Formal analysis is an important technique for organizing visual information . In other words, it is a strategy used to translate what you see into written words. This strategy can be applied to any work of art, from any period in history, whether a photograph, sculpture, painting or cultural artifact.
How would you define formal analysis?
A mode of analysis focusing primarily on the identification and description of the formal features (see also form) of a text or artwork and on their relations—rather than on its explicit content, or without reference to its specific cultural or historical context (see also decontextualization).
What are the 4 steps in formal analysis?
There are four aspects of a formal analysis: description, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation .
What is historical analysis in art?
Art history is the study of objects of art considered within their time period . Art historians analyze visual arts’ meaning (painting, sculpture, architecture) at the time they were created.
How do you conduct a formal analysis?
- Examine the artwork. In writing the formal analysis, the first thing you need to do is examine the individual elements and principles. ...
- Think about the artwork’s effect on you. ...
- Write your thesis statement. ...
- Expand your thesis. ...
- Write your conclusion.
What are the 4 steps of art analysis?
Evaluating a work of art isn’t as difficult as it may seem. There are four basic steps: describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating .
What is the first step in a formal analysis?
- Description = Pure description of the object without value judgments, analysis, or interpretation.
- Analysis = determining what the features suggest and deciding why the artist used such features to convey specific ideas.
What is the purpose of formal analysis?
The goal of a formal analysis is to explain how the formal elements of a work of art affect the representation of the subject matter and expressive content . The emphasis should be on analyzing the formal elements—not interpreting the artwork.
What is formal analysis in research?
Formal Analysis Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data . Investigation Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.
What are the 7 formal elements of art?
ELEMENTS OF ART: The visual components of color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value .
What are the 4 main categories of art styles?
Traditional categories within the arts include literature (including poetry, drama, story, and so on), the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) , the graphic arts (painting, drawing, design, and other forms expressed on flat surfaces), the plastic arts (sculpture, modeling), the decorative arts (enamelwork, ...
How do you analyze formal elements in art?
- Line is the most basic building block of formal analysis. ...
- Value is the degree of light and dark in a design. ...
- Shapes are created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle.
How do you do visual analysis in art history?
To write a visual analysis, you must look closely at an art object —or at a photograph of an art object— and translate your visual observations into written text. However, a visual analysis does not simply record your observations. It also makes a claim about the work of art.
What is visual analysis explain with an example?
Visual analysis is a method of understanding art that focuses on an artwork’s visual elements, such as color, line, texture, and scale . In its strictest definition, it is a description and explanation of visual structure for its own sake. ... Visual analysis is often used as a starting point for art-historical writing.
How do you conduct a visual analysis?
- choose a visual artifact that has meaning, purpose, or intrigue;
- research the artifact to understand its context;
- evaluate the rhetorical devices the artifact uses to affect an audience;
- examine the design principles the artifact employs;
How do you write an art history analysis essay?
- Develop a strong interpretive thesis about what you think is the overall effect or meaning of the image.
- Ground your argument in direct and specific references to the work of art itself.
- Describe the image in specific terms and with the criteria that you used for the analysis.
