Useful tips to describe a picture
1. This document is …
a cartoon
drawn by
a comic strip
created by / drawn by
a painting
painted by
a photograph / a photo
taken by
a drawing
drawn by
a poster
made by / created by
the cover of a book / a magazine
made by / designed by
an advertisement (an ad / an advert) for … (une publicité pour)
a cartoonist
a cartoonist
a painter
a photographer
an artist
a designer / an artist
a designer / an artist
It was made / published in … (date) / It dates from … (date) / It dates back to … (date)
This painting is entitled “………” (a pour titre)
It shows / It features … (il représente …)
2. Locating the elements :
at the top
in the top left-hand corner
in the distance
in the background
in the top half
_ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
on the left
in the middle
on the right
in the foreground
in the bottom right-hand corner
at the bottom
3. Method :  Du général (vue d’ensemble) au particulier (détails)
D’une analyse objective (description) à une analyse subjective (interprétation)
a. Identification (introduction) : type of document / author / title / date … (Use §1)
- Composition / setting (décor) / characters / action …
- What you can see (Use §2) : Who ? Where ? When ?
The scene takes place in the countryside. / The scene is set in a poor neighbourhood in the 1930s.
- What’s happening ? (utiliser be+ing)
b. Description :
c. Interpretation :
- Make assumptions (hypothèses) : I think … Maybe / Perhaps … We can guess / suppose …
The man must be… The girl may have …
As we can see …, we can deduce that … / We can easily imagine that … because …
- What happened before ? What’s going to happen next ?
- What is the message of the author ? His goal / aim (son but) ? …
The cartoonist’s goal (or aim) is probably to highlight … He wants to make fun of …
d. Conclude and give your opinion