Assignment: Visual Analysis on Lascuax (http://archeologie.culture.fr/lascaux/fr)

(4 pages)

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this assignment is for you to look closely at an artwork from

the textbook and translate your visual observations into a written description. This

assignment will also help prepare you for your Midterm & Final Art Historical Analysis.

HOW TO DO IT: For this analysis, you should write a concise, compelling description

of an artwork/artifact/architectural structure. Please use Lascuax (http://archeologie.culture.fr/lascaux/fr )

In five or six brief paragraphs (4 pages), describe your artwork as fully and completely as

possible. Don’t analyze meaning, don’t do too much research beyond the basics of the

artwork itself. Think of these descriptions as textual substitutes for the artwork itself.

Instead, concentrate on things such as: scale, composition, pictorial space, form, line,

color, light, tone, texture, & pattern.

HINTS:

Focus only on what you see. If you can’t see it, don’t say it! You shouldn’t

include any historical information except for the name/date/medium of the

artwork. Identify the materials if you know them or if they are listed under the

object in the textbook, but if you don’t, simply describe their visual effect.

Choose your language carefully in order to keep the description as concise,

specific, and vivid as possible. Make every word count!

Begin each paragraph with a single-sentence overview and add additional detail,

including artist/title/medium as appropriate.

Establish a clear logic and organizational framework for your analysis. If you are

discussing a narrative artwork, make sure you summarize both the plot and

describe its visual elements.

Check your overall analysis for repetition and clarity; read it ALOUD to

yourself. Be sure to proofread for errors.

LOGISTICS: Please create an interesting title for your Visual Analysis! Include your

name, the date, and the course number on the top of the first page of your assignment. All

assignments should be word-processed using double-spaced 12 pt Times New Roman

font, and include page numbers.

Also at the top of your assignment, include: the Name of the Artist, the Title of Your

Chosen Work, it’s date, it’s medium (if available), and the page # where your image can

be found in the textbook.

You are free to choose any artifact or work of visual art/design/architecture from the

textbook or anything mentioned in the video tutorials.

HINTS:

Choose something that genuinely interests or intrigues you

Choose something that you can describe in 4 pages 😉

If, once you begin writing, the artwork you chose doesn’t seem to be working for

you, don’t be afraid to choose another

When you think you’ve made all your observations about the artifact/artwork, go

back and make some more ☺

Don’t leave anything out – no detail is too small or insignificant