analysis:
o Is there a focal point? Why?
o Is the artwork balanced? Is it symmetrical, radial, or asymmetrical?
o If unity and variety are evident in the work explain how they are used.
o Discuss how Scale and Proportion is or is not used in the work.
o Describe how rhythm is or is not used in the work.
• Transition sentence.
IV. Opinion, economic, philosophical, social, and cultural context:
• Each paragraph must contain a clear topic sentence and supporting details, all relating to the thesis.
An interpretation seeks to explain the meaning/content of the work. Content refers to a work’s array of
intangible aspects: the emotional, intellectual, psychological, symbolic elements, and the time and
place or context (context consists of all of the things about the artwork that might have influenced the
artwork or the maker (artist). These would include when the work was made; where it was made (both
culturally and geographically); why it was made; and possibly some other details or information.
Contextualism—looking at the cultural context of an artwork—can deepen and/or improve our
understanding of an artwork, but it may or may not change our first impressions; and it doesn’t really
have an effect on formal analysis. With some additional contextual information about the time, the
culture, and the maker/artist of an artwork, we can become more informed. All artworks exist in a
context—more accurately, all artworks exist in multiple contexts). Based on what you have learned so
far about the artwork, what do you think the artist is trying to communicate?
Suggested questions to help with interpretation:
o What is the artist trying to communicate in this work?
o Identify any emotional content and explain how it is emphasized.
o Are elements in the artwork representative of other things/symbols (iconography)?
o Is there a connection between subject matter and the techniques and medium(s) used?
o What cultural influences (Context) are communicated by this work if any?
• Transition sentence.
V. Conclusion:
• Reiterate your main points from your introduction but state them using different wording
• The conclusion brings the essay to a logical and appropriate end, summing up the significance of the
essay.
formal/visual elements:
• line: referring to a continuous mark, made on a surface, by a moving point. (contour, actual, implied,
modeling), suggest what; horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonal lines
• shape: it is an enclosed space, the boundaries of which are defined by other elements of art (i.e.: lines,
colors, values, textures, etc.). Shapes are limited to two dimensions: length and width. Geometric shapes –
circles, rectangles, squares, triangles and so on – have the clear edges one achieves when using tools to
create them. Organic shapes have natural, less well-defined edges (think: an amoeba, or a cloud). (form,
volume, actual mass, implied mass, geometric, organic, positive and negative shapes, figure-ground
relationship, shape as icon)
• light: visible light is part of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy that also includes radio waves and cosmic
waves. It undulates wavelike throughout the universe. It bounces off objects and excites cells in our eyes,
enabling us to see.
• value: value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a surface. The word relative is significant. The
lightness or darkness of a shape is largely determined by its surroundings. (value contrast, value distribution,
value and volume, value and space, value and lighting).
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• color: additive color is created using beams of light RGB. Subtractive color is created when white light is
reflected off a pigmented or dyed surface BRY (hue, value, saturation, additive and subtractive colors,
complementary vs. analogous colors, local vs. optical color, color as symbol)
• texture: another element of art is used to describe either the way a three-dimensional work actually feels
when touched, or the visual “feel” of a two-dimensional work. Take rocks, for example. A real, 3-D rock might
feel rough or smooth, and definitely feels hard when touched or picked up. A painter, depicting a rock, would
create the illusions of these qualities through use of color, line, shape, etc. (actual, implied)
• space: as defined by renowned painters, space is itself an entity having a conceptual framework. It is nothing
but the area occupied by an object with respect to its surrounding. It is actually the three-dimensional property
of the object. The three-dimensional space around two-dimensional objects could possibly become illusionary
when the shading and versatile drawing techniques have been merged superbly. You can estimate physical
space with the help of linear measurements. The concept of positive and negative space is very simple to
understand. The space occupied by the primary object (and its shadow) is the positive space while the space
surrounding it is the negative space.
(overlapping, relative size, linear perspective, atmospheric perspective)
• time and motion: artists through the ages have sought to represent three- dimensional space in twodimensional art forms as well as to represent, or imply, movement and the passage of time. Only in modern
times have art forms such as cinematography and video been developed that involves actual movement and
actual time. (actual motion, kinetic art, implied motion and time, illusion of motion).
principles of design:
• unity and variety: A principle of art, unity can be defined as similarity, oneness, togetherness, or cohesion.
Variety can be defined as difference. Unity and Variety are the cornerstones of composition. When they are
combined effectively, we can create compositions that are both cohesive and lively. (Grouping, Containment,
Repetition, Proximity, Closure, Combining Gestalt Principles).
• balance: In design, balance refers to the distribution of weight or force within a composition. (actual balance
and pictorial balance, symmetrical balance, asymmetrical balance, horizontal, vertical, diagonal and radial
balance, imbalance).
• emphasis and focal point: Emphasis gives prominence to part of a design. A focal point is a compositional
device used to create emphasis. Both emphasis and focal point are used to attract attention and increase
visual and conceptual impact. (emphasis by Isolation, emphasis by Placement, emphasis through Contrast).
• rhythm: is a principle of art that’s difficult to summarize in words. Assuming that you’ve picked up on a rhythm
in music before, take what you heard with your ears and try to translate that to something you’d see with your
eyes. Rhythm, in art, is a visual beat. A pattern has rhythm, but not all rhythm is patterned. For example, the
colors of a piece can convey rhythm, by making your eyes travel from one component to another. Lines can
produce rhythm by implying movement. Forms, too, can cause rhythm by the ways in which they’re placed
one next to the other.
• scale: refers to the size of a form when compared with our own human size. (hierarchical scale, distortion of
scale).
• proportion: is a principle of art that describes the size, location or amount of one element to another (or to
the whole) in a work. It has a great deal to do with the overall harmony of an individual piece.
MSCC Writing Center: https://mscc.libguides.com/WritingCenter
MLA Formatting and style guide: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
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