HOW TO DESCRIBE A PICTURE

Kinds of pictures
picture, image
painting
photograph / photo
portrait
landscape painting
poster
cartoon
drawing
cover / front page of a newspaper
comic strip

Artists
artist cartoonist
photographer painter

Structure
o next to o in the upper part / at the top
o near o in the lower part / at the bottom
o in front of =/=behind o on the left handside / on the left
o in the foreground o on the right hand side / on the right
o in the background o in the central part / in the middle

Describing the scene

The picture was taken in/at/near ... (place).
The photo was taken in/at/during....(time). * Whats the weather like?
The picture depicts/ shows / ... (scene).

What can you see?

On the left/right/In the middle/center there is / are

We can see.......on the left/right.
In this picture, the character/woman/child/man/animal is (Vb)-ing .....

What is your impression?

The characters look as if ...

The viewer has/ I have the impression that ...
The painting is vivid / happy / expressive / funny / strange/ inspiring / gloomy/
The picture makes the viewer /me feel ... (sad/happy)
The picture makes the viewer /me think about
 HOW TO DESCRIBE A PICTURE

1. Introduction

The photo/picture shows ...

It was taken by/in ...
It's a black-and-white/coloured photo.

2. What is where?

In the foreground/background you can see ...

In the foreground/background there is ...
In the middle/centre there are ...
At the top/At the bottom there is ...
On the left/right there are ...
Behind/In front of ... you can see ...
Between ... there is ...

3. Who is doing what?

The man/woman/animal in the picture is + ing

4. What I think about the picture

It seems as if ...
The lady seems to ...
Maybe ...
I think ...
... might be a symbol of ...
The atmosphere is peaceful/depressing ...
I (don't) like the picture because ...
It makes me think of ...