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and subject matter as manifestation of emotion and passion just to list a few.

Technique and skill as manifestation of personality. Famous painters Claude Monet and Van Gogh will be used to exemplify how technique and skill in art reflects their inner worlds and personalities. Both painters are widely recognized as impressionists, meaning that instead of portraying reality exactly as their eyes perceive it, an impressionist merely paints what impression has been made on him or her onto a medium. Looking at Monet's painting, it is possible to deduce that he possibly lead a very peaceful lifestyle. The multiple paintings of his flower garden are most likely a reflection of the feelings evoked by his gardens on him, a subject which he wanted to express in his paintings. When looking at Water Lilies, notice the quiet quality and colors employed and how they seem to give off an aura of peacefulness and beauty.

On the other hand, Van Gogh's style is rather chaotic. Van Gogh's technique and brush strokes leave the impression of quickness of thought and of erratic ideas, this is perhaps noticeable in his strokes, which seem dissociated from the whole picture yet remain as part of a whole.

Subject matter as manifestation of perception. First of all, it is important to understand the nature of subject matter in order to be able to examine how its study can provide information about the author. Subject matter includes the basic theme behind a particular piece of art. For example, in a portrait, the individual who is in the portrait and his surroundings are the subject matter.

In the case of subject matter as a representation of perception, one can refer to music lyrics. Lyrics, which could also be considered poetry, reflect many aspects about the songwriter through word use, grammar, and theme. For example, Sublime's "What I got" is a song that reflects both the author's easy-going attitude whenever the world seems to get in his way, and his loving nature towards anything and anyone who comes into his reality. In addition, the tone set by the musical instruments reflects the group's style and mood as a whole.

Think of Van Gogh once again. It is rumored that Van Gogh developed schizophrenia in his later years. This mental disorder clearly affected his style as can be observed by following a chronology of his paintings. His first pencil sketches, done at the beginning of his career as a visual artist, are generally carefully detailed and have a soft nature to them. These details

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