In Be a Painting Critic, learn how to critique a painting by learning the elements of design. Also learn how to compare and contrast paintings.
After you have learned how to critique, select a painting and record your answers to the Write About It questions in a notebook or a digital document. Use the Painting Word Bank to help with your responses.
Google Drive/Classroom Users: You can go under File and select "Make a Copy" or "Print" to access the Artopia Painting - Write About It worksheet.
Video
These are examples of narrative artworks that depict historical figures and events. No. 11 - John Brown Takes to Guerilla Warfare, is one of a series of twenty-two gouache paintings illustrating the...
Video
Line: Artists often start out working with line. Look at the outline of the spotted horse. This is called a skeletal shape. The long hairs in the horse’s mane and tail are lines. Several horizontal...
Photo
Hua Yan A Closer Look Hua Yan uses lines to create the shapes of the man, horse and trees in this painting. He then uses more lines to show details within these figures. Line is the most basic element...
Photo
William Bouguereau A Closer Look What do you notice first in Arion on a Sea Horse? Is it the lyre, the small harp that Arion is holding? William Bouguereau draws our attention to the lyre by making it...
Photo
Susan Rothenberg A Closer Look What do you think the artist Susan Rothenberg is trying to express? Does the title For the Light help you understand this painting? Notice how simple Rothenberg's horse...
Photo
Ando Hiroshige A Closer Look In Fuji from Kogane-Go-Hara, Shimosa Hiroshige wants the viewer to notice Mt. Fuji on the horizon. He uses an Asian art technique called the split fountain, a gradual...
Photo
Gerard ter Borch A Closer Look Genre in art represents what life is like in a particular place and time. If an artist came to your art class and painted you and your classmates working on your artwork...
Photo
Joan Miro A Closer Look Joan Miro presents a collection of various objects in his painting Horse, Pipe and Red Flower. Take some time to identify the objects that are somewhat hidden in this picture...
Photo
Maria Izquierdo A Closer Look Horses Actors is a good example of asymmetrical balance. If you draw an imaginary line down the middle of the painting you can see that the two halves are very different...
Photo
Anonymous A Closer Look The Caves of Lascaux, France are filled with prehistoric paintings including this horse. It is one of the oldest paintings in the world, created during the Paleolithic...