1. What is a Critique?
Hey, Brush, I heard
someone say they
were “critiquing”
someone else’s
painting. What does
that mean?
Huh?
Hi Pencil! A critique
is “a critical essay or
commentary,
especially on artistic
work.”
Don’t worry. I’ll show
you what I mean!

2. Okay Pencil, when
someone critiques
someone else’s artwork, it
means they are looking at
it really closely and
deciding what is good
about it, and what should
be improved. That person
might also decide what a
painting or drawing
means. A critique isn’t
meant to be mean, it’s
Oh! Can we try a critique?
something that helps an
I want to get better at my
artist to get better.
drawings!
Sure! I want to improve
my paintings.

3. Okay Pencil! This is your drawing. I’m going to
critique it. Hmm…you did a good job creating
your center of interest. it’s the tree to the
left, the first place my eye goes when it looks at
your drawing.
Now for an improvement. Next time, you can
use more value in your clouds. Put some
darker and lighter areas in them instead of using
a single tone of gray.

4. Thanks Brush! What you suggested will
help me improve next time. I’m glad you
didn’t hurt my feelings by saying “I don’t
like it” or “Your clouds look bad”. You
said it in a nice way that will help me get
better. Now I’m going to critique your
painting!

5. Wow, Brush! I love your use of the complementary
colors of yellow and purple! Using them next to
each other helps the painting look brighter.
Hmm…maybe next time, you should add different
types of line to give your painting a variety. I see
only horizontal lines that you used to make your
water and ground. Perhaps a tree with vertical lines
in the foreground would help?

6. So you see, a critique is meant to help
the artist who made the artwork improve
the next time they make art. When you
do a critique on someone else’s art, try
to use some artistic vocabulary, instead
of just saying “It’s good”, “It’s bad”, or “I
like it”. Make sure you say WHY
something is good, or why something
should be improved. Now, it’s YOUR
turn!

7. Miss W. made this one! Kids, let’s critique it.
What are some good things about it? What
could be improved? Remember to use
artistic vocabulary!

8. Remember, we made warm color
landscapes. Before we critique one
another’s paintings, let’s think of some
vocab words that we can use when we
critique them.