This straightforward guide prepares students to describe, interpret, and write about works of art in meaningful and lasting terms. Designed as a supplement to Art History survey and period texts, this efficient book features a step-by-step approach to writing–from choosing a work to write about, to essay organization, to research techniques, to footnote form, to preparing the final essay. For beginners as well as more advanced students.

Table of Contents:
Preface ix Acknowledgments xi INTRODUCTION: Writing as Critical Thinking 1 1 CHOOSING IMAGES: How to Select the Works of Art You Plan to Write About 9 Visiting Museums and Galleries, 9 Choosing Works of Art to Write About: Some Questions of Taste, 16 Writing Comparative Essays: Some Advantages, 18 Choosing Works from “The Museum without Walls,” 21 The Computer and “The Museum without Walls,” 24 Summary, 27 2 USING VISUAL INFORMATION: What to Look For and How to Describe What You See 29 Considering the Subject Matter of the Work, 31 Describing the Formal Elements You Discover in the Work, 35 Line, 35 Shape and Space, 36 Light and Dark, 40 Color, 43 Other Elements, 47 Recognizing the Principles of Design, 54 Rhythm and Repetition. 54 Balance, 55 Proportion, 56 Scale, 57 Unity and Variety, 58 Considering Questions of Medium, 59 Beginning Your Essay By Describing the Work, 61 Asking Yourself about the Work of Art: A Summary, 64 Questions to Ask Before Writing About a Work of Art, 64 3 RESPONDING TO THE VERBAL FRAME: Where Else to Look for Help in Understanding What You See 66 Taking the Title and Label into Account, 66 Considering Informational Labels Accompanying the Work, 70 Consulting Artists’ Statements and Exhibition Catalogues, 72 Discovering Other Helpful Material in the Library and Online, 74 Research Online, 75 Using the Library Catalogue and Databases, 77 Using Art Dictionaries and Other Guides, 81 Considering the Work’s Historical and Cultural Context, 82 Quoting and Documenting Your Sources, 89 Learning the Art of Quoting, 89 Acknowledging Your Sources, 90 Choosing Your Footnote Style, 91 Citing Internet Sources, 96 4 WORKING WITH WORDS AND IMAGES: The Process of Writing about What You See 98 Gathering Together What You Know, 98 Taking Notes in a Gallery or Museum, 98 Taking Notes As You Read, 99 Focusing Your Discussion, 101 Brainstorming and Mapping, 103 Using Prewriting as a Way to Begin, 105 Online Writing, 110 Creating a Finished Essay, 112 Organizing Your Essay: From Description to the Verbal Frame, 112 Developing an Argument or Thesis, 116 Revising and Editing, 118 A Revision Checklist, 120 Writing about Art: The Final Product, 121 Appendix A SHORT GUIDE TO USAGE AND STYLE: The Rules and Principles of Good Writing 126 1. Possessive Apostrophes, 127 2. Commas, 127 3. Comma Splices, 128 4. Run-on Sentences, 129 5. That and Which, 129 6. Titles, 129 7. Foreign Phrases, 130 8. Split Infinitives, 130 9. Sentence Fragments, 130 10. Colons, 131 11. Semicolons, 131 12. Dashes, 132 13. Parentheses, 132 14. Quotations, 133 15. Ellipses, 133 16. Dangling Modifiers, 134 17. Subject-Verb Agreement, 134 18. Pronoun Agreement, 135 19. Pronouns and Gender Issues, 135 20. Indefinite Antecedents (it and this), 136 21. Correlative Expressions, 136 22. Verb Tense Consistency, 137 23. Diction Consistency, 137 24. Concrete and Specific Language, 138 25. Frequently Misspelled Words, 138 Notes 140 Index 143