I need help with a Art & Design question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.
Hi, Here is the instruction, this essay is no research and focus on visual identity( like race, social class )
Description: A visual analysis (sometimes called a formal analysis) describes and evaluates the visual aspects of
a work of art. These forms give the work its expression and meaning, but their analysis is separate from its
subject matter. This analysis begins from the supposition that a work of art is a constructed object that has, for
the purposes of this course, been formed communicate meaning around identity categories. To aid in writing a
visual analysis, you should think as if you were describing the work of art to someone who has never seen it
before. Yet this analysis is, for this course, more than a description of the work. It must include a thesis
statement that reflects your conclusions about its meaning. The thesis is the key element of the paper. The
body of the paper builds from it, and the visual evidence – your observations – support it. I’ve provided an
example of a successful paper on BB. You MAY NOT use its content or language directly. Rather, look to the
objective of each paragraph and bring your work into alignment.
In the first paragraph of the first paper (the introduction), you will include:
your paper), date, and medium (if known), and the current location of the work
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think the artist intended to convey about identity, using the visual evidence you’ve observed.
Basic thesis templates, to be expanded into a few sentences: “In this work, [visual evidence] argues [what]
about [identity categories].” Or… “The identity categories of [name them] are explored by the artist of this
work using [visual evidence] to convey [what]. Your thesis should be more than one sentence in length: do not
jam all points together, for it will convolute rather than complexify the statement.
From that point, the analysis will include observations that support the thesis. It will have a sense of order,
moving purposefully through identity categories, in an analytical mode, with regard to visual evidence. Finally,
your conclusion (the final paragraph) should end your paper with a restatement of the thesis and briefly
reiterate the evidence.
It is important to remember that your interest here is strictly visually interpretive: no research will be used in
this phase of the project. You will rely on your ability to visually “read” a work of art and make interpretations
about it based on your analysis. You may very well find in the research phase, which comes next, that this
original thesis is not tenable. That’s perfectly fine and part of the point!
Things to consider when writing a visual analysis (in no particular order); remember that you should carry your
thoughts on the below forward, to consider their relationship to identity – how they might help to express or
contest it, for example.
identifies the medium, such as painting, sculpture, print, etc.
the artist wants your eye to be drawn)? If so, what formal elements led you to this conclusion?
Your impressions can help you reach your thesis.
dynamic? Full of movement? Or is it static?
tense, or relaxed? Does the figure convey a mood? If there are several figures, how do they
relate to each other (do they interact? Or not?)?
natural? Why did you come to this conclusion?
horizontal, diagonal, or curved, or a combination of any of these? Are the lines jagged and full of
energy? Sketchy? Geometric? Curvilinear? Bold? Subtle?
space? Are the figures entirely within the space (if the artwork is a painting), or are parts of the
bodies cut off by the edge of the artwork? Is the setting illusionistic, as if one could enter the
space of the painting, or is more two-dimensional, a space that one could not possibly enter?
conveyed? Where and How? If a painting, is there any texture to the paint surface? Are the
brushstrokes invisible? Brushy? Sketchy? Loose and flowing? Or tight and controlled? Think
about how these questions apply to other media, if your work is neither a painting nor a
sculpture.
do the shadows affect the work?
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How does the size affect the messaging of the work?
use colors to draw your attention to specific areas of the work? How? If a sculpture, examine the
color(s) of the medium and how it affects visual communication.
help you to interpret the work?
Thinking about what you observe not as a random list of points but rather as evidence will help you to develop
a thesis that makes an argument about identity, as per the above templates. Once you have thoroughly
analyzed your work, see if your first impression has changed. If so, how? It may be necessary to revise any
preliminary thesis statement you developed.
and here is the artwork that i choose named blue morning by George bellows
and you can try to focus on the gap between the social class, like the different between big city on the background and these worker
it should be size 12 single space two pages