Formal analysis is visually analyzing a piece of work and trying to identify the subject matter that the artist is trying to convey. While looking at an art work or any picture in general, many people get in the habit of simply scanning the picture and moving on. D’Alleva describes this as the habit of “lazy looking”. We hardly ever have the time and patience to analyze a picture to fully understand what the artist is trying to address. When we say formal analysis, not only are we visually analyzing the art, but we are also using various key components in order to further understand the artists’ key purpose of the painting. One of the key components include color and scale. What primary or secondary colors does the artist use? Is one part of the painting larger than another? Many artists use these tools to further emphasize their meaning such as figures of gods would be larger than other figures or a person in a line of fire would be wearing a bright white shirt. Artists want you to focus on the key components of the painting and in order to do so, they intentionally use color and scale to draw the audience’s attention. Another key component of formal analysis is line. Are the lines strong and continuous or are they broken up into small pieces? Artists intentionally use lines to direct the audience’s eyes and the visual movement of how a person looks at art. One last key component of formal analysis is the use of space and mass. Many artists use space and mass to create illusory characteristics that seem almost realistic to the viewers. This is also called mimesis. Artists use skills like foreshortening to create an illusion as if certain objects are receding towards us. Many artists intentionally use certain techniques in their drawings to emphasize their subject matter of their work. Formal analysis consists of many of these key components that make up the compositions of many artists.