News How Can One Describe an Abstract Painting Using Words?

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The discussion revolves around the challenge of verbally describing abstract art, specifically a piece titled "The Fiery Demise Of The Phoenix." Participants express admiration for art reviewers' abilities to articulate their interpretations and descriptions of abstract works. The conversation highlights the difficulty of providing a straightforward description without veering into personal interpretation. One participant attempts to describe the artwork, noting colors and forms, while others critique the need for more focus on physical attributes like color, texture, and form rather than psychological interpretations. Humor and playful banter emerge as participants reference various elements in the artwork, including a peacock and a mallard, and even a yellow banana, which leads to lighthearted exchanges about the artwork's meaning. The artist's intention is discussed, with some suggesting deeper themes of hope amidst chaos, while others joke about the absurdity of certain elements. Overall, the thread illustrates the complexities of art description and the interplay between personal interpretation and objective observation.
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The task here is to verbally describe an abstract work of art. This is quite difficult and I've always been impressed by the powers of description of art reviewers I encounter here and there in art magazines who seem to be able to verbally characterize a given abstract work.

In my thread a week or so back asking people to describe a painting to fit a title, Gokul, (and maybe some others) felt the title suggested an abstract work, but describing an abstract work struck him as too difficult and he resorted to illustration. I'm hoping he tackles this one to explore how it can be done, and that other pitch into raise the bar on him.

"The Firey Demise Of The Phoenix"

TheFireyDemiseOfThePhoenixSans.jpg
 
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Perhaps this should rather be called "the fiery demise of the peacock"...
 
verty said:
Perhaps this should rather be called "the fiery demise of the peacock"...
Perhaps it should rather be called "Verty Veers Off Topic".
 
That's beautiful! (I mean the picture :smile:)
 
zoobyshoe said:
The task here is to verbally describe an abstract work of art.

"The Firey Demise Of The Phoenix"
It is a picture of a Phoenix, dying in flames and sowing the seeds of its own rebirth. One presumes this is in protest against the strategy du jour in the war in Iraq.
 
It resembles Persia, in turquoises and desert sands. Ancient myths, from ancient lands, reborn into new generations of fiery purples and greens.
 
It's pretty! Looks like a peacock though. The peacock is on the left, and there is a mallard duck on the right. They have spotted each other, there is an initial attraction, unfortunately, their parents will never approve of a mixed marriage. There is pain and yearning...:frown:
 
jimmysnyder said:
It is a picture of a Phoenix, dying in flames and sowing the seeds of its own rebirth. One presumes this is in protest against the strategy du jour in the war in Iraq.
You are completely evading the challenge of describing what you see. No soup for you.
hypatia said:
It resembles Persia, in turquoises and desert sands. Ancient myths, from ancient lands, reborn into new generations of fiery purples and greens.
You are the closest so far to actually describing it, simply because you've noted actual colors that are in it.
Evo said:
It's pretty! Looks like a peacock though. The peacock is on the left, and there is a mallard duck on the right. They have spotted each other, there is an initial attraction, unfortunately, their parents will never approve of a mixed marriage. There is pain and yearning...:frown:
You have treated it like a rohrschach test and in interpreting this bizarre scenario out of it, revealed dark psychological secrets about yourself that I may or may not decide to share with the others.

The point is to describe what you physically see in front of you, not to present an interpretation. You need to muster your vocabularies for form, color, lines, textures, etc.
 
I see a colourful feathered creature that appears to be melting and its feathers becoming flames which create a vague depiction of another colourful bird with its wings spread. Forgive my lack of descriptive talent I'm not into art as much as yourself zoob.
 
  • #10
zoobyshoe said:
You have treated it like a rohrschach test and in interpreting this bizarre scenario out of it, revealed dark psychological secrets about yourself that I may or may not decide to share with the others.
Upon closer look, the mallard is attempting to bite the peacock's plummage with an altogether too happy look on it's face. :bugeye:

Oh wait, the peacock is breathing flames out of it's mouth.

You could sell prints of your work zooby, they're that good.
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Upon closer look, the mallard is attempting to bite the peacock's plummage with an altogether too happy look on it's face. :bugeye:

Oh wait, the peacock is breathing flames out of it's mouth.
What's the signifigance of the yellow banana? Don't tell me you didn't see the yellow banana.

You could sell prints of your work zooby, they're that good.
Actually, we could do this now. There is an online service where any artist can upload any image and people can order prints of any image that is on display there. They cost about 25 dollars. The artists get about $4.00 per print sold.
 
  • #12
zoobyshoe said:
What's the signifigance of the yellow banana? Don't tell me you didn't see the yellow banana.
You mean the summer squash next to the japanese aubergine? I thought it was part of their picnic lunch.

Actually, we could do this now. There is an online service where any artist can upload any image and people can order prints of any image that is on display there. They cost about 25 dollars. The artists get about $4.00 per print sold.
I guess that's fair, depending on the paper and printing quality offered, I haven't looked into it.
 
  • #13
It seems to me that the artist has created the vision of the post-apocalyptic halo surrounding the subject. While there is a nervous, sinister facade to the work, a more concentrated study leads to the viewer to empathise with the artist's portrayal of an eternal hope, held within the expressions surrounding the bird.
 
  • #14
Evo said:
You mean the summer squash next to the japanese aubergine? I thought it was part of their picnic lunch.
I...I...I guess I can't fool you.

I guess that's fair, depending on the paper and printing quality offered, I haven't looked into it.[/QUOTE]
http://printpop.com/index.php?gallery=lobby
 
  • #15
  • #16
brewnog said:
It seems to me that the artist has created the vision of the post-apocalyptic halo surrounding the subject. While there is a nervous, sinister facade to the work, a more concentrated study leads to the viewer to empathise with the artist's portrayal of an eternal hope, held within the expressions surrounding the bird.
The nervous/sinister facade is due to the fact I used a soon-to-be Christmas turkey as the model for the Phoenix. He was nervous because he found me sinister. He would not stand still. I could only capture various parts of him before he moved. The original title was: "Grab Bag Of Turkey Parts". The eternal hope you see is simply a collateral projection on the part of the artist, who is hoping for a blonde dressed in a fur trimmed bikini and Santa cap for Christmas. This is clearly alluded to in the red and green shapes visible in the upper left corner. Those are Christmas colors. She tends to the summer squash as we enjoy a nice yule fire in the hearth.

So, yeah, I think I will have to rename it "Verty Veers Off Topic".
 
  • #17
Evo said:
I won??

WOOT!

What did I win? o:)
Um...summer squash?

None of those pictures in abstracts come anywhere close to the talent you have.
Thanks, Evo. That's encouraging to hear.
 

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