The painting is Girl Before A Mirror, 1932 by Pablo Picasso
Why do you like this painting? What draws you in? What emotions do they evoke? What about the work do you find provocative? Use at least 3 different adjectives describing your response to each of the paintings (wild, gentle, scary, mysterious, grand, etc.)
a.
b.
c.
Once you have a good idea of what effect the paintings have on you — the viewer — (this will be part of the thesis statement of your essay), you can proceed to analyze the techniques (the causes) the artist used to produce this (emotional) effect on the viewer. For each painting, try to answer the questions below in as much detail as possible. Keep in mind that you are analyzing WHAT the artist did, and WHY.
1. Size or orientation of the canvas. How does this orientation enhance your understanding of the subject matter? How large is the artwork? Larger than your body? What is the effect of the size?
2. Scale: Note the scale used by the artist and its relation to the viewer. For example: if there is an insect in the artwork, is the insect the same size as in the natural world? Or is it larger (or smaller?) What effect does the scale have? What does it make you do? Get closer or move away? Why did the artist choose this scale? What is the effect?
3. Viewpoint: What is the artists’ viewpoint? Was the artist looking down (bird’s eye view) or was he/she looking up? From the side? From the front? What effect does this have?
4. Composition. Look at the artwork from a distance, squint a bit so you don’t see all the details. Describe the large forms you see. For 2-D work: How are they distributed on the canvas? Can you imagine dividing the canvas in half? Thirds? Quarters? Draw the picture and show the different sections.
5. Unity and balance. How do the different sections you described above relate to each other? Does one segment balance the other? How? Does the division reveal what’s important?
6. Lines. Trace the lines in the artwork with your mind’s eye. Painters often use architecture to create strong horizontal and vertical lines. Diagonal lines can often be found in the poses of the figures in the artwork and in furnishings. Draw the lines in a sketch.
7. Effect of Lines. What effects do the lines produce? Remember, straight vertical and horizontal lines tend to have a calm or static effect. Swirling and diagonal lines do the opposite. Long diagonals are calmer visually than lots of short diagonals.
8. Color Describe the artist’s color choices. Are the colors warm or cool? Bright or muted? How do the colors unify the artwork? What expressive effect does the artist’s color choices have on the artwork overall?
9. Light. How is the artist using light? Where is the light coming from? Is there a single light source? Or is the light source not obvious, and the artwork is clearly lit without shadows? To what effect is light used? Is it bright or soft? To what effect are shadows used? What is the interplay between the two?
10. Highlights. If your artwork has a single light source that creates highlights and deep shadows, spend some time looking at these. To what effect is the artist using the highlights?
11. Space. Is there great depth (can you look into the far distance?), or is the eye stopped quickly? How are the forms configured in this space? Are they upfront or further back? What is the relationship between the space within the artwork to the viewer? Does the viewer feel included? Excluded?
12. Relationship between forms observed and the emotional effects. Consider your initial response (your adjectives) to the artwork in the context of the formal elements you observed in this assignment. How are the two related?
