Compare and Contrast

When I originally viewed Picasso's piece I realized that it is very emotionally dark, and though I have an affinity for "darker" artwork, this particular situation doesn't work for me. One big difference between my creation and Picasso's original is the lighter mood (and lighter colors, for that matter) that is felt upon first glance. In regard to color difference, I switched the orange cat and blue back from the original to be a blue/grey cat and an orange back. From personal preference, characters with blue color schemes are more attractive then ones with orange schemes. Another difference in my piece is the lack of blood and drama, leaving the cause of the bird's death, and the intentions of the smiling cat, to the viewer's interpretation.

In regards to similarities between the two pieces, I think the most obvious are the arrangements of the two cats. While the original cat has a slightly unreadable stance due to the surrealism, my cat's pose is my mental interpretation of how Picasso's cat would appear as a natural cat. Another similarity is the 2-Dimension feature on both images; I added minimal highlights and shadows to my image, along with a higher detailed face, akin to Picasso's. When I saw the eyes of Picasso's cat, it brought about an image of the Cheshire Cat in my mind. I ran with the idea, and replaced Picasso's dead black bird with one of the Queen of Heart's dead flamingos. 

Work In Progress

Objective Critique

This painting, Cat Eating a Bird, was created by Pablo Picasso in both the style of cubism and surrealism. The main subject is the monster-like cat hunched over a bleeding bird, and the color scheme used consists of differing shades of blacks, whites, blues, oranges, and reds.

In his painting, Picasso uses line to create movement. This movement can be see in the cat's outlines and multiple stripes, leading us from the head to the bird and the rest of his body. The next element Pablo uses is color to create contrast. This is shown in the body of the mostly orange cat contrasting with the blue color of the sky. Blue and orange are complimentary colors and though diluted and faded the contrast still works nicely. The other element used is shape, and it creates the principle of emphasis. The odd shapes of the cat's eyes and teeth (along with their color, actually) prove to emphasize the cat's face quite well.

Subjective Critique

My initial reaction to this painting is to try and piece together what is happening. Because the shapes and body parts of the cat are so varied and not assembled like a normal cat, it takes me a moment to realize that it is, in-fact, a cat hunched over a bird.

The colors and textures used in the painting compliment each other, but are overly complicated and in my opinion, messy. The cat is disfigured with a back hump and back leg that could very easily belong to an additional creature hiding behind the cat. There are unnecessary black outlines where there should not be, in the middle of the back and face, and places where they are missing, such as the secondary hind leg and tail. The bloody waterfall between the cat's bloodless jaw and the bird is something that could either be redrawn to spill over the cat's jaw and into an appropriate, yet missing, hole in the bird's side, or be eliminated all together.

I think that a more naturalistic yet whimsical style would be a more attractive way in which to paint this image, versus this dark cubism/surrealism. I would also like to get a better idea of what the cat is standing on, is it a thin gate or a brick wall? A bit of reconstruction of the cat's back, legs, face, and the bird's body seems like a good place to start with changes.

Image and Basic Information

Title: Cat eating a bird

Artist: Pablo Picasso

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Time Period: Surrealist Period, 1939