A brief guide to analysing a drawing:
1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS
•What is the title of the drawing? Stills from Amnesia
•What is the name of the artist? Anne-Marie Creamer
•What is the year the drawing was done? 2001
•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc) Water-colour painting
•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?) It is a figure drawing.
•Does the drawing have a particular purpose? eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory? "Amnesia" is made of still images.In the figures' faces, they seem doing a deep reflective. The artist intended to depict and capture the figures' facial expressions. Personally, I think the artist is neither doing a self-reflection nor depicting her own memory. She was rather illustrating a real figure, but not herself.
2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL
•How is line used? What does it do/express? The drawing is created by curved lines with relatively calm rhythm. The line is stably created. Apparently, it expresses the calmness feeling of the figures.The lines are neither think nor thin. It is quite smooth however built with broken lines rather than in a continuous way.Some shadings are even created by thick lines.
•How is tone used? What does it do/express? It actually carries its dark undertone. Both primary and secondary colour are applied (ranging from light green to dark green) The dark and light contrasts with each other, which creates a visual strike.
•Is texture a feature of the drawing? It appears to feel that the scene expressed in the drawing is quite soft with an harmonious atmosphere. The painting is composed of two drawings. For the upper part of the painting, the woman leans on the bed comfortably while the woman underneath is hugged by the man, like in a romantic scene extracted from the movie.
•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing? The composition of the drawing is well-developed. The shape and the lines are well-built, which in a sense that creating a lovely and romantic scenes. By using contrasting colours, the objects are clearly shown, and the artist is very witty by using colour to differentiate the figures and some objects like bed.
•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...Personally, I don't think rhythm of the lines takes an very important role in the picture. However, I could analyse the rhythm helps to stabilize the the whole tone of the picture, which helps the artist to further explain how the attitudes of the figures interact with the atmosphere.
•Is the picture balanced? Explain...The picture is asymmetrical, developed by several diagonal lines and not in a balanced way. This is because the artist intends to create a more three-dimensional spaces. For the upper part, the women is at the focal point. So she is illustrated in a relatively large size while the size of the bed is small, which reflects the reality. For the lower part of the picture, the size of the man is relatively larger than that of the woman, this helps to explain the man is a caregiver, and he is physically stronger than the woman, creating a love scene.
•Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created. Yes, the perspective is used in the picture. The illusion of 3D space works closely with the length, width, and depth. The lengths are not created in an continuous way but rather a way with several broken lines. The depth of field is created with the disordered lines, while the lines at the front (on the figures) are relatively clearer.
•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way? The picture is quite harmonious, with no vigorous or wavy lines.
•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more... Besides the colour, there aren't any strong contrasts in the picture. And the contrasts of colour helps us to distinguish which is which objects.
3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION
•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The mood of the drawing is sentimental. Lines are smooth and by applying water colour, the whole tone becomes softer, which helps us to integrate into the scene. Moreover, the use of fantastic imagery making the reality a dreamlike style and creates surrealistic scene.
•What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The drawing echoes with the title "Amnesia". "Amnesia" from the dictionary means lost of memory. The broken lines and shapes reflect the short-term memory the protagonist "Amnesia" has in herself. The artist made "Amnesia" the name of the woman in the portrait, highlighting how Amnesia suffers from the illnesses brought by "Amnesia". In the drawing, those are the scenes appears in her memory. However, such memory will soon vanish.
•In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/ clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......? Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusions by referring to specific features and qualities of the drawing (including those you have discussed above).
This work is moving and imaginative as it is a surrealistic drawing. With the smooth water-colour and unclear lines applied on the drawing, the scene is very dreamlike, like it doesn't ever happened in the reality.
•What is the title of the drawing? Stills from Amnesia
•What is the name of the artist? Anne-Marie Creamer
•What is the year the drawing was done? 2001
•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc) Water-colour painting
•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?) It is a figure drawing.
•Does the drawing have a particular purpose? eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory? "Amnesia" is made of still images.In the figures' faces, they seem doing a deep reflective. The artist intended to depict and capture the figures' facial expressions. Personally, I think the artist is neither doing a self-reflection nor depicting her own memory. She was rather illustrating a real figure, but not herself.
2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL
•How is line used? What does it do/express? The drawing is created by curved lines with relatively calm rhythm. The line is stably created. Apparently, it expresses the calmness feeling of the figures.The lines are neither think nor thin. It is quite smooth however built with broken lines rather than in a continuous way.Some shadings are even created by thick lines.
•How is tone used? What does it do/express? It actually carries its dark undertone. Both primary and secondary colour are applied (ranging from light green to dark green) The dark and light contrasts with each other, which creates a visual strike.
•Is texture a feature of the drawing? It appears to feel that the scene expressed in the drawing is quite soft with an harmonious atmosphere. The painting is composed of two drawings. For the upper part of the painting, the woman leans on the bed comfortably while the woman underneath is hugged by the man, like in a romantic scene extracted from the movie.
•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing? The composition of the drawing is well-developed. The shape and the lines are well-built, which in a sense that creating a lovely and romantic scenes. By using contrasting colours, the objects are clearly shown, and the artist is very witty by using colour to differentiate the figures and some objects like bed.
•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...Personally, I don't think rhythm of the lines takes an very important role in the picture. However, I could analyse the rhythm helps to stabilize the the whole tone of the picture, which helps the artist to further explain how the attitudes of the figures interact with the atmosphere.
•Is the picture balanced? Explain...The picture is asymmetrical, developed by several diagonal lines and not in a balanced way. This is because the artist intends to create a more three-dimensional spaces. For the upper part, the women is at the focal point. So she is illustrated in a relatively large size while the size of the bed is small, which reflects the reality. For the lower part of the picture, the size of the man is relatively larger than that of the woman, this helps to explain the man is a caregiver, and he is physically stronger than the woman, creating a love scene.
•Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created. Yes, the perspective is used in the picture. The illusion of 3D space works closely with the length, width, and depth. The lengths are not created in an continuous way but rather a way with several broken lines. The depth of field is created with the disordered lines, while the lines at the front (on the figures) are relatively clearer.
•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way? The picture is quite harmonious, with no vigorous or wavy lines.
•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more... Besides the colour, there aren't any strong contrasts in the picture. And the contrasts of colour helps us to distinguish which is which objects.
3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION
•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The mood of the drawing is sentimental. Lines are smooth and by applying water colour, the whole tone becomes softer, which helps us to integrate into the scene. Moreover, the use of fantastic imagery making the reality a dreamlike style and creates surrealistic scene.
•What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The drawing echoes with the title "Amnesia". "Amnesia" from the dictionary means lost of memory. The broken lines and shapes reflect the short-term memory the protagonist "Amnesia" has in herself. The artist made "Amnesia" the name of the woman in the portrait, highlighting how Amnesia suffers from the illnesses brought by "Amnesia". In the drawing, those are the scenes appears in her memory. However, such memory will soon vanish.
•In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/ clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......? Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusions by referring to specific features and qualities of the drawing (including those you have discussed above).
This work is moving and imaginative as it is a surrealistic drawing. With the smooth water-colour and unclear lines applied on the drawing, the scene is very dreamlike, like it doesn't ever happened in the reality.
WHAT
IS THE FORMAT OF THE DRAWING ANALYSIS?
Use
the link on moodle to upload your work to the classblog. “Understanding Drawing
2013” or use the blog address http://understandingdrawing2013.blogspot.hk/ Username:
carolarchersclass; Password:11112222
Add
your name to the title of the blogpost that is about the drawing you find most interesting. Upload a picture of
yourself on the post that is about the drawing your chosen drawing to blog
Then,
during the rest of the course, add your detailed responses to those questions
AND
be
sure to give your fellow students constructive feedback on their drawing analyses. Post your feedback in the comments section;
include your name after the comment[1]
(a) the detail and depth of your own
analysis and (b) the quality and constructive nature of the online feedback
that you offered your classmates
Winsome,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great visual analysis on this painting. You can clearly explain the tone, color,line etc. And you had explained that these kind of elements can bring what feeling to us. I think this is great! I also can feel the sad in this painting.
Bobo
Jacqueline : Dear Winsome I've enjoyed reading your analysis. However, in my view I get a sense that the artist indeed is reflecting on a past memory. I think color is very important in this drawing but also composition as she has placed the contemplative woman in the upper part of her work. The different color contrasts beautifully texpress a reflective mood and nostalgia. In my view, the artist seems to be reflecting with nostalgia the warm memory of her lover as depicted on the second picture, where a man figure lovingly leans as if about to kiss the woman and the woman displays pleasure in her facial expression.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMany: hi winsome! i think your analysis is so easy to understand, and i see your point about the rhythm and perspective of this picture.At the first sight when i was looking at this picture, i feel like that the woman in the upper part is very upset as she broke up with her boyfriend. and the bottom part is like her memory, she thinks of their past time. As the color of the upper part is darker, it contributes to a sad mood. Whereas, the bottom part seems colorful, compare to the upper part, which represent a romantic and warm feeling. But this is only my imagination. For me, i feel a bit sad when looking at this art work.i think different people will have different interpretation. and i hope my opinion can inspire you to have a different view towards this painting :)
ReplyDeleteHoi Ling:
ReplyDeleteYour analysis is good and easy to follow. I agree with you that the painting gives a calmness feeling and produces an harmonious and soft atmosphere. Your description of composition, tone and color is great. I can feel the sadness of the woman who is missing the past.
Carol: Satisfactory work Winsome, but it would have been good to see more detail and depth, as well as more comments on fellow student's work.
ReplyDelete