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← Looking at Pictures Together

Looking at Pictures Together

Three short lessons on looking at art with a child, or anyone: three open questions, slow looking, and letting everyone's answer count.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/looking-at-pictures-together · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Three questions

A method called Visual Thinking Strategies, developed by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine, uses three questions in front of a picture: What is going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find?

The questions need no knowledge of art. They ask people to look, say what they see, and point to the evidence.

Question. A child says the man in a painting is sad. What is the next question?

  1. Who painted it?
  2. What do you see that makes you say that?
  3. Is that right?

Say it back. In your own words: what are the three questions?

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Lesson 2. Slow looking

Museum visitors often spend less than half a minute in front of a painting. Try a slow look: two full minutes before anyone speaks.

Things appear that a quick look misses: a figure in the background, a small dog, the way the light falls. Children are often better at spotting them than grown-ups.

Question. What is a slow look?

  1. Looking for two minutes before anyone speaks.
  2. Reading the label first.
  3. Walking slowly through the gallery.

Say it back. Say it back: what does slow looking find that a quick look misses?

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Lesson 3. Every answer counts

In this kind of looking there is no right answer to "what is going on?". The leader repeats what each person said and links it to the picture: "You noticed the open door. Who else sees something by the door?"

This is why it works across ages. A five-year-old and a grandparent can both be right, as long as they can point to what they saw.

Question. A grandchild and grandparent read a picture differently. What does the leader do?

  1. Say which reading is correct.
  2. Repeat both, and ask each to point to what they saw.
  3. Read the museum label to settle it.

Say it back. In your own words: why can there be more than one good answer about a picture?

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At the table: Describe and draw

Players: two people, 5 or older. You'll need: a postcard or printed picture, paper and pencils.

  1. One person holds the picture where the other cannot see it.
  2. They describe it for three minutes while the other draws.
  3. Compare the drawing with the picture together.
  4. Swap with a new picture, then ask the three questions about both.

Answers

  1. What do you see that makes you say that? — Asking what they see that makes them say so sends them back to the picture for evidence.
  2. Looking for two minutes before anyone speaks. — A slow look is a set time — say two minutes — looking at one picture before talking.
  3. Repeat both, and ask each to point to what they saw. — The leader repeats both readings and asks for the evidence, so both count.