Evaluating and appreciating art
For pupils
Use these questions to help you to analyse works of art. When you become confident you can practice on all
the visual images and objects you see around you in everyday life. Remember, everyone will have different
thoughts and ideas so there are no right answers.
Questions about the object (looking and thinking)
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Describe the colours, shapes, marks and materials. Do they remind you of anything? What if the artist
had used different colours, shapes or materials? How would that change the way you think about the
work?
How do you think the work has been made? Think about its size, the materials, the tools used, where it
would have been made?
How does the position of the work affect the way you think about it? Would you think differently if its
position changed?
If the art is sited in nature think about how it might change over time?
Other questions you need to ask…
Questions about the subject (making connections)
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Think about all the discoveries you made when you looked at the different parts of the work in the
previous section. What do they mean to you? What do you think the work might be about?
What is happening, is it a story, a message? Are there any signs or symbols? What might they
represent?
Does the title help you to understand what the artist is communicating?
Other questions you need to ask…
Questions about the context (analysing)
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Why do you think the work has been made? What is its main purpose?
Think about the exact place where the work has been sited. Are there any connections between the
work and the place?
Who do you think the work was made for and what was the artist’s role?
Whose point of view does the work communicate? If it is about the past, does it tell a story from a
particular point of view?
Does it relate to other areas of creativity or knowledge such as music, science or geography?
Think about lifting the work and placing it in a completely different environment. How would that change
the way you understand it?
Other questions you need to ask…
www.educationscotland.gov.uk/marksonthelandscape