Formal Analysis Essay

694 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Formal analysis in art

How to write a Formal Analysis Essay. 1. Make an opening statement. Why did you pick this specific painting or sculpture? Analyze your first impression. What was so exciting about this artwork for you? 2. Start with the artwork detailed description. What do you see? What is the subject matter of this artwork? 3. After this, it would be easier to make a transition to formal analysis To analyze formally means identifying the important visual elements and determining how they have been combined. Relate what do you see in the artwork to the formal elements. 1. Line: Are the outlines (whether perceived or actual) smooth, fuzzy, clear? Are the main lines vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved, or a combination of any of these? Are the …show more content…

How elements work together in this piece? What principles of composition are employed there? Composition has just a handful of specific principles: balance (symmetric/asymmetric), rhythm, proportion, scale, unity, variety and emphasis. You won't get lost. 1. Size: How big is the artwork? Are the figures or objects in the work life-sized, larger or smaller than life? How does the size affect the work? 2. Scale: Do you have something to compare sizes within artwork? Do you see a building or landscape element that is comparable to a human size? Can you define object sizes within the artwork and what you compare them to? 3. Proportions: Does the whole or even individual parts of the figure(s) or natural objects in the work look natural? Or maybe it is too big or small in relation to the whole figure (or object)? 4. Balance: How are the parts of the work arranged? Is there symmetry or no symmetry? Is movement implied? Is it dynamic or static composition? 5. Emphasis: Is there a focal point in this artwork that draws the immediate attention? How artist achieved it? What formal elements artist

Show More
Related

  • Wayne White's 'Golden Surf Rossi: The Seventies'

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to

    Read More

  • Visual Analysis Bouuerau

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    The visual elements in this painting are shape, color and light. The shapes and contours of the mother and child are life like.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Old Stagecoach By Eastman Johnson

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    The work that I have chosen to talk about was “The Old Stagecoach by Eastman Johnson.” This work would be considered a painting. The images that are shown in the painting are a old stagecoach as the name of the painting suggest. The stagecoach does not have any wheel and so it just sits on the ground. There are also a bunch of children that are portrayed playing inside and on top of the stagecoach. The colors that are used in this painting are all realistic, this is very important because it portrays what a warm summer day would like on a farm. There are a lot of different colors such as bright green grass and bright colors for the clothes that the children are wearing. There a quite a few principles are elements that are used in the painting. One of the first principles that I noticed was the emphasis of the stagecoach. It appears in the center of the image and is definitely the main focus of the image. The children in the image are definitely important to the painting to show how much the they enjoy the stagecoach. There is also a good use of variety in the colors used for what each child is wearing which also brings interest to the painting.

    Read More

  • Art Analysis: Olive Trees By Vincent Van Gogh

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    What I see in this piece is peacefulness. Stokes of the paintbrush are perfect to make it look whole. With the sun shinning down making the colors pop out even more. The olive trees glowing in the suns light with the mountains behind it. It is a piece I could look at for a long time with out getting bored. The colors of the piece just make it look so complete. With the lines of the

    Read More

  • Georges Seurat - Hi Painting

    1600 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... study for the overall concept they appear rather as abstract patterns. The shadows of the figures were very carefully modeled. The light- dark contrasts of the shadows make them seem actually real. The spatial quality is only established through the relations between the sizes of the objects. The painting is not based on a geometrical, box like space. The perspective centre is on the right, despite the fact that the composition is laid in rows parallel to the picture frame. At the same time a paradoxical foreshortening from right to left is evident. The girl fishing with the orange dress and her mother are on the same level, that is, actually at equal distance. In its spatial contruction, the painting is also a successful construction, the groups of people sitting in the shade, and who should really be seen from above, are all shown directly from the side. The ideal eye level would actually be on different horizontal lines; first at head height of the standing figures, then of those seated. Seurats methods of combing observations which he collected over two years, corresponds, in its self invented techniques, to a modern lifelike painting rather than an academic history painting.

    Read More

  • Essay About Basquiat

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    This piece is acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on wood panel that is 186.1 centimeters in height and 125.1 centimeters in width. This piece features a human-like figure in the center that is mostly half red and half black. This figure has a gray head with one yellow eye and one light gray eye and above its head is a black halo. The background consists of patches of various colors such as light blue, black, dark red, light green, beige, turquoise, pink, and yellow. On the bottle left corner there is a figure drawn that looks like a fish and has a strip of mustard yellow painted through it. Also towards the bottom right of the artwork, there is some drawn on letters that almost look like words but are messily painted over with a desert sand color. This piece is my favorite because I find it aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot going on in this piece that makes looking at it genuinely interesting. The colors that Basquiat choses for the background go very well together and overall compliment the figure in the center. I like how incredibly expressive this piece is and it makes me want to buy a canvas and start painting that I desire. I also like how the human-like figure is drawn. One could see what looks like an outlined ribcage on the figure, which makes me believe that the head is actually a skull. Upon further research I learned that Basquiat was

    Read More

  • Formal Analysis of Art Works: Three Examples

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first artwork I chose for the formal analysis project is The Tiger by Ito Jakuchù originally painted in 1755. This painting is of a tiger licking its paw in the grass underneath a tree branch. There seems to be two diagonal planes as the tiger is leaning forward and sitting erect. There is a horizontal plane from what appear to be branches above the tiger. The painting has asymmetrical balance as the elements are equally distributed to balance the top and the bottom of the space. The artwork demonstrates several types of line. There are curved lines used in the tiger’s stripes. There are also diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines used in the background for the grass and the overhanging tree branch. The curved and wavy lines used in the tiger’s body, for example in the shoulder muscles, imply movement in addition to the curve in the tiger’s tail. The color scheme used in this painting seems to be complementary to one another as the artist used orange and brown tones with blue and red-orange accents for the tiger’s eyes and tongue. Black is used throughout the p...

    Read More

  • Art Analysis: Assurnasirpal Two Killing Lions

    381 Words  | 1 Pages

    Three dimensional art is defined as media which “occupies space, defined through the dimensions of height, width and depth” (SAYLOR). These art works can be geometric or organic in nature (NORTON). Three dimensional art forms include sculptures, crafts and architecture. Three dimensional art form is fascinating to me because of the amount of realism and beauty it embodies, as well as for its functional and aesthetic value. For this assignment, I chose two beautiful pieces that illustrated the characteristic of three dimensional art and the processes it took to produce them. The first art work I want to analyze is a sculpture done by an Iraqi artist from Kalhu (modern day Nimrud) entitled, “Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions” (Sayre, 420).

    Read More

  • Johann Sebastian Bach Essay

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    3 is the second movement of the piece. It lasts around five minutes of the total 22 minutes of the whole Orchestral Suite. Air is written for Trumpet, timpani, oboe, violin, viola and continuo. It is written in major key. The meter is duple, and I would dare to say that it is quadruple. The texture is polyphonic. It has a slow tempo and there is no presence of accelerando nor ritardando. The harmony is consonant. Melody is conjunct and peaceful. Has a lot of repetition. The melody is consistent. The string instruments are prodminant whereas the timpani and oboe just go along with the melody. Esta es una pieza sencilla binaria; claramente no hay devolución del material melódico apertura en la segunda parte del

    Read More

  • Jan Mortel's Still Life With Fruit

    512 Words  | 2 Pages

    The three most dominant elements are form, space, and value. The reason for this is that the inanimate or still objects in the artwork are dominantly three dimensional with illusions of depth and volume, as well as, colors or shades with light values and dark values. The three most dominant principles of design are emphasis, contrast, and balance. The reason for is this is that the artwork displays a contrast and difference towards the values and colors to direct focus and interest onto the work of art. The artwork dominantly consists of these elements and principles to emphasize the relationship and true nature between the insects, brittle leaves, fruits among the inanimate pillar draped in blue cloth.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of The Starrry Night (June 1889) By Vincent Van Gogh

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, by analyzing The Starry Night I saw that it is more than just a simple painting

    Read More

  • Analysis of Thomas Birch’s painting An American Ship in Distress

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...hese repeated vertical lines contrast firmly with a horizontal line that divides the canvas almost exactly in half. The background, upper portion of the canvas, seems unchanging and flat, whereas the foreground and middle ground of the painting have a lot of depth to them.

    Read More

  • Essay On Formalization

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Formal and Informal sector intersect when the subject relates opportunity costs enforcing the cost-benefit approach. Legalist perspective suggests that formalization is the mechanism to protect business and property rights, creating capital, raise productivity and attract investments. De Soto (2000) argues that the real estate value is worth of USD 9.3 trillion in the Third World countries that exceeds any kind of donation and loans from the developed world. We witness the unique “entrepreneurial ingenuity” that the poor created in the developing world. Although, it is a dead capital which cannot be used for economic development, unless treated properly. De Soto claims that the higher formalization, the more potential exists to accumulate wealth and decrease the poverty rate. The concept that he considers crucial generating capital flow is the “surplus value” created by the formalization and property rights. Assets’ economic potential must be fixed in order to initiate additional production. Assets must be integrated into one formal representational system; that is how the West succeeded in capitalist realm. In 1849, California, the Congress gradually integrated the informal property created by immigrants and miners . Thus, benefits from the company perspective of operating formally are as follows: limited liability not risking the whole property of the business/owner; enforceable commercial contracts, enabling business entities insure rights and obligations to be met; access to finance and market information, legalised and registered entities benefit from the trust of financial institutions; access to government incentives, including procurement tenders and export promotion policies; access to public infrastructure and services; ...

    Read More

  • Elements of Design

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lines are paths or marks left by moving points and they can be outlines or edges of shapes and forms. Lines have qualities which can help communicate ideas and feelings such as straight or curved, thick or thin, dark or light, and continuous or broken. Implied lines suggest motion or organize an artwork and they are not actually seen, but they are present in the way edges of shapes are lined up.

    Read More

  • Clive Bell and the Formalist Theory

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Man has long created art, this much is certain. However, man has never ultimately defined art. There are so many things which qualify as art and as many qualities to each piece that trying to find answers only seems result in more questions. The formalist theory of art, as present by Clive Bell, makes an attempt at defining art and answering many of these questions. Below is a discussion of the formalist theory; its definition, its strengths, and its weaknesses as evidenced by the work of Clive Bell.

    Read More

More about Formal Analysis Essay

Open Document