Art essay D: (1 Viewer)

[mooology]

I am having difficulty starting my art essay, the question is as follows.

"the world of the artist is a significant influence in their artworks" Examine this statement, with reference to specific examples studied in class. (the artists being Jan Van Eyke and Brett Whitely)

Any ideas as to what I should/ could write about would be greatly appreciated

 

[mooology]

I have some semblance of an introduction. Does it fit the question? How can I make it better?

Throughout history artists have painted pictures which show their world and how it has influenced them. Some artists, such as Jan Van Eyke, use symbolism and realistic features to accurately portray their values and beliefs to an audience. Other artists, such as Brett Whiteley, use distortion, exaggerated features and colours and obvious brushwork to show their feelings, their passion, their world to an audience. Although the way these two artists show their world’s influence is different, they both manage to let the viewer see what they see, and feel how they feel.

 

[imnotwallace]

I think your 'intro' is already trying to make too much of a 'point' You should first start by doing a small sort of paraphrase of the question. I generally folllow a rule in writing essays like this: "Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you've just told them". The introduction should make some sort of judgement as to whether you agree or disagree with the sentence, followed by a sentence describing which artists you are going to talk about. The body should then be able to explore your artists in detail.

Its important you don't start talking about the artists' methods just yet, otherwise you'll end up repeating yourself in the body of the essay.

 

[Deer]

^ Yeah, agreed.

Start off with something generic, just answer the question. Develop a thesis. Not like english essay, don't mention the techniques yet. It is a question about the conceptual framework so make sure you 'define' what the conceptual framework is in your introduction.

Something like: Artists are all influenced by context. Their beliefs, ideologies and values are influenced by the world around them and they are a product of the events and experiences they have within their environment. These values and ideas are then manifested in their artworks, which become tools to share their beliefs to an audience. This can be seen in the work of Brett Whiteley and Jan van eyke, who both use their world as a source of inspiration, and as an audience today we can establish links between their context and their artworks.

Or something...