Menina e Gato

Key words

oil painting

Questions to ask

This image is created from a fairly muted palette. How does this affect the mood of the work?

In this image the artist successfully draws attention to the sitter’s face.  Aside from the dark colours used on the eyes, how does the artist use compositional techniques to bring attention to the sitter’s face? Why might she do this?

The perspective and proportions used in this image are not realistic, or true to life. With the popularisation of photography which could create realistic images, do you think that it was still the job of the painter to create mimetic (realistic) images?

How this might inspire your work

Closely examine the proportions and the composition of this image. The violin appears to be floating in space, and the artist hasn’t tried to give a convincing sense of depth.

Make a portrait using collaged mixed media. Draw your face on one piece of paper in a particular media, draw your body separately on another piece of paper, and draw two objects that mean something to you in different media. For the background of your image you can use images from magazines or patterned pieces of paper or material.

On a larger piece of paper, assemble the different parts of your collage. Move the pieces around until you are satisfied with the composition. Think about the way that your eye moves around the page when you look at the image, and if there is something that is particularly important in the image, ensure that the other pieces of collage are arranged in a way that leads the eye towards the important image.