Christina PadenPine Mountain Middle School

8th VA COMP Common Assessment #2: Art Criticism

Musical Colors, by Keni Barkley, pencil, paint, cut up sheet music, glue, 2014

1. What can you learn from the title of the artwork? (3-5 complete sentences) The title, “Musical Colors” says a little but a lot. I can learn from this title that music can “speak”. Music is a

great way of expressing your feelings.1. What subjects in the artwork can your recognize? (3-5 complete sentences)

3. Looking at the elements of art what do you see? (1-2 sentences for each)-Color

This piece is bursting with vivid colors such as blue, red, and gold.-Shape

There are many shapes in this piece, such as triangles, circles, ovals, and other irregular polygons.-Texture

This doesn’t have much texture, besides the feel of the dried paint against the smooth paper.-Space

This piece is quite big, it takes up a whole poster board.-Form

The piece doesn’t have much form because it’s on a flat poster board.4. What media (materials used to make the art) and techniques (methods to make the art) did the artist use? (3-5 complete sentences)

Description

1. Emphasis: The artist used gold as the emphasis color. When I look at the piece, the pretty shimmery gold stands out

almost immediately.1. Balance: The piece isn’t very balanced. Because it was a work inspired by Picasso, balance isn’t really important.1. Proportion: As stated before, the piece was inspired by Picasso so the proportion is supposed to be odd.1. Pattern: There is a steady pattern of blue, red, and gold paint.1. Rhythm or Movement: There is no rhythm or movement in the piece.1. Unity and Variety: I think the colors of the paint paired with the pencil makes great unity.

Analysis

1. Is there symbolism in the artwork? What do you think it means? (3-5 sentences). I think there is a little symbolism in the piece. The guitar represents music, obviously and the colors represent

the vividness and creativity that music brings to this world.1. What feeling do you think the artist wanted to give the viewer when looking at the work? (3-5 sentences) Judging from the bright colors, I’m assuming the artist wanted the viewer to feel joyful and uplifted. While the

piece has some blue—a rather sad color—the gold and red compliment it nicely. Even I feel a twinge of delight looking at it!

Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced? (3-5 sentences) The guitar reminds me of a time when I was learning to play the acoustic guitar. The gold, red, and blue remind

me of a time I went to a color run and these colors were everywhere. I have pretty good memories associated with the piece.

1. How does the work relate to other ideas or events in the world and/or in your other classes? (3-5 sentences)

In my opinion, the work relates to the idea of expressing yourself through music, as I mentioned before. The happy bursts of color paired with the guitar, a musical instrument, really emphasize the idea.

Interpretation

1. What parts of the work make you feel it is a success or failure? (3-5 sentences) To me, this piece is both a success AND a failure. It’s a success because it’s very colorful, creative, neat, and

appealing. It’s a failure because unfortunately, I can tell the piece was unfinished.1. What criteria (think of the style of the work) can you list to help others judge this work? (3-5 sentences)

2. How unique is the work? Why do you feel this work is or isn’t unique? (3-5 sentences) I definitely think this piece is unique because it provides a great message to the viewers and puts them in a

good mood. It’s also unique because, of course every artists piece is unique in its own way. Not only did the artist put hard work into the piece, they put their heart and soul into it.

1. What are some improvements you feel the artist could have made to the work? (3-5 sentences) There aren’t many improvements that could be made. The piece is overall very nice. However, I think a good

start would be to finish it, it would look so beautiful!

Judgment