How to write a descriptive essay about a painting?
When you study a discipline you have to deal with writing a lot of self-study papers. And if writing such works in the humanities or technical field does not cause unnecessary questions, the writing of similar works in art-related specialties may cause surprise and misunderstanding. More often than not, when mentioning writing essays on art comes to mind the creation of works on the subjects of painting. Therefore, we suggest you learn a little more about the features and main secrets of essay writers that will help you write an essay on a painting that will deserve only the highest praise.
How to write a painting essay: tips from professionals
As with writing an essay on any other subject, a structured approach to the process of working on it is important here. To make it a little easier for yourself, we recommend using the following tips that will help organize the workflow when writing an essay on the art of painting:
- Decide on a topic. Sometimes teachers give a ready-made list of paintings for homework writing, and sometimes they leave the choice of topic up to the students. It is important that the subject of the painting that you choose as the topic of your paper fits into the curriculum and is consistent with it.
- First, provide a brief biographical excursus about the artist. In order to better explore the theme of each painting subject, you need to deviate a bit from the painting itself and familiarize yourself with the biography of its author, at least briefly. That way you can look “inside” the painting itself and better reveal the topic of your essay. The biographical excursus should not be too long and occupy the main part of the work – a few sentences set out at the beginning of the work are enough.
- Add some information about the subject of the painting. To tie together the biographical part of the essay and the direct analysis of the painting, you can give a brief history of its creation. For example, you can specify its title, the time of work on it, in which period of the artist’s work it was painted, and so on. As in the case with the biographical excursus, it is important not to overdo it and not to overextend this part of the work – a few small sentences are enough.
- Describe the picture. Here it is worth mentioning that it is not necessary to retell the entire plot of the picture in detail. You can pay attention to some special, in your opinion, details of the picture, which may testify to certain events from the life of the masterpiece’s author or events, to which the canvas is dedicated. It is also important to show the connection between this picture and the rest of the author’s work.
- Describe your feelings. All art is intended to influence the perceptions and feelings of the audience in some way. When writing an essay on a particular painting subject, it is not unreasonable if you say a few words about how you were affected by that painting. But again – it’s important not to overdo it and turn the essay into a psychoanalysis essay.
When writing essays on subjects or the history of painting, it is important and necessary to find a balance between specific facts and the personal experiences associated with them.