Visual Analysis

Question 1

composition - arrangement

Answer 1

• symmetry/ asymmetry
• vertical/ horizontal/ diagonal thrust
• has a central axis been used
  -where/ what is the focal point
• cropped
• empty/ full
• closed (eyes drawn to centre)/ open (numerous focal points, environment continues out of frame)
• how many figures
• where are they: middle/ foreground
• creates any geometric shapes?

Question 2

human figure

Answer 2

• movement
• facial expressions (mood, narrative function, obvious or subtle, similiar or diverse)
• body language (pose - contrapposto?, angle, dynamic, seated)
• proportions, physique
• clothing, hair (responding to anatomy, heavy)
• relationship w surroundings
• interaction with others (social setting)
• any highlighted features
• props/ objects
• what’s being obscured
• indications of gender, age and status
• idealisation

Question 3

pictorial space - illusion of 3D space

Answer 3

• linear perspective (2 point: pathways, draws eyes in)
  –horizon line
  –vanishing point
  –orthogonals
• atmospheric perspective: paler and bluer
• diminishing space
• foreshortening
• overlapping forms/ layering

Question 4

colour

Answer 4

• ultramarine v expensive (from a quarry in Afghanistan). visually dazzling.
• tints
  -shades
• saturation
• lustre
• luminosity

-primary colour are harmonious when together: all-encompassing feel
- cool colours recede from the eye (sense of depth)
- warm colours advance towards the eye
- lots of analogous/ different colours: disharmony

• range/ mostly analogous
• blending/ blocking/ patches
• monochrome (only tints and shades)/ polychrome
• grisaille: only shades of grey
• limited or varied palette

Question 5

light & tone

Answer 5

• light source
• tonal modelling
• highlighting elements of work
• creating mood (dramatic) or used symbolically (divine presence)
• strong contrasts of light and dark - chiaroscuro
• quality of life (soft, dim, warm, fluorescent, coloured, strobe, neon, diffused, dappled, strong, directional, shafts of light)
• glints

Question 6

materials & techniques properties

Answer 6

• opacity
• consistency/ viscosity
• drying time
• finish
• impasto (raised paint) catches light make it seem lighter/ leaves a shadow on painting’s surface
• optical mixing (unmixed colours onto painting surface in dots/ patches and mixes in eye of viewer - particularly in pointilism)

Question 7

style

Answer 7

the distinctive visual appearance of a work of art/ architecture

Question 8

pattern, ornament and decoration

Answer 8

• tooling/ sgraffito (taking a single line out in egg tempera)

Question 9

form

Answer 9

• 2D/ 3D
• curvilinear/ rectilinear
• weighty + solid?
• light and shade to define
• any parts lost in shadow? (tonal modelling)
• naturalistic/ abstracted?

Question 10

scale - what do you have to do as a viewer

Answer 10

internal - figures and forms in relation to the scale of the work overall
external - the scale of the artwork itself

Question 11

viewpoints

Answer 11

what role does it give the viewer
makes viewer feel part of the landscape if eye level

Question 12

fresco

Answer 12

• thin
• dries quickly (focuses on one section at a time as plaster dries quickly - true fresco when applied to wet plaster)
• quite translucent
• matte finish
• fresco secco is directly onto a dry wall

Question 13

egg tempera

Answer 13

• gesso + egg tempura
• bole + gold
• very opaque
• high viscocity: applied in thin lines
• dries very quickly
• glossy
• very stable
  1- thin strips of wood (so less warping) to form a wooden panel
  2- gesso (plaster). makes it smoother and stops it absorbing as gast
  3. egg tempera mixed with pigment and egg yolk as a binder
  4. bole added
  5. gold leaf

Question 14

oil paint

Answer 14

• translucent (many thin layers, can be used for clouds). creates LUMINOSITY as light can pass through layers and reflects white back to viewer
• dries v slowly (can mix on surface, gradients are gradual)
• low viscosity (spreads further so bigger)
• large variety of colours, bright

Question 15

acrylic paint

Answer 15

• man made so many bright, unusual, different colours: modern
• opaque, often single colours, not luminous
• low viscosity (no thin layers, single colour on page)
• fast drying time (less mixing on surface, more blocking of colours)
• matt

Question 16

primary colours

Answer 16

red
yellow
blue

Question 17

secondary colours

Answer 17

purple
green
orange

Question 18

analagous colours

Answer 18

next to each other on the colour wheel

Question 19

complementary colours

Answer 19

opposite of primary colours.
emphasises each other
more dynamic painting

Question 20

tints

Answer 20

a colour to which white has been added, creating a lighter, sometimes pastel, tone

Question 21

shades

Answer 21

a colour to which black/ darker colour has been added to create a darker tone

Question 22

saturation

Answer 22

how much pigment is in the colour

Question 23

lustre

Answer 23

when lighter tones are used to create a sense of shine, as in the depiction of silk

Question 24

luminosity

Answer 24

tones that are bright, as if emanating light

Question 25

what can colours be used for

Answer 25

- symbolically (importance and significance) - psychologically (immersion into single mood/ drowning in melancholy/ cohesion) - descriptively/ naturalistically - decoratively - to show distance - to create harmony (primary colours)