University of Texas at Arlington The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer Art Analysis
This assignment normally requires for you to visit an original artwork in person.However, this is NO longer a requirement. You may do this same assignment using any work from THE GOOGLE ART PROJECT (Links to an external site.)For the image requirements for this paper please submit a screen shot (feel free to crop the image) of the artwork you chose from THE GOOGLE ART PROJECT. You can also download an image from another website to illustrate your paper, but please remember to cite the source of the image in your works cited page. REQUIREMENTS:1) Print off these instructions and the Formal Analysis Worksheet before you go.2) Perform a detailed formal analysis of a single work of art WHILE YOU ARE IN FRONT OF THE WORK. a) This is an exercise in looking. Therefore, any discussion of the artist's biography, historical context, or your personal experience will not be counted towards the word count. b) Your essay should include a discussion of all the elements and principles listed in the Formal Analysis GuideActionsundefined c) To organize your essay, your overall argument and conclusion should address how the artists used the principle of emphasis. d) Your essay should be 1000-1500 words. Use APA or MLA format.3) Turn in an image of the artwork with your essay.4) Not required: Turn in a picture of yourself in front of the artwork or the museum as proof of having visited.5) Compositional Design. A compositional design is the student's visual expression of how the elements and principles work in a specific work of art. No two students will ever have the same compositional design on the same painting. For an example of a compositional design for the painting Las Meninas, see 1.10.12c on p. 185 in your textbook. As you can see, a compositional design is not a recreation of the work of art, but instead it shows the relationships between the elements and principles and emphasizes the ones that are most important.CHOOSING AN ARTWORK: (Please note that you are not required to see an artwork in person.)For the purposes of this assignment please chose your artwork carefully. No copies or reproductions! IN OTHER WORDS THE WORK MUST BE ONE OF A KIND! It must be a work that is publicly exhibited and the main purpose of the object is to be art.For this assignment, the work must be a painting, sculpture, or drawing.Places where works of art can be found:Parks Public buildings such as churches, city and federal government buildings, and hospitals.Museum of Art or an Art Gallery This EXCLUDES items whose main purpose has some other function – Such as:A carTaxidermy FurnitureCraftsHoliday decorations Historical exhibits at a history museumScientific exhibits at a science museum Any other exhibit at a non-art museum or non art-related institution (such as NASA.) Ballet or other dance performanceMusic/ Musical concertsIf you have concerns about the art you have chosen, send a picture and ask before turning it in. Some DFW Area museums and galleries are listed below. Always check out the website before you leave for hours, fees, and parking. Some places offer discounts for students.Fort Worth Modern (Contemporary Art)Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, variety of art)Dallas Museum of Art (variety of art)Meadows Museum (Spanish art and modern sculpture on SMU campus)Nasher Sculpture Garden (modern sculpture)Amon Carter Museum (American Art - Fort Worth)UTA's Art Gallery (Student art)Arlington Museum of Art (Local art)UT Southwestern Medical Center Art Collection
Formal/Visual
Analysis
A work of art is the product of the dynamic
interrelationships between the various art elements and principles as they are
utilized by the artist. As you engage
yourself with a work of art, ask yourself why do you think the artist made such
choices? By using concrete elements and
principles to make ourselves look more closely at works of art, we may further
understand the artist's intended vision and will notice how the artwork often
reflects the time and place from which it came.
Art Elements
Line ―
Do you see any outlines which define objects, shapes, or forms? Are lines used to emphasize a direction
(vertical, horizontal, diagonal)?
Describe the important lines: are they straight or curved, short or
long, thick or thin? How do you think
the artist utilized to emphasize certain objects, forms, or people? Are any invisible lines implied? For example, is a hand pointing, is the path
of a figure's gaze creating a psychological line, or is linear perspective utilized?
Light ― For
a two-dimensional object, is a source of light depicted or implied? Is it a natural light source or
artificial? Are the shadows created by
the light true to life or does the artist distort them? How does the artist depict shadows? Through line or color? If a three-dimensional object, how does the
object interact with the light in its setting?
How do gradations of shadows and highlights create form or depth,
emphasis or order in the composition?
Color ― Which colors are dominantly used in this
depiction? If the object is black and
white, or shades of gray, did the artist choose to do this because of the media
he was working or did it create a certain mood or effect? Color can described by its hue and value
(shades to tints). Does the artist's
choice of color create a certain mood?
Does the artist make use of complementary colors (red/green,
violet/yellow, blue/orange)? Or
analogous colors (those next to one another on the color wheel)? Does the artist utilize colors which are warm
or cool? Where? Is atmospheric perspective utilized (in which
blurred and cool colors appear to recede and create an impression of depth in
the distance, while warm and clear colors fill the foreground)?
Texture ― What is the actual texture on the
surface of the object? Is it rough or
smooth? If a painting, is there impasto? What is the implied texture? Are patterns created through the use of
texture?
Shape ― What shapes do you see? Are the objects in the work (for a painting
or drawing) or are the objects themselves (for a sculpture or architectural
work) flat or volumetric? Organic or
geometric? For representations of
people, how does shape lend character to a figure? Are these figures proud or timid, strong or
weak, beautiful or grotesque? What is
the size of all the forms and how do they relate proportionally to one
another? Are they located in the
foreground, middle ground or background?
Why do you think the artist placed them there?
Space ― How
does the form created by shape and line fill the space of the composition? Is there negative, or empty, space without
objects? How does the artist create
depth in the image (layering of figures/objects, linear perspective,
atmospheric perspective, foreshortening of figures)? If the object is
three-dimensional, how does it fill our space?
Is it closed or open? If a two-dimensional object, is the space flat or
does it visually project into our space?
Art Principles
Consider how the
artist utilized the Elements of Art to produce these design principles.
Scale and Proportion – What is the size of the work itself? How
does that size relate to the size of the human interacting with the work?
Within the artwork, are all the objects and figures the same size? If not, why?
Is the scale of any aspect of the work distorted? Are the proportions of the
figures accurate? Is hierarchical scale used? How is the composition
proportioned?
Balance ―
Balance is produced by the visual weight of shapes and forms within a
composition. Balance can be symmetrical,
in which each side of central line is the same, asymmetrical, or radial. When describing balance, discuss how
opposites are utilized or related (light/shadow, straight/curved lines,
complementary colors)?
Rhythm ―
Rhythm is created by repetition. What
repeated elements do you see? Does the
repetition create a subtle pattern, a decorative ornamentation? Or does is create an intensity, a
tension? Does the rhythm unify the work
or does it seem a group of disparate parts?
Emphasis ―
The emphasis of a work refers to a focal point in the image or object. What is your eye drawn to? Does the artist create tension or interest by
creating more than one area or interest?
Or is the work of art afocal ― that is, the viewer cannot find a
particular place to rest the eye. Is
there even a psychological focus created through the elements of art?