Hello,
Start Art! is the English extension of the originally Turkish Sanata Başla!, a web site designed for art enthusiasts who are absolute beginners or have a very basic knowledge of art and would like to learn more. The objective of Start Art! is to demonstrate that art is not as complex as thought and can turn into a pleasure without requiring extensive experience or knowledge. Start Art!, targeting the absolute beginners, expects its audience to have interest in learning rather than solid background in art.
The paintings in Start Art! are analysed based on the symbols contained, styles, periods and artists. The analyses are presented in a fashion facilitating art enthusiasts to read and learn easily without having need of any additional reference, any advanced level of technical or historical information. This simplified method enables to understand a painting without having prior information. The site aims to provide its readers with capability to distinguish the period, style and symbols of a painting they encounter and to motivate them for doing further research on their own.
Start Art! analyses the paintings in a random order without adhering to any chronology. Hence, it should be regarded more as a “painting analysis collection” rather than an “art history course”. Nevertheless, Start Art! can still be utilised as an art history resource considering its extensive (currently valid for the Turkish original – Sanata Başla!) content from different art periods. The readers can reach that art history context by reading through the below explanations and following the suggested method. Moreover, these explanations will provide a more efficient use of the site. Thus, I recommend you to take a look at this page before going through the site.
I thank you very much for this first step you have taken to start art.
Özgün Yılmazok
HEADER MENU
The maroon coloured upper level Header Menu includes links to Start Art!’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts and a link to send an e-mail to the site. The in-site search option is provided on the right hand side.
MAIN MENU UPPER LINE
The upper level of the Main Manu includes the basic information about the web site.
Start!: Provides information on how to start using Start Art!. (The menu element you are currently in)
Workshops: Provides information on the previous Sanata Başla! Painting Analysis Workshops held in Ankara, Turkey.
About the Author: Provides information on the author of Start Art!, Özgün Yılmazok.
Artists & Museums: Under this section, the paintings can be filtered based on artists and the museums they are located in. When you move over the titles of Artists and Museums, the content opens up. The names of the artists and museums which have been used more in the site content appear in bigger fonts.
Contact: Includes forms to subscribe or send a message to Start Art!
Subscribe: Facilitates subscription to Start Art! as a member. You can be informed about the new posts and announcements in the site by subscribing. It is required to provide a name and e-mail address and then confirm that e-mail address by clicking the link you will receive in an e-mail.
Send a Message: Provides a form to send your suggestions, comments and questions to Start Art!
MAIN MENU LOWER LINE
The lower level of the Main Menu displays the five main periods that the paintings are chosen from. These five periods, which roughly cover 600 years of the art history between 1350-1650, are based on the below intervals:
Renaissance (1350-1600)
Baroque (1600-1700)
18th Century (1700-1800)
19th Century (1800-1900)
Modern (1900-1950)
When any of these periods in the menu are clicked, the painting analyses belonging to that period are filtered and displayed. All paintings analyses from that period can be viewed together by this method.
A more detailed display can be obtained by moving over the periods and thus opening sub-menus. These sub-menus contain the main sub-groups/art movements within that certain period. By clicking each sub-menu item, you can view the paintings that belong to that sub-group/art movement as filtered. I believe you will have a sense of understanding how paintings, styles and movements change and you will get a comprehensive art history knowledge by reading through each sub-menu item in detail. When a sub-menu item is filtered, it is better to start reading from the oldest post to the newest. The older posts will provide you with a better comprehension in terms of the references contained in the painting analyses.
Language Selection (Türkçe): Enables viewing the Turkish version (Sanata Başla!) and experience the extensive collection of the original site.
BODY
The main content of the site is in the body, the middle section. Just below the Main Menu, the slider displays a few recent posts. The posts are located in a grid style below the slider, following a chronological order. You may reach each painting analysis by clicking on that post. In the mobile version of the site (in cellphones and tablets), the names of the posts are displayed when you touch on a post image. There is a page counter below the end of this grid block to continue to the earlier posts in the Start Art! archive.
PERIOD FILTER
The Period Filter below the grid block of posts enables filtering the posts based on the periods they belong to – similar to the function in the Main Menu sub-menu items. The filter item “General” filters the posts issued on the anniversaries of the site.
POPULAR POSTS
In this section, the most viewed posts of the website are displayed. If you are interested in the popular paintings, you may take a look at this section first*. Just below the Popular Posts section, the links to share the content of the site in various social media are located.
* Since the Turkish version’s content has not been fully translated to English, some of the posts you may see in this section may only be in Turkish.
PAINTING ANALYSES
As you click on each post image, the related painting analysis page opens. Below the painting’s title the information on the post date, the period of the painting and the comments made on the post are seen. You may click on the heart sign on the right to “like” each post.
The image located at the bottom of each analysis is clickable. When it is clicked, it opens in a new page which can be magnified further. Below this image you may find the tags related to the painting. By clicking each tag, you may see the other paintings in the web site which has the same tag. Located on the right of the tags, the links for social media enables you to share the painting analysis in various social media.
“Leave a Comment” section is a platform in which you can share your own comments. You should prove that you are not a robot to the system before sending a comment.
“Related Posts” section displays other paintings in the site which have similar content, style, period, painter or theme.
It is restricted to right-click or copy the content of the site. The reason for this restriction is to prevent unauthorised use of the content. I thank you for your understanding.
FOOTER MENUS
The footer menu items provides different functions:
Social Media: Provides connections to the social media accounts of Start Art! in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You may follow Start Art! through these sources too.
Search: Enables having word specific searches within the site content.
Archive: Provides the 5-year content of the web site in a monthly fashion.
Subscription: Facilitates subscription to Start Art! as a member, exactly the same function as provided under the “Contact” section of the Main Menu.
Send a Message: Provides a form to send your suggestions, comments and questions to Start Art!, exactly the same function provided under the “Contact” section of the Main Menu.