What is a Formal Analysis?

This assignment requires a detailed description of the "formal" qualities of the art object (formal as in "related to the form," not a black tie dinner). In other words, you're looking at the individual design elements, such as composition (arrangement of parts of, or in, the work), color, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast, and rhythm. Your primary concern in this assignment is to attempt to explain how the artist arranges and uses these various elements.

The best method to accomplish this is to go and look at the object for a long time and then write down what you see. As you will notice from the page length of the assignment, I expect a highly detailed description of the object. You might struggle with this assignment because it is hard to translate what you see into words -- don't give up, and take more notes than you might think you need.

Why would I ask you to do this assignment? First, translating something from a visual language to a textual language is one of the most vital tasks of the art historian. Most art historians at some point describe fully and accurately their objects of study in order to communicate their ideas about them. You may already have found this tendency helpful in reading your textbook or other assigned readings. Second, for you to truly understand any art object, you must scrutinize them in this way: you need practice doing so. Instructors who assign formal analysis want you to look--and look carefully. Think of the object as a series of decisions that an artist made. Your job is to figure out and describe, explain, and interpret those decisions and why the artist may have made them.

Ideally, if you were to give your written formal analysis to a friend who had never seen the object, s/he would be able to describe or draw the object for you or at least pick it out of a lineup.

In writing a formal analysis, focus on creating a logical order so that your reader doesn't get lost. Don't ever assume that because your reader (in this case, instructor) has seen the work, they know what you are talking about. Here are a couple of options:

• summarize the overall appearance, then describe the details of the object
• describe the composition and then move on to a description of the materials used (acrylic, watercolor, plaster)
• begin discussing one side of the work and then move across the object to the other side
• describe things in the order in which they draw your eye around the object, starting with the first thing you notice and moving to the next

To begin with, your formal analysis should consist of pure description with little or no interpretation. You should describe your object and explain how the formal elements contribute to the work as a whole. Once this is established, you can go further and comment on the significance of what you have observed. Most art historians include formal analysis at some point in their essays, so there are a lot of examples to look at in the textbook and other readings, but you will probably have to be more in-depth than they are.

Formal analysis is an important technique for organizing visual information. In other words, it is a strategy used to translate what you see into written words. This strategy can be applied to any work of art, from any period in history, whether a photograph, sculpture, painting or cultural artifact.

In any work of art, all of these elements and principles will be present, but some will be more obvious than others. When engaging in formal analysis, students should select the elements they feel are most strongly represented in the piece they are analyzing.

A good place to start formal analysis is to look at a work of art and take note of how your eye moves around the object. Where does your eye go first, and why were you attracted to that part of the image? What colors, textures, and shapes appear in the image? What did the artist include in the composition to guide your eye or to direct your gaze to a certain part of the image?

The Elements

The elements of formal analysis are building blocks that can be combined to create a larger structure.

Line is the most basic building block of formal analysis. Line can be used to create more complex shapes or to lead your eye from one area in the composition to another.

Shapes are created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle. Shapes can be organic (irregular shapes found in nature) or geometric (shapes with strong lines and angles such as circles, triangles, and squares).

Forms are three-dimensional shapes with length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders, boxes and pyramids are forms.

Space is the area between and around objects. Increasing or decreasing the amount of space around an object affects the way we view that object.

Value is the relative lightness or darkness of an object or area. It helps to differentiate objects through contrast. Even black and white images have a huge number of different shades of gray.

Color differentiates and defines lines, shapes, forms, and space. It adds emotional connotations to the objects and/or space.

Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures are often implied. For instance, a drawing of a rock might appear to have a rough and hard surface, but in reality is as smooth as the paper on which it is drawn.

The Principles

Notice how the following principles integrate the elements of formal analysis and build on one another.

Balance is created in a work of art when textures, colors, forms, or shapes are combined harmoniously.

Contrast is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the artwork.

Movement is the way a viewer's eye is directed to move through a composition, often to areas of emphasis. Movement can be directed by lines, contrasting shapes, or colors within the artwork.

Emphasis is created in a work of art when the artist contrasts colors, textures, or shapes to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the image.

Pattern is the repetition of a shape, form, or texture across a work of art.

Proportion is created when the sizes of elements in a work of art are combined harmoniously.

Unity is created when the principles of analysis are present in a composition and in harmony. Some images have a complete sense of unity, while some artists deliberately avoid formal unity to create feelings of tension and anxiety.

Once students have an understanding of formal analysis, they will be well prepared to put this theory into practice by making their own images based on the elements and principles of design. Whether in photography, sculpture, or painting, the theory of formal analysis will help students to compose their works of art as professional artists would.

Steps to Formal Analysis

Description = pure description of the object without value judgments, analysis, or interpretation. It answers the question, "What do you see?" The various elements that constitute a description include:

• form of art whether architecture, sculpture, painting or one of the minor arts
• medium of work whether clay, stone, steel, paint, etc.
• technique (tools used)
• size and scale of work (relationship to person and/or frame and/or context)
• elements or general shapes (architectural structural system) within the composition, including building of post-lintel construction or painting with several figures lined up in a row; identification of objects
• description of axis whether vertical, diagonal, horizontal, etc.
• description of line, including contour as soft, planar, jagged, etc.
• description of how line describes shape and space (volume); distinguish between lines of objects and lines of composition, e.g., thick, thin, variable, irregular, intermittent, indistinct, etc.
• relationships between shapes, e.g., large and small, overlapping, etc.
• description of color and color scheme = palette
• texture of surface or other comments about execution of work
• context of object: original location and date

Analysis = determining what the descriptive features (from no. 1) suggest and deciding why the artist used such features to convey specific ideas. It answers the question, "How did the artist do it?" The various elements that constitute analysis include:

• determination of subject matter through naming iconographic elements, e.g., historical event, allegory, mythology, etc.
• selection of most distinctive features or characteristics whether line, shape, color, texture, etc.
• analysis of the principles of design or composition, e.g., stable, repetitious, rhythmic, unified, symmetrical, harmonious, geometric, varied, chaotic, horizontal or vertically oriented, etc.
• discussion of how elements or structural system contribute to appearance of image or function
• analysis of use of light and role of color, e.g., contrasty, shadowy, illogical, warm, cool, symbolic, etc.
• treatment of space and landscape, both real and illusionary (including use of perspective), e.g., compact, deep, shallow, naturalistic, random
• portrayal of movement and how it is achieved effect of particular medium(s) used
• your perceptions of balance, proportion and scale (relationships of each part of the composition to the whole and to each other part) and your emotional reaction to object or monument

Interpretation = establishing the broader context for this type of art by drawing on the analysis (from no. 2). It answers the question, "Why did the artist create it and what does it mean in terms of political, social, cultural, or intellectual history?" [Usually done in combination with several contemporaneous works and sometimes knowledge of political, social, cultural, or intellectual events.] The various elements that constitute interpretation include:

• main idea, overall meaning of the work = content
• sources or traditions that influenced artist
• purpose