The Rubric Bank
26 precise criteria your work is measured against — transparent, no black box.
Drawing & Painting 26 criteria
Painter's ability to observe reality and translate it accurately into lines and forms
Distributing elements in the work to create visual balance and guide the eye
Quality and confidence of drawn line and stroke's suitability to what it describes
Understanding light source and using shadow to give objects depth and volume
Color selection, harmony, and use to serve subject and mood
Ability to choose details that serve the work and remove what distracts
Repeating visual elements in a way that creates movement and rhythm in the work
Conveying sense of movement and vitality in a static work
Personal visual fingerprint distinguishing the work from others
Mastery of tools and techniques used in the work
Creating sense of depth and third dimension in two-dimensional space
Ability to convey a psychological state or deep emotion through the work
Consciously using empty spaces to create meaning and balance
Depicting different surface textures in a way making viewer almost feel them
Overall work cohesion — every element serves the complete vision
Using color temperatures and complex harmony for expression
Painting narrating a story or expressing a position without words
Achieving maximum impact with minimum number of elements
Ability to see work with critical eye and edit it mercilessly
How to benefit from references without copying, transforming reference into something new
Perspective lines converging to consistent vanishing points on a fixed horizon, without stray lines breaking the space.
Using a full value range from white to black with clear light/shadow separation from one consistent source.
Deliberately distinguishing hard, soft, and lost edges to guide the eye and build depth.
Drawing forms pointing toward the viewer with convincing perspective compression that respects volume and proportion.
Using the space around the subject as a design element that builds the composition and guides reading.
Building a harmonious colour relationship (warm/cool, saturation, adjacency) serving mood and unity.