Art Appreciation Process
As you go through the process, take notes on the relevant information you discover. Plan
your appreciation text with a first draft. The final text should be written in ink or typed.
The process is divided into four steps:
1. Description 2. Analysis 3. Interpretation 4. Judgment
Step 1 – Description
In the description step you will make observations about what you see. For this first step
your observations must be objective. Try not to express your opinions yet. Describe only
the facts. Make sure you include the information from the Credit Line.
The Credit Line contains some very useful information helping to provide you with
information about the work.
1. The name of the artist, his or her nationality, and date of birth (and death)
What can you deduce from this information? This additional information helps you to
understand a work of art by understanding the time period the artist lived in and what events may
have affected his or her life. Some additional research is required.
2. The name of the artwork and the year (or years) it was made. Often the title is
italicized and can sometimes give you clues as to the meaning or the work.
3. The medium (or materials used to create this work) and the size of the piece.
Why is this information important? Sometimes we are surprised by the actual size of the work.
4. Usually the last piece of information will tell you where this work can be
viewed or who owns it. Now really look at the artwork and describe in great
detail what you see. Your details should be so well described that even a blind
person could visualize exactly what the artwork looks like. Make sure you use
complete and well thought out sentences. Use the appropriate Visual Arts
vocabulary (line, shape, form, space, texture, color and value).
*** Now really look at the artwork and describe in great detail what you see. Your
details should be so well described that even a blind person could visualize exactly what
the artwork looks like. Make sure you use complete and well thought out sentences. Use
the appropriate Visual Arts vocabulary.
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Step 2 - Analysis
In this step consider the most significant art principles that were used in the artwork.
Describe how the artist used them to organize the elements.
BALANCE
CONTRAST
EMPHASIS
HARMONY
VARIETY
UNITY
GRADATION MOVEMENT RHYTHM
PROPORTION DEPTH
COMPOSITION
Step 3 – Interpretation
Based on what you have learned so far about the artwork, what do you think the artist
was trying to say?
Why did the artist create this artwork? What do you think it means? What feelings do you
have when looking at this artwork? Do you think there are things in the artwork that
represent other things - symbols?
Step 4 - Judgment
Do you like this artwork? Do you think it is a good artwork? Do think it is an important
artwork? Would display this artwork in your home? Is this artwork good enough to put in
a museum?
Justify your opinion. Explain why you feel the way you do about this artwork based on
what you have learned about it. What criteria do you base your judgment on?
The Student Art Critic
After going through the process individually or as a group, write a four paragraph critique
about the artwork using the information that was recorded.
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


1st paragraph: Describe the artwork
2nd paragraph: Analyze the artwork
3rd paragraph: Interpret the artwork
4th paragraph: Make a judgment about the artwork and back it up with good
information.
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Starry Night
Vincent Van Gogh
1853-1890
Critiques on Van Gogh's famous painting "The Starry Night"
Students are 6th grade students at Renovo Elementary School
Starry Night - Vincent Van Gogh
A critique by 6th grade student Michelle H.
In the painting it shows many colors- blue, green, black, yellow, brown and a touch of
orange. The cypress tree is very large, almost going to the top of the picture. There are
many circular swirls. A little village and a church catch your eye as you look at it. There
is a yin yang right in the middle of the painting. There is a mountain or a couple. The
colors are dark, mostly, and light also.
He uses patterns of circles that look to be stars. The curvy lines cause the picture to look
like it is moving. The texture in the painting gives it harmony. Everything in the picture is
a cool color except for the stars with a hot color. Also, the movement of the tree is wavy.
It comes together in harmony, so many little curvy lines, to make one large curvy tree
which is large and high.
I think a lot of things were going through his mind. He expresses many feelings - happy,
sad, disturbed, mad, and peaceful. He sees the world coming together in peace and
harmony. It seems nothing will happen. All is good. I think it means all should come
together and be peaceful.
I like this painting. It shows various feelings, lots of colors, and shapes formed together
to make objects. It expresses how and what he is seeing out his window. It is a beautiful
picture with lots of control. The stars are big and bright. The wind seems very strong. The
town is calm and little and not too many houses, a big sturdy church and a very large tree
towards the left of the painting. In my opinion, this is a very beautiful painting.
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Starry Night - Vincent Van Gogh
A critique by 6th grade student Justin W.
Some of the main objects in the painting are a very extremely large cypress tree, a small
town or village and some medium sized mountains in the background. Also notice the
night sky with beautiful stars in it and a nice sized moon. You can also call it a sun
because it is a full circle or you can call it an eclipse because it looks like a sun (which I
explained before) and it looks like a moon too. That is why you can call it an eclispse.
Most of the painting (mostly in the background) is colored in blue. The sky is more blue
than anything in the painting. In the sky are hot colored stars blooming while they can.
There are also many curvy lines in the painting, especially the sky. There are many
curves in the sky and if you look closely you can see a very curvy ying yang. I think that
the ying yang represented his thoughts because I think he was planning his death because
of his mental illness and that ying yang meant to him, "Am I going to die and live in
harmony with God and his white angels or downstairs with the evil one himself and live a
nasty eternal life with the evil one and all his nasty demons. Look closely at the painting.
Can you see the church? It is the biggest building of them all which probably means he's
worried about his after life. Notice he has more cold colors and less hot.
Vincent Van Gogh puts lots of movement in his painting of Starry Night. As you can see,
he puts lots of movement in the sky. He puts lots of wind in the picture that made most of
the curves. In Van Gogh's painting notice that the horizon is in the lower part of the
painting. Most famous painters put the horizon in the middle of the painting.
A lot of people wonder, did he think the stars were a gateway to heaven or did he just
want to see them in a different way? He might have shot himself because of a problem in
life. Maybe he didn't like walking around with one and a half ears on his head for two
years or maybe he didn't like being mental. It is still a mystery.
My reaction to Van Gogh's art work is he put many details in his painting, especially in
the sky because of the wind curves that make up the yin yang in the sky. There are also
some details in the small town or village. The cypress tree is detailed from the shapes on
it. The worth on the art is probably very high in value. The art work is probably the
weirdest art work I've seen. That's why I like the art work.
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