There are different ways of, and approaches to, looking at artwork; the following '4R' approach is a useful one:
REACT - this is your first reaction to the artwork (how do you feel about it? What does it remind you of? How do you 'relate' to it?). You might well see a piece of artArt refers to a diverse range of human intellectual and expressive activities and the outcomes of those activities. Within this context art is further defined as visual art and includes painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography and work made using digital media. in a modern gallery and say 'my dog could do better than that!' which is a perfectly reasonable initial response, but you need to go further and ask yourself why the art object is in a gallery in the first place - are other people seeing something that you're missing? Note down your first feelings and ideas about it.
RESEARCH - This is an important second step, involving a systematic examination of the artwork in two stages - firstly of the artwork itself and then the circumstances surrounding its production.
The first stage of the research involves looking carefully at the artwork, either as a reproduction or (much more preferable) in real life. Examine the visual and tactile elements, (colourChoices of colour and the relationships between colours have a huge influence on how a piece or art or design looks and feels and the emotions it provokes. Colour is made up of different aspects. The most useful terms used to describe these aspects are probably: hue, tone, saturation, complementary, analogous, tint, shade, primary and secondary., patternA design in which lines, shapes, forms or colours are repeated. E.g. Regular, irregular, repeat, tessellating, symmetrical, natural, geometric, rotation, grid, rhythm, decorative, border. Pattern has three main meanings: 1) a decorative design, usually of a repeated motif or figure; 2) the composition or layout of an artwork; 3) the model or mould used for casting. In the first kind of definition, visual forms, or motifs are repeated, often in a systematic manner, such as in the repeated geometric forms found in Islamic art., textureArtists and designers can use actual texture in their work or they can suggest how something feels using techniques that imply texture. There are two types of texture: actual texture and visual texture. E.g. Rough, smooth, hard, soft, matt, shiny, waxy, coarse, glossy, scratchy, silky, wet, dry, feathery. Texture is the surface quality of an object. In art, it can refer to an illusion of texture, for example in a painting that shows the smoothness of a child’s face and the rough surface of a tree. It can also refer to actual texture, as in a collage. In your own work, you can achieve different textures by adding different materials to your paint, or by incorporating things such as fragments of hard clay, sawdust or sand into the medium you are using., compositionThe combination of a selection of distinct elements to work towards creating a whole image or form. The arrangement of shapes, colours, textures, marks and lines in a painting. A composition is something that is put together - it is an arrangement of different elements. In art, the visual elements are combined by paying attention to things such as balance, harmony, rhythm and contrast to give a unified whole. Sometimes composition is used to refer to one piece of art work, such as a painting, shapeShapes are two-dimensional. Positive shapes represent solid objects and negative shapes show the surrounding space. Geometric shapes are perfect and regular. Organic shapes are irregular and natural., formForm refers to three dimensional objects. While shapes have two dimensions (height and width), forms have three dimensions (height, width and depth). The overall unity of the visual elements in an art work; it is usually contrasted with content. Form is sometimes used to refer to the three dimensional aspect of an art work, as opposed to shape, which is seen as referring to two dimensional aspects., lineLines are used by artists and designers to describe objects, add detail or create expression. Lines define an artwork and reveal the artist’s techniques. Line is one of the visual elements. It is the path of a moving point, such as a pen, pencil or brush. In your work, it is important to vary the quality of lines, making them bold and heavy or light and delicate to suggest different things. Line can be used to give the impression of different textures and tones as well as simply showing where the edge of an object meets space - remember that objects do not have outlines in real life., space, toneThe relative lightness or darkness of a colour. E.g. Light, dark, tint, shade, black, white, grey, shadow, highlight, contrast, monotone, high key, low key. Tone is normally seen as one aspect of colour, concerned with its lightness or darkness; in painting, if different amounts black and white are added to a hue, the results are different tones.) and their relationship to each other. You should look at the artwork's content - what is it about? Look carefully at what it is made of - what kind of paintA coloured substance that can be thickened or thinned and spread over surfaces. Paint can be water soluble, oil or plastic based, and have opaque or transparent qualities. For further information please follow thus link. Paint is made up from three main things: pigment, to give it colour; a medium, (such as oil) which is used to support the pigment; and 38 something to thin it down, such as water or turpentine. seems to be used? Is it a collageA technique of producing an artwork by gluing or fixing different, often found or discarded materials onto a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional surface. The materials can include wrappers, cardboard, packaging, different papers and scraps of fabric, leaves, twigs and ribbons. The term collage comes from the French word 'coller' meaning to glue or stick. It is a two-dimensional technique (when three-dimensional, it is called assemblage), usually involving gluing down bits of paper, fabric or other material to create or add to an art work. or montageThis term is from the French monter meaning to fix objects into or onto something. A montage is a two-dimensional art work made up from overlapping images; in photomontage, only photographs are used, often combined to give a different overall effect (for example, putting photos of animals' heads onto photos of human bodies).? Is it a paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint or other media to a surface, usually with a brush. An art object made using paint (noun). or a sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional art made by one of four basic processes: carving, modelling, casting, constructing. The term installation art is used to describe large-scale, mixed-media constructions, often designed for a specific place or for a temporary period of time? How is it put together? Is it made of metal? If so what kind and why? Make a list of all the things which you can see, dividing the list into different categories, such as ‘subject matter’ ‘colour’ and ‘composition’.
The second stage of the Research part of this approach involves inquiry without the artwork. This is where really involved research comes in, and can get quite complex, but you can discover a great deal of interesting stuff. You could investigate the artist's intention, perhaps looking up things the artist has written (see for example Van Gogh’s letters). You should look at the relationships between the content and processA series of actions, changes or operations performed in the making or creating of a product or outcomes. The procedures that one goes through in creating an art-work, e.g.: the process of printmaking., and the various contexts (see the section on ‘drawingThe art of representing object and forms on a surface chiefly with the use of line and with pencils, crayons, pens and a variety of mark making instruments. Drawing can be further defined to include figure or life drawing, perspective drawing, orthographical drawing and isometric drawing upon the work of others’) in which the artwork was produced. If you are feeling brave and intelligent (!) you might want to consider the theoretical and philosophical issues which may have influenced it.
RESPOND - This third step is concerned with makingThe process of making or producing something. The making of meaning is a decisively integral component of art-making. Meaning-making in relation to the creation of art serves a symbolic and practical purpose. On a symbolic level, the essence of meaning-making is highlighted when we encounter works of art that are of an abstract nature. a considered response, based on what you have discovered through systematic inquiry (having found out about the artist and her/his circumstances, how do you now feel about the artwork?). This is an opportunity for you to talk or write in an informed way about the artwork, and to use an appropriate art specialist vocabulary, using some of the words found below.
REFLECT - An opportunity to think over and contemplate the meaning and nature of the artwork in the light of the above (what does it mean to you? How does it relate to issues which concern you?). It is important to let things sink in, to give yourself time to build upon what you have learned and to think about the artwork you have looked into. Art objects, after all, are often made to have and significant, deep and moving effect upon those who look at them. Art has been, and still is, considered to be very important for all cultures, since the beginning of time - have you ever thought why?