Research and analysis are BIG in Year 13. Don't be put off by this ! An artist looking at art is as important as a writer reading books or a musician listening to other players. It's what we do !
'Unpacking ' Art can be fun and insightful. This page is going to help you.
Firstly, there are different levels of analysis and you want to be operating at the high end ! A good template is the SOLO model because most of you will already know of it.
Basically, SOLO Thinking can be broken down into a number of levels. The ones that we want to concern ourselves with, because these will help us to gain credits at Level 3, are MULTI-STRUCTURAL, RELATIONAL and EXTENDED ABSTRACT.
Multi-structural = describing things (in some depth) like use of materials, colour, tone, line, composition (i.e what you can see).
Relational = analysing and explain how the formal elements work (things like colour, tone, line, shape, form, perspective, space, proportion), and the effect that it creates IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE PAINTING.
Extended Abstract = making connections with cultural / historical context, comparing and contrasting the artists work in the context of their whole career and with that of other artists, theorising about the work's meaning (does it use symbolism or metaphor, what is the artist trying to say, does it tell a story, does the artist succeed in his / her intentions and why ) using your imagination to make judgements about the work reflecting on how your own painting practice could be influenced by the artist's work.
You see, the more you 'dig' the more exciting it gets!
So , let's see how this SOLO stuff works when we look at a painting. At risk of making Mr Copyright an unhappy camper, I've chosen a rather famous painting by Mr. Pablo Picasso. It's called 'The Weeping Woman' , painted in 1937 (0il on canvas) and it's 60cm x 49 cm. ( All these bits of information are important ! ).
'Unpacking ' Art can be fun and insightful. This page is going to help you.
Firstly, there are different levels of analysis and you want to be operating at the high end ! A good template is the SOLO model because most of you will already know of it.
Basically, SOLO Thinking can be broken down into a number of levels. The ones that we want to concern ourselves with, because these will help us to gain credits at Level 3, are MULTI-STRUCTURAL, RELATIONAL and EXTENDED ABSTRACT.
Multi-structural = describing things (in some depth) like use of materials, colour, tone, line, composition (i.e what you can see).
Relational = analysing and explain how the formal elements work (things like colour, tone, line, shape, form, perspective, space, proportion), and the effect that it creates IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE PAINTING.
Extended Abstract = making connections with cultural / historical context, comparing and contrasting the artists work in the context of their whole career and with that of other artists, theorising about the work's meaning (does it use symbolism or metaphor, what is the artist trying to say, does it tell a story, does the artist succeed in his / her intentions and why ) using your imagination to make judgements about the work reflecting on how your own painting practice could be influenced by the artist's work.
You see, the more you 'dig' the more exciting it gets!
So , let's see how this SOLO stuff works when we look at a painting. At risk of making Mr Copyright an unhappy camper, I've chosen a rather famous painting by Mr. Pablo Picasso. It's called 'The Weeping Woman' , painted in 1937 (0il on canvas) and it's 60cm x 49 cm. ( All these bits of information are important ! ).
Multi-structural statements (describing stuff) :
Now let's go that little bit further and 'take it over the top' into the realm of the EXTENDED ABSTRACT ! To do this, we need to get personal (so look out for some 'I' statements) and, most importantly, look at the work in a wider context.
There we go. Hope this has helped you.
- It is a small portrait (60 x 49cm) of a woman.
- She is holding her hands to her face as she weeps.
- She has long dark hair and she is wearing a red/orange hat with a blue flower.
- The face is very distorted.
- This is not an accurate portrait in the traditional sense.
- There is a limited colour scheme (mostly lemon yellow, pale yellow/green, orange/red and blue / purple and brown).
- The nose and mouth have been given a different colour scheme - mostly white / blue.
- The image is heavily outlined.
- The painting has no shadows and looks flat.
- The woman appears to be inside a room . . .
- The woman appears to be middle aged and grief stricken. This is shown by the contortions in the face and the sharp, harsh angles used.
- There is little colour blending evident. This 'raw' approach to colour relates to the raw emotion of the painting's subject matter..
- The painting appears to be built around some simple colour combinations (orange/blue, green/yellow). For example, the woman is wearing a red/orange hat with a blue/purple flower with purple / blue on the hat's underside. Because the orange/blue colours are stronger, they are used less than the green/yellow. In this way Picasso controls the balance of the colours .
- Everything is distorted (from the woman's portrait to the wall in the background). This is achieved through expressive use of line and exaggeration. The harsh angles with heavy outlines suggest twisted, bombed wreckage. The overall effect of this is to heighten the emotional impact of the painting.
- This is not an accurate portrait of a weeping woman. Picasso seems to be much more concerned with showing what the woman's grief looks and feels like.
Now let's go that little bit further and 'take it over the top' into the realm of the EXTENDED ABSTRACT ! To do this, we need to get personal (so look out for some 'I' statements) and, most importantly, look at the work in a wider context.
- To me, 'The Weeping Woman' is a powerful image that represents the horror of war.
- I believe that Picasso has painted this woman to symbolise suffering and helplessness.
- For me, the painting carries a very powerful message in that the casualties of war are often the innocent people.
- He painted this in 1937. This was the same year that he painted 'Guernica'. (the painting at the top of this page). Both paintings seem to address war (in this case, The Spanish Civil War) and the effects of war on ordinary people.
- Both paintings show the desolation and devastation of war using portraiture.
- Both paintings explore aspects of 'Cubism' which Picasso had developed in the early 20th Century.
- In my own painting, I would like to explore images that reflect what I feel about my choice of subject and not necessarily what I see.
- To do this I need to make my images more immediate and a little less polished.
There we go. Hope this has helped you.