Visual Literacy

What do you see? What kind of message is the artist trying to communicate? Why?  What is the mood of these paintings? 

In this WebQuest, we will be diving into the world of visual literacy. Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and discover meaning of a work of art. You will use personal experiences, vocabulary, and prior knowledge to decode two paintings and form your own interpretation of what they are, what the artist was thinking, and the overall meaning of the paintings. You are encouraged to think outside the box and hone in on every detail of the painting. There is no "right or wrong", ask yourself the hard questions and begin to discover what is visual literacy. 

Vocabulary Words: 

Line: a point moving in space. Line can vary in width, length, curvature, color, or direction.

Shape: a two-dimensional plane that may be open or closed, free-form or geometric. It can be found in nature or made by humans.

Color: the visual sensation dependent on the reflection or absorption of light from a given source. The three characteristics of color are hue, value, and intensity. 

Texture:  the surface quality of materials, either actual (tactile) or implied (visual)

Space: the emptiness or area in between, around, above, below, or contained with objects

Value: lightness or darkness of a hue or neutral color

Mood: the state of mind or feeling communicated in a work of art, frequently through color