As a rule, while learning English, we focus on everyday vocabulary. After all, first of all, you need to know how to communicate with people on everyday topics, such as the weather, the latest news, gastronomy, hobbies and passions. But think about it: is it possible that, having arrived in England, you will only be busy with everyday life all day long? Is it really the maximum that you will be ready for, is to exchange a word about the weather with a neighbor? Of course not. First of all, you will want to explore the area, visit various cultural institutions. Let's consider the situation of your trip to the art gallery. Of course, you can silently look at the pictures, moving from one to another, or poke your finger at specific details, while uttering meager epithets like “nice”, “beautiful”, “interesting”. But why not surprise the locals with a wonderful knowledge of their language? Believe me, they observe a lot of such “silent people”. It is a completely different matter when a foreigner is able to fully convey the gamut of his impressions and give a good description of the picture.
We will start with what is shown in the described picture. It can be a portrait (portrait), landscape(landscape) or still life (still life). Portraits are of the following types: self-portrait (self-portrait), full-length (full-length), half-length (half-length), knee-length (knee-length), shoulder-length (shoulder-length), group (group), caricature. Now let's move on to landscapes. They are urban (townscape), marine (marina), depicting nature (scenery). We turn to the main types of still life: with flowers (flower piece), with fruit (fruit piece). With this we can begin our description of the picture.
Let's move to the foreground (foregroup). If you have a portrait in front of you, perhaps the artist has well revealed the character of the depicted person in it (to reveal the person's nature, to render the personality) or conveyed emotions with touching sincerity (to portray emotions with moving sincerity), captured the moment with a certain facial expression (to capture transient expression).
The following epithets can be added to the description of the picture: bright (vivid), lyrical (lyrical), touching (moving), gloomy (obscure), poetic (poetical), vulgar (vulgar), romantic (romantic), sophisticated (exquisite), miserable (pathetic), wonderful (remarkable), luxurious (superb). In general, the picture may seem to you a masterpiece (masterpiece) or, conversely, a colorless daub of paint. In your description of the painting in English, you can add a couple of words about color, for example: "the artist demonstrated excellent command of color" (completecommand of colors) or "has an amazing sense of color and composition" (marvelous sense of color and composition). Or, on the contrary, the chosen combination of colors seemed to you screaming (crude) or painful (depressing). A picture can strike with an abundance of bright colors (abundance of vivid colors) or dramatic color depth (dramatical intensity).
Compiling a description of a picture in English, it is worth remembering: it is better to express yourself accurately and concisely, while emphasizing the main characteristics of the picture, than to say a lot of beautiful (or not so) words, but never hit the bull's-eye. Any description of a painting should begin with your perception of what is depicted. If you happen to lack the vocabulary to express your impression, you can say something like “This piece has impressed me so deep, that I cannot even pick the proper words to express my point of view!” (“This work made such a strong impression on me that I can’t even find the right words to express my opinion!”). Agree, such words are also a description of the picture, and even incredibly flattering!
Now you are definitely ready to visit an art gallery in London (for example). It remains only to wish you to fully enjoy the works of art!
