When we talk about a critic the first thought is usually a literary critic or a movie critic. In the last twenty years food has become a past time for many, so we might also think of a food critic. What do these people do? They rate movies, food or books. Well the art world has critics also and many times it’s people like you and me. To understand art you must analyze the meaning and the formal qualities of the work. We call this Art criticism or in a classroom setting I often called it analyzing art work. The great thing about this process is that once you have learned it you can analyze almost anything.

The Criticism Process is comprised of four parts, description, analysis, interpretation and judgement.

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Description is size of the work, medium used to create it (graphite, oil paint, acrylic, bronze etc.) The elements of art. What is happening in the work? What is the subject? It is simply a physical description of the work.

Analysis what kind of organization do you see in the work? Analysis is where we discuss the formal properties of the work. How are the elements used? How did the artist use the principles of art to organize the elements?

Interpretation is what kind of feeling or mood is the artist trying to convey to the viewer? How is this accomplished?

Judgement is simply how the critic likes the work, does it have artistic merit? Is there something you really like about it? Is there something you would change? Not simply yes, I like it or no, I don’t like it but why?