Learn how to describe a painting!
“Painting is like having a bad mistress who spends and spends and it’s never enough … I tell myself that even if a tolerable study comes out of it from time to time, it would have been cheaper to buy it from somebody else.”
Vincent Van Gogh, Artist
Well, well, well…
It takes a lot of courage, skill and imagination to create a beautiful piece of art.
It also takes time, dedication and patience to understand the product of an artist’s imagination.
In this lesson, we will be looking at paintings as part of our ‘Describing Pictures’ series. How do we describe a painting in a way that renders justice to a painter’s creative efforts?
Describe a Painting (STEP 1): Different Types of Paintings
First things first — let’s look at a few definitions
- What is a painting?: A ‘painting‘ is a picture or image that is created when paint or other pigments are applied to a solid surface such as canvas or paper.
- What is art?: ‘Art‘ is defined as the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.
- What is an artwork? An ‘artwork‘ is an item or an object that has been created by an artist for its own sake and not for functional reasons. Other words or expressions for ‘artwork‘ are ‘work of art‘, ‘piece of art‘ and ‘art piece‘.
- Who is an artist? An ‘artist‘ is a person who creates art.
- What are the Fine Arts?: The ‘Fine Arts‘ refer to forms of art that are created for their aesthetic, visual or emotional value such as Painting, Sculpture, Music and Literature.
Just like in Photography, there are different types of paintings. Let’s look at a few examples:
Types of Paintings
- Oil
- Pastel
- Water colour
- Acrylic
- Tempera
- Ink
- Fresco
- Cave
- Collage
- Sand
- Digital
- Glass
- Spray
- Graffiti
- Gouache
- Mural
- Panorama
- Miniature
- Chiaroscuro
- Easel
Paintings about People
- Portrait (Full length, three-quarter length, half length, bust, head and shoulders, self, individual, group, family, presidential, etc)
- Children
- Caricature
- Fan art
- Celebrity
- Face
- Body
- Nail
- Nude
Paintings about Objects
- Still life
- Flower
- Food
- Fruit
Paintings about Nature
- Landscape
- Forest
- Mountain
- Plein air
- Wildlife
- Pet portrait
- Nature
- Panoramic
- Sky
- Cloud
- Hail
- Storm
- Rainbow
- Rain
- Sunrise and sunset
Paintings about Places
- Street (Pavement Art/ Street Art/ Sidewalk Art)
- Cityscape
- Townscape
- Travel (Travel Art)
- Aerial
Paintings that Tell Stories
- Autobiographical
- Life story
- Historical
- Biblical
- Religious
- Propaganda
- Scientific (Scientific Art)
- Medical
- Everyday Life (Genre)
- Cultural
- Cross-cultural
- Abstract
Paintings about Movement
- Sports
- Action
Describe a Painting (STEP 2): What do you see?
It is easy to describe a painting as long as you have the right tools and methodology to go about it. This section will provide you with that.
There are three simple steps to follow carefully in order to come up with the perfect painting description vis., Identification, Description and Interpretation.
a) Identification of the painting
Answer the 6 WH- questions: WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW.
WHAT: An oil painting on canvas? A watercolour on paper? What is the title of the painting? What predominant objects can you see?
WHO: Who is the painter or artist? Is there anyone in the painting?
WHEN: When was the painting done? (E.g. The painting dates back to 1895); what is the time of the day or the year? Is it in the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening? Is it spring, summer, autumn or winter?
WHERE: Where was the painting shown, exhibited or published? Are the figures in the painting somewhere recognisable?
WHY: Why was the painting done? Was it commissioned by someone? (You can do some research to find out more information about the painter. This will help you understand his or her motivations and the historical setting too.)
HOW: How was the painting created? You can talk about the media (materials) and the surfaces that were used. These can be oil paint, acrylic paint, spray paint, tempera, charcoal, chalk, pastels, gouache, canvas, paper, cardboard, hardboard, wood panels, metal, glass, plastic, wall, fabric, ceramic, etc)
Sample Description
Description:
Story Time is an acrylic on paper painting by contemporary Kenyan artist, Cyprian Ogambi. It depicts an everyday life scene in rural Africa. We can see three brightly-clothed Maasai hunters in the central part of the painting against a blue backdrop. They are sitting under a marula tree which is framed by two symmetrical huts. The viewer gets a positive general impression of harmony and vibrant tranquillity that are emphasised by the radiant colours and balanced composition of the painting.
Your Turn: Choose a painting of your liking and describe it by answering the 6 WH-questions.
b) Thorough Description of the Painting
It is now time to bring your painting to life with a detailed description. Observe the artwork carefully, scrutinising and dissecting the following aspects:
- Size: life-size, miniature, mural, large, medium, small, etc
- Composition: the focal point, the top, the bottom, the left, the right, the top left-hand corner, the top right-hand corner, the bottom left-hand corner, the bottom right-hand corner, the foreground, the background, the middle, balance, unity, discordance, focus, emphasis, proportion, layout, pattern, rhythm, variety, format, symmetry, etc.
- Colours: natural, artificial, warm, cool, neutral, light, dark, sombre, radiant, brilliant, bright, intense, blazing, twinkling, scintillating, shimmering, lively, dull, lacklustre, lifeless, insipid, flat, depressing, pale, harmonious, discordant, garish, mixed, blended, broken, ostentatious, loud, kitschy, drab, etc.
- Tone (Value or Chiaroscuro — how dark or light a colour is): dark, light, dull, grey, dark grey, monochromatic, low key, high key, etc
- Texture: rough, smooth, jagged, pebbly, rocky, sandy, bristly, coarse, fuzzy, soft, shiny, glossy, silky, feathery, woolly, barky, sticky, etc.
- Lines: straight, curved, spiral, diagonal, vertical, perpendicular, parallel, zigzag, freehand, thin, thick, continuous, broken, jagged, dotted, etc.
- Mood or atmosphere: Lively, cheerful, merry, perky, sparkly, joyful, blissful, bright, humorous, animated, spirited, playful, whimsical, dark, sad, depressing, gloomy, sombre, chilling, frightening, mysterious, disturbing, unsettling, peaceful, tranquil, calming, soothing, optimistic, pessimistic, lethargic, melancholy, angry, fearsome, ominous, etc.
- Shapes: circular, triangular, geometric, rectangular, square, angular, curvy, cylindrical, spherical, pyramidal, two-dimensional (2-D), three-dimensional (3-D), biomorphic, organic, etc.
- Style: Modernist, Impressionist, Expressionist, Cubist, Realist, Abstract, Japanese, Chinese, etc
Sample Detailed Description
Description
A Friend in Need is an iconic and humorous oil on canvas kitsch painting by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, an American artist. It was commissioned in 1903 by an advertising company called Brown & Bigelow as part of a campaign to promote cigars. It portrays a variety of life-size humanised dogs playing poker while smoking cigars and drinking beer using real glasses and pipes just like men or friends would do.
The circular green poker table, where the main action takes place, is the focal point of the painting. It stands at the centre of the sparsely-furnished room and it is brightly lit by an overhead lamp whose cover draws our attention through its unusual geometric shape and deep red colour. This contrasts with the dull background which remains in the dark because nothing much is happening there.
The dogs have real proportions and they fill most of the bottom half of the picture. The collier on the left and the St Bernard on the right actually frame the scene. Their facial expressions and body postures are reminiscent of human ones, emphasised by the collier who is sitting crossing with crossed legs in the bottom left-hand corner. It seems as if these animals have been elevated to the status of human beings and this feeling is heightened by the vertical lines in the chairs, elongated bottles and bodies, picture frame, door and clock. The soft shades of colour, the circular lines of the poker table and the wood add a soft and homely touch to the scene.
The foreground reveals what is at stake in the scene. The small white bulldog is surreptitiously handing an ace card to the tanned bulldog just next to him in act of pure deceit and bravery.
Your Turn: Look for a painting and try to use the vocabulary you have just learned to describe it. Focus on areas of interest only.
c) Interpretation of the painting
It is always exciting to hunt for the apparent or hidden meaning in a painting.
You can use the following expressions to go about this task:
- The artist might have wanted to…
- This scene portrays…
- The painting depicts…
- In my opinion, the painting portrays…
- I think that this painting wants to show…
- The foreground highlights…
- The targeted audience of the painting is…
- The message is directed towards…
- This a comment on…
- It reflects…
- The artist’s intention is/was…
- The painting conveys a sense of…
- We get the feeling that…
Sample Detailed Description with Interpretation
Description
Village Chores is an acrylic on canvas painting by Kenyan female artist, Jane Wanjeri. It vividly depicts an everyday life scene in a village in Africa where hard-working women and children are doing their chores during daytime. The intense and happy colours such as green, pink, red, orange and blue gives us the impression of a joyous family unit.
The focal point of the painting is the three-stone cooking fire — this is where communal life revolves. As a matter of fact, in the foreground, we can see two healthy chickens that are a precious source of food in this part of the world. They are symmetrically framed by the two boys that are carrying a heavy container of water on the right and the two women that are pounding maize on the left. All the people are deeply focused on the task at hand. The solid looking black cooking pot in the bottom left-hand corner, the cooking pot on the fire and the container form a triangular shape, emphasising the importance of these food preparation tools or utensils.
The artist manages to portray a joyous and serene scene even though the work that is being done is backbreaking as particularly evidenced by the old woman who is carrying a huge stack of wood on the far left. There are many elements to soften the drudgery: the bright light from the sun; the stunning backdrop composed of luscious greenery; the two solidly built huts where the family can retire to at the end of the day; the towering mountain that brings them comfort and gives a sense of safety in the clear absence of men.
In my opinion, the artist wanted to show a positive aspect of African village life in this painting. The figures are well-dressed in clean, beautiful and colourful clothes. The strong women in the foreground take very good care of themselves as their hair is neatly done even though they lack shoes and it must be hard for them and the barefoot children to walk on the visibly pebbly ground. They do not seem to experience a period of famine as the presence of poultry and maize in the mortar proves.
Besides, they seem to live harmoniously and in symbiosis and this is highlighted by the fact that objects and living things are presented in pairs: two huts, two pots, two food-preparation tools, two pestles, two chickens, two boys and two women. The lonely woman in the background with a hunched back, who seems to leave the painting, is a reminder of how life can be hard and defeating. Overall, the people in the painting seem to do their gruelling work with stoicism and dignity and leave a positive and inspirational influence on the viewer.
Your Turn: Interpret a painting that you really like, using appropriate vocabulary and art terms.
Further Exploration: (Describe a Painting)
Download PDF File:
Read:
- English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 1-How to Describe a Photograph in Detail, November 2019
- Picture Description Vocabulary, Learn English With Africa, November 2015
- Vocabulary for Expressing Opinions, Learn English With Africa, November 2018
- English-Polish Picture Description Vocabulary (Part 1), Learn English With Africa, November 2015
- English Polish Picture Description (Part 2), Learn English With Africa, November 2015
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Short Story: Dreams Can’t Be Too Big, Learn English With Africa, November 2016
