Art Essay Sample: Visual Analysis, Dancer 1880

Essentially, visual analysis is the primary unit of art historical writing. The main aim of visual analysis is to understand and recognize the visual choices made by the artist in creating the artwork (Peters, 39). A visual analysis looks into the artworks visual attributes such as line, color, texture, and size. This paper seeks to analyze a painting of a young lady. In particular, it will provide a personal experience of the painting and establish an emotional/personal connection to the painting as well as the impact on the author. Furthermore, a formal analysis of the painting and a conclusion will be provided.

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I am highly obsessed with enthralled paintings. I love paintings and can stare at a picture for a quite a long time to have an overview as well as the in-depth meaning of an art. I concur with the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Different interpretations can be obtained from a single picture. Therefore, I believe a personal response to a piece of an art is wholly based on the individuals understanding of the art. I often get emotionally attached to a visual art when it excites me.

This painting is of a young lady standing amidst other ladies, standing staring on the ground. It is a great painting that is intellectually stimulating. In my view, the young lady is looking sad and gloomy as portrayed from the standing posture as well as her facial expression. The mood of the painting stirred a sad emotion on me. After observing the painting, I just could not remove the painting of my head. It often triggers a nostalgic feeling.

The first thing that caught my attention from the painting was the image of the young woman in front of the painting, her facial expression, and body posture. The techniques used by the artist include the exaggerated use of shadows and light. The balance of the painting is symmetrical as the image rather the image of the lady is slightly at the center of the painting. However, the image is not a hundred percent balanced composition as the whole face of the lady is not seen. The painter only shows the left side of the ladys face. The medium used in creating the painting is probably painted on a piece of paper. Actual physical texture has been used by the painter as the texture intrigues the sense of light.

The hues used by the artist include blue, white and brown. The brown color used in the painting creates darkness, especially, in the background. A relatively white color has been used on the ladys clothing to depict the feeling of purity of the ladys soul. Blue color has also been used to depict calmness and tranquility. The blue color also creates some warmth in the painting. The color selection used by the painter reflects the atmosphere of the painting. The interplay of the colors especially brown and white is indicated by the intensity of light concentrated in the work.

The perception created by the image is that of a humble and loyal woman. Therefore, the main function of the art could be to inform the public about Christians principles of humility and loyalty.

Elements of painting

Distance: To understand the painting better, it is important to view the image in three dimensions. Looking at the foreground of the picture, that is the closest part of the viewer; one can see all the other elements of painting. It makes one to understand what the artist was trying to make his or her views understand. Viewing the image from the middle ground and the background also makes the viewer know the general look of the picture. However, to appreciate the picture and learn more about them, it is necessary to view the picture from the entire distances one after the other. Through this, the viewer will be in a better position to notice of and see things that he might have missed while viewing at some specific point.

Light: Looking at the image under study, it is evitable that the artist took quite a long time studying the way light will fall on the images. It is clear that the artist tried with the light in the painting using hidden spotlights or simulating natural sunlight which is intended at making the viewer notice what the picture portrays. For instance, in the image showing the girls, the painter wanted the viewers to notice the kind of dress that the girls were putting on. Through that, the culture of those girls in the image could be stipulated. In the other picture, the artist wanted the viewer to notice the paint in the mirror. The lighting in the image is perfect as that is what the viewer first notices when he views the image (Moss, 33). The lighting in the image is also intended to impact on the color of the objects in the images as well as the background color. The mood of the painting can also be predicted by the lighting of the image. The girls seem to be in an anxious state by their state of standing. To have a clear understanding of the lighting in the pictures, it is necessary to look at the sources of light in the painting to understand the appearance of the objects as well as the mood that the images communicate.

Color: The colors that have been used in the painting have clearly conveyed to the viewer the moods and feelings of the paint. In the picture with the girls, the viewer can quickly conclude that there is a sad mood just by seeing the colors. The colors have played a key role in making the images more beautiful and capturing the attention of the viewer at the first site.

The artist in has also used lines and shapes to express ideas to the viewer. Each line and shape that the viewer sees has a given purpose and requires the concentration of the viewer to understand. The composition and the perspective of the image also make the viewer understand the image more.

Conclusion

It is evitable that the picture under study creates a personal feeling with the viewer. Viewing the picture makes one see what the artist was portraying to his viewers. Additionally, the elements of the painting are all geared to make the viewer have a clear understanding of the images and appreciate the artistic skills of the artists.

Work Cited

Moss, Roger W. Paint in America: The Colors of Historic Buildings. Washington, D.C: Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1994. Print.

Peters, Corbett D. The World in Paint: Modern Art and Visuality in England, 1848-1914. University Park, Penn: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. Print.