What is visual analysis?

Visual analysis is a method of understanding art that focuses on an artwork’s visual elements,
such as color, line, texture, and scale.
In its strictest definition, it is a description and explanation of visual structure for its own sake. Yet
the purpose of visual analysis can also recognize the choices that an artist made in creating the
artwork, as well as to better understand how the formal properties of an artwork communicate
ideas, content, or meaning.

Visual analysis is often used as a starting point for art-historical writing.

Visual analysis is not just for art. It is also a critical part of visual literacy, a skill that helps people
read and critically interpret images, whether in a museum, on social media, in entertainment,
advertising, or the news.
As citizens of the 21st century, we are constantly confronted with visual media. Practicing visual
analysis sharpens critical judgment skills and helps people seek out answers instead of passively
receiving information. This is especially important when exposing hidden ideologies that may
motivate seemingly neutral images.
 How does visual analysis work?
Visual analysis can include three phases.

Phase One: Observation

Observation means closely looking at and identifying the visual attributes of an artwork,
trying to describe them carefully and accurately in your own words.

The observation phase encourages students to look, think, and find good language to communicate
what they notice, all without reading about the work.

This phase tends to be the most challenging for students, so make sure to spend adequate time modeling
and rehearsing these skills in the museum if possible. Some students will want to jump to analysis or read
about the work instead, but keep students focused on what they see. Focusing on visual elements such as
color, line, space will help temporarily suspend any symbolic or interpretive impulses. Informal descriptive
exercises can be helpful for this as well
 Phase Two: Analysis

Analysis requires you to think about your observations and try to make statements about
the work based on the evidence of your observations—akin to using close reading to
formulate an argument about a text.

This phase encourages us to think about how the specific visual elements we have identified
combine together to create a whole, and what effect that whole has on the viewer.
We have to think - how the viewer’s eye is led through the work and why, and/or address the artist’s
choices and what effect they have .Analysis is about understanding the visual logic of an artwork in itself.

A visual analysis paper is thought piece that does not require any research, though it does have a central
argument or thesis.
 Phase Three: Interpretation
The difference between visual analysis and interpretation is research. To use visual
analysis as the basis for an interpretation of an artwork, have students formulate
research questions based on what they have observed and argued thus far.

In this final phase (usually for a formal paper or research proposal), students balance observations,
description, and analysis with facts about the artist and historical context from
trustworthy published sources.
 WALK-THROUGH OF VISUAL ANALYSIS

Start by looking at the painting five to ten minutes without writing anything.
Try to observe from close up and far away, if possible. Focus on the painting as a whole, then try to
notice details that pop out at you. When you have finished this initial looking, start writing down
your observations. These notes can be very helpful later, especially if you are completing an assignment.

Begin notetaking with general questions such as, “What is the subject of this picture?”

A helpful task might be to write down everything that you see: in this case, a reclining woman in a dress
and stockings; a leopard fur and two different textiles around her; a snarling, dog like animal; and wood
flooring in the far right of the painting.
Another approach might be to ask yourself what your initial reaction to the work is.

Do you find it intimidating, intriguing, weird, pretty? Why? What do you notice first, and why? I notice that
her face is in sharp detail and confronts the viewer head-on. The contrast of dark lipstick and
light skin, and her framing hand beneath her face, give it further emphasis.
Think about whether a narrative or story is being depicted, even if you don’t know what it is
immediately. If there is no evident story—such as in this example of Dix’s painting—what do you
think the artist is focusing on instead?
After asking these questions, you should be able to ascertain your first impressions, the areas of
the work that you find most striking, and the basic subject matter of the painting. In the case of
Dix’s painting, I’m surmising that the woman is likely the subject of the painting based on how
much room she takes up, and that this is likely a portrait of an actual woman given the visual
emphasis on her odd and specific features.
 Specific visual qualities
STYLE: Format: Do things appear in this painting as we see them in real life, or are they stylized?
Where in the work do you see this?
Observation (description only):
Analysis (thoughts about the effect on the viewer):

Do things appear in this painting as we see them in real life, or are they stylized?

Observation: Dix’s painting shows things somewhat realistically, though there are elements that seem
stylized, such as her facial features. Also, that Dix has deliberately posed her so that she appears to have
no neck, and the arm disappearing into the leopard fur seems cut off—especially her hand, which appears
almost dismembered.
Analysis: This suggests to me that the painter was reliant on visual reality, but also took opportunities to
heighten the viewer’s response and emotions through stylistic adaptations and visual exaggerations.
COLOR: Are colors warm or cold, bright or muted? Are there many colors or just a few?
Observation:
Analysis:
The most common colors in Dix’s painting appear to be green, red, white, and brown.
I notice that there seems to be a lot of contrast between red (a warm color) and green (a cold
color) in this work, even in her skin and face. Similarly, I notice contrasts between dark and light:
her face/body vs. the materials on and around her. Each of these contrasts give the work drama
and energy that could be discussed in the analysis of the work.
If I try to read color more symbolically, I might note that in Western representation red is often
associated with passion and sex (a reclining woman with garter), but also blood and danger
(a snarling animal in the background). Formally, I might know that contrasting colors, like red
and green, tend to make each other pop visually, and that Dix as an artist might be using this
purposefully.
COLOR:LINE: What words capture the quality of line in this work? Are there different kinds?
Observation:
Analysis:
There are contrasts in line as well: like just notice smooth curves around her lower body,
especially around her hip and thighs, which might connote the conventionally “feminine,” but
there are also very angular lines around her face, jaw, fingers, and shoulders, which possibly
read as more conventionally “masculine.” Her head/face in particular are full of strong lines in
her cheeks and jaw; though her eyes also seem exaggerated, like curved almonds or cat eyes.
TEXTURE: Is there literal texture in your artwork (object, sculpture), or depicted texture
(drawing, painting)? Where do you see this?
Observation (What does it look like?):
Analysis (Why do you think the artist chose to depict it like this?):
Though there is no literal texture in Dix’s work since it’s a two-dimensional painting
made with oil paint on wood panel, the artist has tried very hard to create the illusion of texture:
the leopard fur; the velvetlike materials; her stockings, dress, and hair; the fur of the snarling
animal. All suggest touch, the invitation to touch, or at least potential tactility—if you survive the
attempt!
The textures also suggest a sense of luxury and costume both in her evening wear, which seems
a bit fancy or purposeful for a reclining on a bed, and the velvety curtain in the background that
suggests a theater curtain—all in all, visual and material richness.
SPACE: Are objects cramped, or cut off, or do they have a lot of room to breathe?
Is the work flat, or does it give an illusion of depth?
Observation:
Analysis:
Space in this painting seems very tight. The painting is crowded.
I see this in multiple areas of the work, including the fact that her lower legs are cropped out of
the picture, that she seems pushed forward toward the viewer in the foreground of the painting.
Look how little space remains between her elbow/knees and the edge of the painting, whereas
how there appears to be more room in the background of the work, though this is hidden from
the viewer by the dark green cloth.
Thinking of space another way, I’m wondering where exactly she is. Is this a bedroom? A hotel?
What clues, if any, help ascertain this? Is she on a bed? Is the viewer supposed to be on a large
bed with her? It’s just as important to observe what is left unresolved or unknowable from
observation, whether it is to give the work mystery, or to help the viewer better understand what
is present and why
COMPOSITION: How are the visual elements of the work arranged? Do they seem
balanced? Is there one focus in particular, or does your eye move around the painting in a
particular way?
One way to help ascertain this is to imagine a vertical line dividing the left and right halves
of the painting, as well as one dividing the top half from the bottom. What similarities and
differences do you notice comparing the two sides?
Observation:
Analysis:
One way to help ascertain this is to imagine a vertical line dividing the left and right halves
of the painting, as well as one dividing the top half from the bottom. In the first instance, we
see again what we observed before: a balance of objects but contrast in color and line, in
relationship perhaps to traditional gender presentation. Note that the snarling animal balances
her head and face, which might be Dix’s way of bringing them into comparison with each other,
further giving his subject animalistic attributes and emphasizing her alert, fixed gaze on the
viewer. Her right arm is poised as if she’s about to pounce, whereas her lower half suggests
more repose, or at least lets the viewer look at her without direct confrontation. The top and
bottom are not balanced, as she occupies all of the bottom, whereas a good amount of the top
half is empty—why? How does your eye move around this work? Where do you start, and how
are you encouraged (or not encouraged) to look?
SCALE: Is the work life-size, smaller, larger? How does this impact the viewer’s relationship to
the artwork?
Observation:
Analysis:
In this case, the sitter might be slightly smaller than life-size, but not by much, and
the height of the painting from the ground puts her eyes across from ours, which heightens the
sense of confrontation.
Now that you have looked closely at your artwork and described its visual Characteristics—

FIRST: Go back and fill in your analysis for each observation. What effect does the visual
elements that you have described

Discuss your thoughts with your partner/group/class.

NEXT: Consider how the visual elements that you’ve observed work together, and what effect
this combined total has on the viewer.
Here it might help to think about how your eye moves around the work and why. Another
helpful way to think about this is to consider the artist’s decision-making as well for these
visual elements. Why would he/she decide to portray it like this? You will want to pull on you
observations for style, color, line, texture, space, composition, and scale here. Use them as
evidence to draw conclusions about the artwork.
Don’t worry about having the right answer. You will not be able to answer all of your questions
definitively from merely observing the artwork, but you will be able to make some claims and
understand how the painting operates formally given the visual evidence that you’ve compiled.
Discuss your thoughts with your partner/group/class.
Determine some visual analysis arguments about your artwork
What can you say about how this work operates/communicates based on what your
observations and thoughts?

ARGUMENT 1:
Supporting observation 1:
Supporting observation 2:

ARGUMENT 2:
Supporting observation 1:
Supporting observation 2: