What can be seen in the picture (what is it of?) What is its title? Who was the artist? When was the picture made? Did the artist belong to any particular group? Was there any important event in the artist’s life or in history around the time the artist lived that may have influenced the way the artist thought and worked?

What medium has been used? (Oil paint, watercolour, pencil, charcoal?) What techniques have been used? (Thick paint, heavy brushstrokes, brushstrokes going in certain directions, light paint strokes, soft washes of colour, dark tones, light tones, bright colours, dark colours?)

How is the picture composed? How are the main shapes arranged? How has the artist used line, colour and texture? Are any shapes repeated? Are there curves, spirals, sharp shapes, angular forms? Why might the artist do this? Are any areas distorted deliberately? If so, why do you think the artist did this?

What is the mood of the picture? What feelings and emotions are suggested in the work? (Is it happy, sad, peaceful, lively does it create an anxious feeling?) How has the artist created the mood?