how do you describe a painting?

Question

For school I need to desdcribe a painting in paragraph form but have no idea how to do it, I know when i see a painting whether i like it or not but don't know how to describe it.

Answer 1

this is called ekphrastic literature. not a lot of people know that. i took a class on it last year.

i would start by looking at the painting and writing every word that comes to mind on a piece of paper. even if the word seems ridiculous, write it down.
think about color, composition, subject matter, what you think the painting is trying to portray and say to the viewer, how you as a viewer feels about the painting, do you like the painting? dislike it? and why. What aspects in the painting do you like? Are there any symbols in the painting? if so, what are they? Talk about whether the painting is realistic, abstract, expressionistic, conceptual, etc... and why it is this? An important thing to talk about is how you connect with the painting.

After you write down these words and descriptions, take each word or description and write a paragraph on each one. So, write a paragraph on subject matter, composition, style, how you feel about the painting, etc. The intro and conclusion should talk a little bit about each paragraph.

here's a bit of an example. it was all i could find on my computer in quick notice. these are 2 paragraphs from an essay i wrote on a poem that i also wrote. (so the ekphrastic piece was the poem. the essay is a summary/ explanation of the poem) but these two paragraphs are an example of ekphrastic literature. (if that makes sence... haha)
The painting was Carnival, by Arshile Gorky
the intro described the history of the artist, so the first sentence in this paragraph are a transition from that.

"In this drawing, I see Gorky’s childhood before his departure. He draws in graphite and then in crayon, both artistic tools of a child. But the crayon is scraped, in pain upwards like smoke, to the sides like blood. The scrapes create an abstract and mysterious composition. I ask, what is going on? From far away, there are almost ghost figures, sad and frightened. Up close, we see the swirling graphite, making a series of shapes, covered by the crayon. This scene is not fun, like Carnival. It is painful. It is dark. "

"Color is a prominent aspect of this drawing. The drawing is filled with pain and anguish, expressed through color. The first thing I saw was the red, consuming half of the composition. I thought of blood and fire. It flows down the canvas and devours the graphite shapes. The symbol of Armenians, Mount Ararat rests in the background. The red drips down from the mountain and then smears up towards the top of the paper, mixing with the blue, creating steeples, of what I think of as smoke. The blue, I imagine as Lake Van, the lake Gorky grew up near. But, it is also part of the fire, consuming the people. Yellow, orange, and black add to the blaze. "

___
try and make your essay interesting. go beyond describing the elements. after defining the aesthetic characteristic, think about the artist. why did he make these decisions? why did he draw the line this way? why did he paint something this way? put yourself in the artist's place. If you were the artist, why would you have chose the canvas size he chose? why would you have used a specific color...
describe what the artist did and then why he did it.


I hope this could help! good luck!

Answer 2

How To Describe A Painting

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
how do you describe a painting?
For school I need to desdcribe a painting in paragraph form but have no idea how to do it, I know when i see a painting whether i like it or not but don't know how to describe it.

Answer 4

You could say if you like it or not you explain why you like or dislike it. say how you feel when you look at the painting and then talk about the depth of the painting about the colours used and the brush strokes and if the painting has more than one meaning. you know when some abstract paintings you can see different things in them each time you look at them. mention the artist as well. hope this is of some help.

Answer 5

graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface
OR
Painting is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier (or medium) and a binding agent (a glue) to a surface (support) such as paper, canvas or a wall. This is done by a painter; this term is used especially if this is his or her profession. Evidence indicates that humans have been painting for about 6 times as long as they have been using written language. Artistic painting is considered by many to be among the most important of the art forms

Answer 6

the key points to include in ur description:
-the mode/tone of the painting
-the message being put forth by the paunting/artist
-significance of style of painting (follows style of a particular era in art? or a famous artist? or helps to convey the message of the painting better?)
-significance of colour combination used (anything special? like everything might be dull and bleak because dark or blue colours are used)
-texture of the painting.
-and most importantly what you like best about the painting (like maybe what is it in the painting that you can relate to or connect with most)

(: hope that help... these are a few tips i got from my art teacher some time back=D

Answer 7

How To Describe Art

Answer 8

Describe the Strongest Art elements in the painting. Elements such as Line, Shape, Texture, Colour & value.

Example:

In the painting titled "The sad clown", by artist So & So, depicts a crying clown. The artist has used the elements of line, shape, and texture. In this critique I will describe these elements and perhaps why the artist may have used them.

The first element which has a strong presence is line...(go on to describe)...The artist has used bold line to help bring definition to object, seen in the bottom left corner......perhaps he used this element to bring a sense of symbolism or representation.

The Second element, shape......

.....Some thing like that,...Good luck! Describe it in the elements.

Answer 9

Use spray oil as an alternative to pouring. One squirt contains only one calorie compared to 120 calories at a tablespoon. If you use oil as part of your cooking daily, this small change could lose that you simply stone over the year.

Answer 10

People who plan their weekly meals are more successful at losing weight than people who don’t. Plan your dishes to include healthy carbs such as lovely potato and wholegrain pasta, green vegetables and lean proteins, buy each of the ingredients in advance and don’t be tempted to consume out or order in.