Category: Art Essay

Student guide to write art essay

How to Examine Creativity

One thing that makes an art essay to appear different from all other writing assignments is that you may encounter unique challenges when writing. For instance, you’ll be tested to establish whether you can justify your work through thorough analysis. In essence, you are expected to use words to explain the meanings of various images. When you start learning how to write and art essay it is expected you should grapple with the language and semantics of the craft in question. The knowledge of all the terms and applicable precepts is also paramount when learning how to write an art essay.

On obtaining the skills required when learning how to write an art essay, you should also describe the image therein properly before offering a complete description. You should also offer a valid defence for your own point of perception. Whether your paper is a building, sculpture or painting, your paper should contain organized descriptions on different aspects of your artwork. You also need to be versed with the exact thing you are expected to say with regard to the specific topic. You also need to analyse your work with a high degree of accuracy. In addition to that, when learning how to write an art essay, you should properly describe the artwork you’ve selected.

Types of Art Writings

Sylvan Barnet has identified five types of papers. It is important for you to gain an understanding of these types of papers as you are learning how to write an art essay. This will help you to fully understand and adhere to the instructor’s expectations, and soon enough you will know how to write an art essay with ease. You may decide to use of these styles for brainstorming and exploration of other ideas for your assignment topic if it’s at your discretion.

(a)The Sociological Essay – it analyses a specific epoch in history and also suggests how that epoch influences your topic of discussion. There is a possibility of raising general questions with regard to social influences such as economic effects on the art, the challenges faced by a woman seeking recognition in that area and much more. For instance, your essay may focus on the influence of Walker Evans’ rural farm photography to understand how to write an art essay on the deep desire of Roosevelt to develop Farm Security Administration.

(b) Image Writing – Also referred to as iconography, it is the type of writing that defines images through in-depth exploration of various symbols noted in the selection of an artwork. For example, the author may point subjects to Rembrandt’s “The Assassin” as the formidable citizens of Holland. However, a thorough critical examination of the painting symbols may reveal that characters in that painting could be identified as saints.

(c)Formal Analysis – The student who wants to learn how to write an art essay is asked to examine more formal aspects of a particular work of art before developing a dialogue with respect to these parts in some creative or unique fashion that helps others to see clearly and understand the artwork under examination.

(d)Biographical Essay – it enables the writer who is learning how to write an art essay to critically examine the personal life of the artist and determine how this influences their work. Barnet provides an example of this: how Ansel Adams influenced Harry Callahan’s photography career.

(e)The Iconological Essay – potentially known as the study of an image. It uses a variety literary examples and texts to interpret some selected pieces of art work. The person who has learned how to write an art essay may decide to use some ancient renditions of different Greek mythological tales to enlighten the readers on image representations of the myth as depicted in different archaic classes of Greek art.

Strategies Prior to Writing the Essay

• The medium – Determine the principles applied by the artist in selecting a specific medium along with the advantages and limitations.
• Use of lines – Does the artist use light or heavy lines? Do those lines run horizontally or vertically? Could the lines be straight or curved? Is there a specific outcome expected as a result of using these lines?
• Coloration – Does the artist involve the use realistic or expressive colours? Does the used colour give sense of warmth or coldness? Are the colours subdued or bright? What overall effect do these colours cause?
• Light – In which way is light employed by the artist? Are shadows involved? Is there an interaction or play between the two? What message is communicated by the work to the audience?
• Space – Do you find any sense of space in the selected work? Does the visual plane indicate great depth or it’s shallow? What arrangement of shapes is used within the framework of this particular work of art? In which way does application of sense impact subjects of the artist? How may use of space impact on your response to the art paper?
• Style – Are there some elements that identify the specific style used by the artist in that art paper? Is that style common or unique to a given period of time?
• Composition – Are there formal elements or aspects in that art essay that interact along with each other? Does composition of that work of art convey its theme or idea? Does the composition make your eye to travel in a coherent manner throughout that work of art? Does the composition of that art influence the movement? These are all questions you want to ask in order to understand how to write an art essay.
• Context – Anyone who is learning how to write an art essay must always examine the context of that work. Find out when it was painted, the artist behind that work and where the work was completed. How has history or culture influenced that work? Does that work of art address some specific cultural or historical concerns? As you learn how to write an art essay, consider writing down all the questions that you want to answer within your essay’s scope. Such questions will definitely guide you through your examination of the existing sources of similar works. Consider examining any available brochures or documentation in possession of the museum or gallery.

Advice to Writers
Students with a desire of learning how to write an art essay may approach the work in the same way they write any ordinary academic paper. You must stay focused on the topic that, including creating a sentence for the thesis. You should also settle on some specific structure. As usual, you should employ proper organisation and grammatical expressions with absolute clarity. And once you’ve learned how to write an art essay, you should also understand and cautiously use the conventions applied in the world of art. If you find it difficult, please have a look at our assignment writing service. Nonetheless, below are a few tips which you may consider in writing your own art essay:

• Rather than just describing your work, analyse it properly. A common complaint from many university professors is that most students normally describe artwork without having a careful consideration of the argument they want to out across. The ultimate purpose of your writing is paramount when learning how to write an art essay. Carefully select an outline of details in your description and let them illustrate your art essay. A common format regularly used by students that have learned how to write an art essay involves constructing the paper in a manner that the actual topic or theme sentence is easily located in the essay. A traditional student is usually trained to construct their compositions in a manner that the opening paragraph becomes the holder of the topical sentence. Once you know how to write an art essay, you will definitely recognise why it’s essential to make sure that all your details are categorically selected and logical. In order to exceptionally build on the main point, you must start with a careful selection of primary ideas.

• What about the structure of your writing? When learning how to write an art essay, in case you want to discuss a specific movement of art, you may actually desire to use a very chronological format. However, you should consider using the spatial format in order to produce a highly chronological art essay.

• Avoid the use of “I” in any qualitative piece or writing. Students who have articulately mastered how to write an art essay will tell you that using “I” will practically detract you from your efforts of creating a formal piece of an art essay. Of course this does not mean that your opinion is useless. However, your opinion must be put down in a very scholarly manner. Rather than focusing on your opinion to your work of art, focus on explaining your response to the art essay.