How to describe the picture: recommendations

The task of writing an essay on a picture often puts a student of any age into a dead end. It would seem that everything is simple: you just need to look at the picture and describe your impressions. However, the child often does not understand how to describe the picture so that it does not look like a primitive enumeration of what he sees, or fantasies on the subject of the work. Meanwhile, in this task, in any case, there is really nothing complicated in fulfilling it at the level that is expected in the school. In order for the author to successfully cope with such an essay, it is enough just to direct the course of his reasoning and tell him what to pay attention to.

Genre definition

Before describing the picture, the student must relate it to those that he has already seen, and at least approximately determine its genre. This definition may not sound in the work itself, but it is necessary so that the student's attention is focused on important and significant details.

It’s often difficult to pinpoint the genre, but it’s quite possible for a child to understand what is in front of him: a landscape (including images of animals), a still life, a portrait (including a group or an animal), a domestic scene or a picture on a historical plot. In general, paintings of other genres are rarely used in methodological practice.

A brief description of the picture also involves the ability to understand what elements of which genres are combined in a particular work. Let's say it can be a portrait against the backdrop of a landscape or a domestic scene with a still life.

General in the description of paintings of any genre

Before describing a picture of any genre, it is appropriate to draw up a plan for the future text. The general elements of an essay for a story about a painting or graphic work of any genre can be the following:

1. Designation of the genre and, possibly, explanations of why the author relates the work to it.
2. Perhaps brief information about the author and the work, the history of its creation (year, materials, place of storage, era of creation, maybe a specific story that accompanies work on the canvas). In some cases, it is appropriate to say what public resonance caused the work.
3. A brief description of what is shown in the picture (what is brought to the fore, what is in the background).
4. What is the color scheme of the work, what sensations does it cause, how does it relate to the plot.

Landscape, still life, images of animals

The definition of the landscape genre rarely causes difficulties; difficulties arise precisely when trying to tell what was seen. A brief description of the picture in this case may include answers to the following questions:

1. What attracts the most attention (what makes up the center of the picture), why, due to what it is achieved; is there this center.
2. Dynamic or static image (what is depicted: state or movement), why.

It is necessary to pay attention to this when describing a still life, however, it is also important to make some emphasis on interior details, if any, are depicted in the picture.

Portrait

Often the greatest difficulties for schoolchildren are precisely the description of the portrait. Pictures of this genre are often offered to students for a story about them.

Arising difficulties are usually quite typical. Often a child feels well both mood and facial expression, but does not know how to describe the picture. In order to focus on important details and direct your thoughts, it is important to pay attention to such features of the portrait as:

1. Background (where the character is located, what details of the interior or landscape the artist considered it necessary to depict, why).
2. A production is a portrait or image of a natural moment in the life of a portrayed person.
3. Does the title indicate that it is an image of a particular person? If so, how did the artist see the prototype of the painting? If not, how does the name relate to the image? Who did the author want to show?
4. Direction of sight. Where does the character look? Why? This is especially important for group portraits.
5. The pose of man. What is its typicality? Why is she like that? What can be said about how the artist saw his sitter, in the pose of the character?

Domestic scene or historical plot

The description of the everyday scene most often combines the story of the characters and the landscape (interior). However, the emphasis should be on explaining the integrity of the work. The composition should be devoted to answers to questions about how each detail of the work "works" to create a general impression of the picture.

The historical plot, among other things, requires historical comments and clarifications. A text with explanations of how certain details of a costume, interior, landscape will always look strong.

In addition to essays on a certain picture, teachers often give the task of writing a text about any work of a particular author. Before describing a picture of an artist, you should familiarize yourself with his work in general and choose the most attractive one for description. In this case, the composition will also contain motivation for choosing a specific work and its comparison with other most famous works of the author.