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Verbal Description
Training
漏 ART BEYOND SIGHT 2014
www.absawarenessmonth.org

You will be able to
Use the Verbal Description Guidelines to create your own
descriptions.
Understand how to use visitor feedback to customize your
tours.
Understand the importance of lobby and gallery space
descriptions.

Verbal Description is one tool in a tool kit
of interpretive multisensory learning tools.
This training is focused on skills related to describing works
of art and museum objects. However, it is important to
understand that verbal description is one of a number of tools
used to facilitate Universal Learning experiences, i.e., make art
accessible to people with and without disabilities and with a
variety of learning styles. Other tools include handling objects,
tactile experiences, tactile diagrams and maps, music,
sound, drama, movement, art making, and curriculum
integration activities.

Learning Tool: Verbal Description
Verbal description is a way of using non-visual
language to convey the visual world. It can
navigate a visitor through a museum, orient a
listener to a work of art, and provide access to the
visual aspects of a performance.

Guidelines for Verbal Description

Planning Your Verbal Description
Tour
鈥� Verbal description takes time. As a rule of thumb:
include half the number of works as in a tour without
verbal description. Careful selection of works for your
tour is important.
鈥� Develop verbal description scripts for the objects on
your tour, and review them with your visually impaired
advisors for effective language, clarity and length of the
descriptions, and appropriate pace of the tour.
鈥� The scripts are guidelines, not a text to be memorized.
They will be modified according to your audiences.
鈥� Verbal description is also an essential part of a touch
tour or tour that includes tactile diagrams and/or
other tactile elements.

Pre-tour discussion
In the lobby, or en route to the first tour stop, get a general
sense of your visitors鈥� preferences or experiences:
鈥� In order to help the tour best meet your needs, I鈥檒l be
checking in with you from time to time to find out if you鈥檇
like me to do anything differently.
鈥� Would you like to know any information about the artist
or artwork before I begin describing it to you?
鈥� Would you be interested in a discussion of color?
鈥� What is your previous experience with art or museums?
鈥� As we go, please feel free to ask me for more detail or
let me know if you have other questions.
漏 ART BEYOND SIGHT 2014 www.absawarenessmonth.org

Beginning Your Tour
鈥� During your introduction, include a description of the
lobby and museum architecture.
鈥� Detail the museum鈥檚 accessibility features and
programming.
鈥� As you move from one gallery space to the next,
alert your group to the changes, and give brief
verbal descriptions; a few words will be enough.
鈥� Incorporate multisensory elements when
possible.
鈥� It is important to keep the initial verbal description
separate from information about the historical
context.

Practical Considerations
鈥� During the tour elicit audience responses through
directed questioning and include your audience in
the verbal description process.
鈥� After the description of the first work ask tour
participants if any adjustments are needed.
鈥� Continue to elicit feedback throughout your
discussion, and to modify your descriptions to
meet the needs and interests of your audience.

For groups or tours with both sighted
and visually impaired visitors:
鈥� Give verbal description first to create equal
opportunity for further interpretation and discussion.
鈥� You may want to include everyone in the verbal
description process. Ask visitors with sight to
describe elements in the work through directed
questioning. This creates an engaging atmosphere.
At the end of each description, restate responses
and summarize observations.

Standard Information or Object-label
Information
鈥� Open with the following
information: artist,
nationality, title, date,
mediums, dimensions,
collection or owner.
鈥� This provides the same
information available to
sighted viewers, and places
the work in historical
context.

General Overview is the first and the
most critical step in the description
process.
鈥� General overview includes subject matter and
composition or form, as well as color scheme and
mood, if appropriate.
鈥� Begin with stating the explicit subject of the work.
Describe concisely what is represented in the
work.
鈥� Next describe the composition and give an overall
impression of the work. Give a snapshot of the
work. Include mood or atmosphere, if relevant.
鈥� Provide visual information in sequence.

Orient the Viewer with Directions
鈥� Use specific, concrete information
to indicate the location of objects.
鈥� Use positions of the numbers on a
clock.
鈥� Remember that the image is the
equivalent of a mirror image.

General Overview Example
In this portrait of Philip IV, we see
the full figure of the king when he
was about twenty-three years old.
His body is more than 6 feet tall and
he dominates the frame, standing
almost directly in the center, with
a strong light on his face and
body.
The interior setting shown in the
painting is mostly in shadow and
contains few objects.

Example (cont.)
On the right side of the painting,
there is a small wooden table,
covered with a gold-embroidered
red velvet cloth. On the table is the
king's plumed hat.
On the left side of the painting, there
is a column, partially hidden behind
the king. There is also a wall
tapestry in partial shadow behind
Phillip鈥檚 body.
His body is turned so that it faces
the right edge of the painting.

Provide Vivid Details
鈥� After giving a general idea of the
work, the description should be
more vivid and particularized.
鈥� Focus on important details, give
them in sequence.
鈥� Try to remain objective.
鈥� Allow visitors to come to their
own opinions and conclusions
about the work of art.

Example of Vivid Details
A round white lace collar is directly below his
face. Below his collar is a crimson-colored silk
cloak. The cloak covers part of his chest,
crosses over his shoulders, and hangs down
behind him. The cloak billows out behind the
king as though a light breeze is blowing its
fabric. Its bottom edge is trimmed with gold
lace.
The sleeves are made of striped, iridescent
silk. On his hands, he wears gauntlets, which
are gloves with large cuffs. The gloves are
made of brown suede and are embroidered
with gold.

Focus on the Style
鈥� Describe features that identify a
work as being by a particular artist,
school, movement, period, or
region. Mention
鈥� brushwork
鈥� tone and color
鈥� choice of motifs
鈥� subject treatment
鈥� Focus on how these elements
contribute to the whole.

Description of Velazquez鈥檚 style
Vel谩zquez paints this tranquil and composed
moment for a specific purpose: to emphasize
the stability of Philip's kingly presence. As
though the king is saying, I am here and I will
remain at my post no matter what happens.
Velazquez also emphasizes the king鈥檚
importance by how he frames the scene. The
side edges of the frame cut off parts of the
column on the left and the table on the right.
Except for the king, everything in the painting
is fragmentary. Only the king is shown whole
and complete. So the viewer immediately
focuses on the monarch.

Describe the Importance of Technique
or Medium
鈥� There may be a relationship
between the implicit content
and the technique or medium.
鈥� Help your audience to
understand the relationship
between the style/meaning
and the choice of media.
鈥� Assess audience interest in
this technical information.

Example of Medium Description
Fifteenth-century artists such as
Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck
realized the advantages of the oil-painting
medium. Because the oil
paint is slow to dry, it is easily
manipulated by the brush on a wood
panel or canvas surface. This
flexibility enables the artist to blend
colors easily. By the subtle blending of
colors, the painter is able to model
forms, and suggest light and shadow.
The illusion of light and shadow
makes the forms appear more three-dimensional.

Use Specific Words, Explain
Concepts and Terms
鈥� Clear and precise language is crucial.
鈥� Avoid ambiguous or figurative language that
can be taken literally: i.e., 鈥渓ight falls on an
object鈥� may have little meaning for a blind
individual.
鈥� Explain art terms and pictorial conventions,
such as perspective, focal point, picture plane,
foreground, and background.

One-point Perspective
This scene shows Christ and Peter placed in the center
foreground, with disciples and contemporary citizens arranged in
rows on either side of them. In a brilliant piece of stagecraft,
Perugino directs our focus to the heart of the painting 鈥� the
transferring of the keys. Perugino does this by skillfully exploiting
the pictorial convention of one-point perspective.
One-point perspective is a way of projecting an illusion of the
three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface. In this
formula for rendering spatial recession, all parallel lines appear to
converge at a single point on the horizon, called the vanishing
point. Perugino used this system to create a sense of spatial
recession and to focus our attention on a single point.

Refer to Other Senses as Analogues
for Vision
鈥� Try to translate a visual experience into another
sense.
鈥� Refer to the sense of touch when describing the
surface of a sculpture or the materials. For
instance, a glass-like surface of Brancusi鈥檚 Bird in
Space or a rough-hewn texture of Rodin鈥檚 Balzac.
鈥� This may be an integral part of the work鈥檚 formal
value, as well as of its meaning.

Example of Referring to Other Senses
This Block Statue of Senwosret
senebefny is sculpted in brown
quartzite, which is a very hard, grainy
stone.
This material feels gritty to the touch,
somewhat like sandpaper, and it was
very popular in Dynasty 13. This
graininess tends to soften the hard
edges of detailed carving.
Because of its quality and its tawny
flesh-like color, quartzite imparts a
warm life-like quality to statuary.

Explain Intangible Concepts with
Analogies
鈥� Use analogies to explain
visual phenomena, such as
shadows or clouds.
鈥� Cubist painting - shattered
wine bottle analogy
鈥� To construct a helpful
analogy, choose concepts
from everyone鈥檚 common
experience.

Encourage Understanding Through
Re-enactment
鈥� Encourage visitor to mimic the
figure鈥檚 pose.
鈥� Allow viewer to directly perceive
formal characteristics such as:
鈥� Symmetry or asymmetry
鈥� open or closed forms
鈥� Implied action or rest
鈥� Smooth or angular lines
鈥� Degree of engagement with
viewer

Example of Re-enactment
Stand up straight. Now bring your left foot
back so your left heel is a few inches directly
behind your right heel and pointed to the left.
Your feet should be at almost a right angle,
with your right foot pointing straight forward
and your left foot pointing to the left. This
stance puts the right side of your body
forward.
Now place your left hand on your left hip.
Philip is wearing a sword, so imagine that
you have a sword attached to your belt and
your left hand is resting on the sword's
handle.

Example (cont.)
Your right arm should fall straight down to
your side. Your right hand holds a baton,
which is a stick about two and a half feet
long. The baton is a symbol of the king鈥檚
power. Hold the baton so that it is horizontal.
If you were the stand-in for Philip in this
painting, your chest would face toward your
left, or the painting's right edge. And your
face would be turned right, looking straight
toward the viewer outside the painting.

Use Touch Objects and Tactile
Materials
鈥� Touch objects can help to complete
one鈥檚 understanding of the art work
and artist鈥檚 process. Such materials
might include:
鈥� Art making materials such as
marble, bronze, clay
鈥� Artists tools such as paintbrushes,
canvas, chisels
鈥� Scale replicas and models

Provide Historical and Social Context
Such information may include:
鈥� Political meaning
鈥� Social function
鈥� Ritual or religious function
鈥� Art historical influences

Describe the Physical Context: Indicate
Where the Curators Have Installed a Work
This may reveal important information about its
meaning, as well as its relationship to other works
in the collection or exhibition.

Describe the Lobby, Gallery Space
and Museum Architecture
Questions to consider when in the lobby:
鈥� Where can you best position the group for the beginning
of the tour? You may want to stop in several places as
this will help give the visitor a sense of scale. Always
indicate where you are located in relationship to the
street or entrance.
鈥� How does sound help to understand some aspects of the
space?
鈥� What are the sound levels in the space? Can you hear
street sounds, noise from the museum store, or coat
check? Explain them.
鈥� Start with a brief description of the exterior and interior
architecture. Convey the materials and scale of the
space.

Lobby and Space Description (cont.)
鈥� What architectural elements can be touched? How
do touchable objects contribute to creating a mental
image?
鈥� When you are entering a new gallery space describe
it briefly.
鈥� When plotting your tour, consider which spaces are
accessible and which have seating areas. Is it easily
accessible by wheelchair and by people with other
mobility devices?
鈥� When using tactile maps and diagrams, consider
seating, and when possible, tables or tablets to hold
diagrams.

Next steps for fine-tuning verbal
description skills
鈥� Follow up with listening and writing exercises. For
listening exercises use recorded verbal description
using the links on this site. You can do it online or
on your iPod.
鈥� For writing verbal descriptions, practice writing
concise 3-5 sentence overviews as well as full
verbal descriptions. Review them with users, revise
language, word choices, similes, metaphors after
receiving feedback.
鈥� Practice your descriptions in the galleries with small
groups.

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