Well, I've started this article dew to a single reason. The fact that a few days ago somebody promised me some advanced big and extensive critic on a deviation. And then the deviant went commenting and what I got was 2 lines, with what parts of the deviation she did like.

I can't show you the lines dew to the lost link (deviant reacted in a forumthread), but it was something like this: 'Awesome, I really like...'. It's not something that is absolutely impossible to do or something that you'd hate to see as a comment, but I thought that a news article about the different aspects of an artwork would be nice for the ones that really want to give advanced critique.

First about me: I'm just a student at a school and have no real art education. I currently have taken up two art classes and an art history class, which I used to base my knowledge for this article.

Please don't see this as a must, but rather as something that you can do if you really want to give some advanced critique on someone's work. Or even you can use it to look to judge your own work more efficiently, anyway, let's start.

The base of judging art lies in two different aspects, each devided into further 'subaspects'. The main two aspects are called 'Technical' and 'Morfological' (image aspects). Because of the fact that the first item almost speaks for itself (Technical meaning, the technical parts of the drawing: material, tools, way of work, etc.) I'll keep to the Morfological part of the aspects.

The morfological aspects are devided as followed:
line, shape, texture, colour, light, space, composition, space and plane.

Line: the aspects about the lines, how well are they drawn, are there contours, did you shade using lines next to eachother and how well is this done. More are here to discover, but looking at the lines is thus the core.

Shape: the shape of the figure: again contours play a role here, but this time in how to define the outer shape, where does the shape end: where is the limitation of the figure? Also the use of ornaments, volume and mass are important here. Another thing to think about is the linearity: if the shape is based on straight lines or curved and how this influences the picture.

Texture: normally texture is devided in how it feels and how it is shaped (shaped is the wrong word perhaps, but what I mean is structure). and how it seems to feel. (materialexpression), as we can't feel it on DA the latter one seems to be the only one to matter (with the exception of some art pieces in which artists deliberlatly make a different materialexpression on some material). Does it seem rough and how does it do that? Could a bit irregular lines make it rougher? One thing that you can do with the first one (structure) is see how the actual shape is made, repetition, strong angles, etc. are things you can implement. <i/>

Colour: colour is something we all know and to judge this is also quite easy. Look first at the use of colours, is it monochrome (usage of one colour but multiple tones of the colour [example: ORANGE, LIGHTER ORANGE, DARKER ORANGE) or is it polychrome (different colours). Also is the use of colours restricted to the primary colourcircle (blue, yellow, red) or does it go further? Colourflow (from one colour into the other) is also something you could take a look at. Other things regarding colours that could get your attention are colour-contrasts (colour to colour contrasts, but also dark-light contrasts and cold warm contrasts). Realism, and the function of the colour are also some nice features to look at.

Composition: is there a vertical axis present? and a horizontal axis? Is the image symmetrical or assymmetrical composed? Such questions are important when talking about composition. Also the position of the center of attention (what draws your attention when you look at this image? [aka: if there is a white spot on a black image, your eyes are immediatly attracted to the white spot. It's a center of attention])and the suggested and real movement are important (does the image move through the way of composition, or does it only seem that way? is it only suggested by the artist?). Dynamic (or statical), rithm and repetition are also things that should be implemented in your critic about composition.

space: how does the space seem like? is it a space that goes to a far background, or are you almost watching at a wall at 5cm distance? Overlapping, minimizing, light and shadow are important things here. If something goes behind something else, with a part of that 'something else' over it and a shadow of that 'something else' also on it, then you've got those three aspects and you can see that they are used to simulate space (Three things that belong under the 'suggestion of space'. Perspective is also something here, as how you see it also influences the image its space. (frog's perspective? bird's perspective? Eye-hight?). The way something is depicted is also worthy mentioning here (en face, en profil, en trois quart or just seeing something as a map from above). The last thing I want to mention in space is the liniair space (or limited space) and the pictural space (or limitless space). These things should speak for itself but a small explanation: with a line on the sides of something, you can only see in that space, it's a surrounding of that space. If that wasn't there, like in a photograph for instant, you can imagine a bit about the space on the outer side, as there is nothing restraining you from doing so. (as the line is gone).

Light: Diffusing or hard light, the effect of this on the drawing, the use of reflection. The use of this to create things like silhouettes or drop shadow and also the direction of the light are things to pay attention to.

Plane: is it an even (smooth) plane or is it uneven (bobbly, ridged, etc.). Is it unbroken by any thing (and thus a perflectly flat and clean plane) or is there something comming out of a part of the plane and making it 'broken'? Also, pay attention to the 'canvas' of the image. (When something is places on DA it has gone too a 2demensional image, take a look at where the plane of this image ends and how this is done? Limitation through some lines perhaps?)



This is my first article, and I'm in nowhere so experienced as many other artist and I haven't even began to touch the big artistic concepts that I don't understand and you as reader probably do, but I hope this was useful. And please understand, these are just tips, not some rules you have to follow. <i/>

Something worth mentioning also: I don't use every concept that is stated in any of my comments, I just try to implement the 'big ideas' on the deviant and then comment on what I see as the most interesting thing or on that what I think should be changed first. And even then I keep at max 2 of these subjects .

Again: I'm not saying this is all perfectly well done and exact, as I am also just a student. Not someone who has studied art all his life. Just a deviant willing to share something as many others here .

I really hope this will be useful to some of you and any comments on this in mistakes of me or just something that should be added are welcome .

*ImRazil