It is easiest to start with your first artist and then move on and decide what the introduction and conclusion are going to say at the end. Therefore, move past the introduction section here and begin by talking about your first artist.
Bibliographies are easy to compile and you must include one as:
YOU MUST HAVE A BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PASS THE ESSAY. WITHOUT A PASS FOR YOUR ESSAY, YOU FAIL THE A LEVEL. WITHOUT A FUNCTIONING BIBLIOGRAPHY, THE ESSAY FAILS.
Worth putting in capitals since it is a basic and easy point but catastrophic if you miss it.
The general area in terms of content:
Is there some non visual programmatic interest that you have?
Is there a political or identity politics associated with this?
Is there an issue that you want to talk about through your artistic production?
Are there personal and private meanings in your work?
Are you mainly interested in formal elements?
For example: The invention - colour, line, space, mass, the passing of time, quality of materials and the technical and specific interests of your chosen art form?
Landscape
Still life
Portrait
Figure painting
Abstraction
Reportage/ documentary photography
Installation
Etc
Painting
Drawing
Print making
Sculpture
Performance
Video
This should be a brief paragraph saying, for example:
In this essay I will look at how I am interested in [ X ] subject and intend to apply [ X ] processes through [ X ] (way of working). My main area of interest will be and I hope to show through looking at the work of the artists [ X ] , [ X ] and [ X ] how I have developed my work.
Put your answers down as sentences, one after the other.
Do not include the headings.
Where did/ do they work?
This should be no more than two sentences
This should be no more than two sentences
Only put in information that provides a useful orientation for the reader - this needs to be very quick and thin
What are the broad outlines of what they do in terms of
style
meaning
techniques
subject matter
What do people think of when they think of this artist in very general terms?
Are they a classical painter with carefully organised and balanced paintings of stillness and calm?
Are they a Romantic and emotionally driven Expressionist whose work as a direct appeal to the viewer?
Is there some other characteristic/ aspect about their work?
Describe the main driving elements (approach, sale, techniques)in their work
Say what you think their work is mainly about
Why do they still count as an artist?
Why do people go to see their works in exhibitions?
What is their value?
What do they bring to the table?
Why do we look at their art and not that of someone else?
Is it colour, drawing, scale, mood, atmosphere, approach, subjectivity, clarity of design, strength of drawing?
Why are they considered important?
What are the main ideas present in their work?
Give a specific example of a work or a part of a work that shows this specifically
Cite the work – link it to the bibliography – see below for what a bibliography is and needs: Title, date, collection/ location, materials, dimensions.
Put in a reproduction of a work when you discuss it
Always miss a line then print your image
Then add the caption (centred in bold) then miss a line and return to writing your essay
All the other elements of your essay should be left aligned and not justified
Discuss and explain the example
Say how this example expresses the ideas of the artist through the making of the work
Is their work about something happening in society at the time? A good example would be the Constructivists who made work at the service of the revolution in Soviet Russia
Is their work about pushing their art form forward into a new area like Cézanne, the Cubists or Jackson Pollock?
Do they concentrate on a small and seemingly insignificant (quiet) topic like Morandi and still life, and then like him, bring something universal and understandable to that subject?
Talk about a specific aspect or section of the work
How does this detail tell you something about the artist and their work?
Is it typical?
Looking at this, would it help us understand something of all their works? If so, how and why?
Describe the elements
Explain the elements
How are they working:
What is specifically happening - for example, in a painting we could ask:
how are the brushstrokes affecting the image
how is the colour changing the meaning
The meaning is in the making. See the next point:
What are the styles, approaches or techniques that this artist uses to fit the content of their work?
Is the paint carefully layered?
Is the colour heightened emotionally
Is the mass of the sculpture organised around clear forms?
Is the installation something that leads the viewer in a clear or overwhelming narrative?
Do they simply have a delicate touch that brings the work to life – if so, say how
This is vital and the most important part of the process. You have said what other people think, now you musty why this work is interesting or important to you:
What is it that appeals to you in one of their works - name that specific work - or in general
Provide an example (different to the one above)
Print an image of this example – use the same rules for captioning outlined above
Talk about the techniques and processes and how you would like to work through those in your work
How would those techniques provide you with a solution to a visual problem? What do they do? How do t hey work?
Now you need to talk abut the impact of their work on your won production
What inspired you in their work?
What techniques did you discover in their work?
How did you apply them in your work?
When you did so, was it useful, successful?
IF so/ not, how and why was it useful or unhelpful, successful or limiting?
Did you adapt any of the techniques - changing them to suit your purposes or developing them over time?
What will they add?
How will they help you overcome issues?
Provide a specific example from your own work
Print and caption an image of your work as above
Explain how the techniques that you found in the artist’s work helped you with a specific part of your work
Put in a picture of your work and the detail or art which you are discussing
What are you going to do next to develop things further?
Has this raised new issues?
What challenges and difficulties did this approach solve or set up for you?
What are your current challenges in the light of what you have done?
Have you got something that you want to add to your work to take it in a new direction or do you want to continue working in this area and add other techniques or processes
What have you learned from making this art so far and what has been helped by looking at your artist’s work?
What was an issue/ problem/ could have been better?
Say why explicitly.
Why was it a problem? Then say why again.
Repeat all of the points listed above for Artist 1
Repeat all of the points listed above for Artist 1, and Artist 2
Once you have written up each of the three artists, you can get on with the conclusion and then return to the introduction.
Finally, make sure you have a bibliography that covers each of the three artists.
What were the lessons you drew from these examples - where are you now in terms of the development of your work?
Briefly outline the path of your development
Think about how your interests have developed
Outline this progression very briefly. What are you doing now that is a development or progression on from when you started? How is this more advanced? What progress have you made?
Your answers could be in terms of paint, colour, approach, subject, scale, imagery, meaning, materials, processes, techniques, any aspect that informs your work
Which of your works shows your development best?
Provide a specific example
Say why it shows your progress better than the other pieces
If another work is more advanced or also has positive attributes identify it here and say why it is positive
Finish by saying what you have learned overall so far and what you would do in your next works
Books
Magazine articles
Quotes from art historians
Quotes from critics
Website quotes
Author, publication, year, press
Author, article, website, year, web address
Walter Benjamin, Illuminations, 1936, Random House Inc; 01 edition (30 May 2002)
Jonathan Jones, The greatest photos ever? Why the moon landing shots are artistic masterpieces, Guardian web site, 17 July 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jul/17/greatest-photos-ever-moon-landing-shots-artistic-masterpieces
Make sure they are numbered and they are linked to quotes in your essay that match them with numbers
You need to put the quotes and references in numbers in your essay immediately after a quote for example in your essay, you might write something like this:
The artist Juan Manuel Fangio, is very interesting because ‘he uses mostly red paint which makes his paintings look like a London bus’ (1) and in London, people would line up to look at his pictures.
Then in the bibliography, you need:
(1) 'The Art of On The Buses', by Cyril Blakey, Thames and Hudson, 1972
This would be followed by the second, third quote as they appear in the different sections of your essay and each listed in turn in the bibliography.
In this way we can see where the quotes have come from. The reader can also see which part of your essay is a quote, a reference or which parts are your own thoughts.
If you can’t see anything in a wider sense, go to the Guardian web site and look for coverage of your artist and related exhibitions. The chances are that you will be able to find something and you can find suitable quotes on artists and works by quoting the journalist or critic who wrote the article or review.
Alternatively, (or as well) to Brainy Quote or some similar internet quotation site and search for your artist’s name. They will provide you with suitable citation if you click through to the individual quote.
Often though, with these sites, it will not give you any specific reference for the quote.
For example:
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
- Pablo Picasso
Even if you search this text with Google or DuckDuckGo, it is difficult to find the specific origin. Most sites just repeat the quote and simply say that it is attributed to Picasso. In fact, one site attributes it to Van Gogh. This is all a bit vague, so unless you are stuck, try to keep to specific quotes that can be dated to an article, speech, time, place or publication.