When I’m in a museum and I look at a painting I usually think very little and either say pretty, ugly, scary, etc. But there is so much more to the painting and formal analysis is a way of looking at the painting and all of its details and fully understanding it. Formal Analysis is the idea of analyzing a single work of art, especially a painting, in terms of specific visual components. The components of a formal analysis are composition, color, line, shape, contrast, texture, and technique. All of these elements help us understand what the artist is trying to convey in his or her work. Formal Analysis is using your senses, like sight and touch, its all about what you see in the details of the painting. Although, knowing the time period the art is from and historic background also helps understand what the artist is trying to express. The goal of a formal analysis is to use all of the formal elements of a painting or sculpture to fully grasp the meaning of the work.