Given those similarities, one might expect to have similar viewing experiences looking at the portraits. However, Van Gogh and Manet approached oil in two entirely different manners. Manet's use of oil seems to have been designed to get colors with depth and opacity. In contrast, Van Gogh's use of oil was about more than color; by applying the paint in layers of varying thickness, Van Gogh created texture and multiple dimensions in his painting. Although both artists used paint to create depth, the methods they choose to do so could not have been less similar.

One of the common elements in the paintings is that both artists showed a willingness to be bold in their use of paint and lines. For example, Manet, the first modern painter, employed a technique of using obvious black lines to separate the subject from the background, and to give form to the subject's clothing. While the method may sound somewhat cartoonish, it actually does not detract from the realism of the portrait. In fact, given the oil medium, it may actually enhance the properties of the painting, by contrasting a realistically painted person with somewhat stylized clothing. Because of his fearless use of paint, which deviated greatly from traditional portraitists, Manet is considered the first modern painter.

Manet's use of color in Portrait of Madame Manet is similar to Van Gogh's use in Portrait of the Artist's Mother in that both artists chose to use a muted color pallet. Furthermore, Manet also utilizes the technique of highlighting the background that immediately surrounds the subject. However, while Van Gogh used warm tones like blue, yellow, and peach, Manet used cool colors. The background is a blackish gray, as are the subject's clothes. The background contains hint of rose, swirled into the gray, which appears to have been created using a wet-on-wet technique. Furthermore, it comes as no surprise that the subject of Manet's painting was his wife; the only bright colors in the portrait appear in the subject's lips, drawing attention to that feature

Some common words found in the essay are:
Van Gogh, Van Gogh's, Edouard Manet, Finally Manet, Artist's Mother, Gogh Manet, Furthermore Manet, van gogh, Madame Manet, van gogh's, Portrait Artist's, portrait artist's mother, portrait artist's, artist's mother, manet's painting, light dark, mirrors natural, background contains, Portrait Madame, reason background, painting artists, portrait madame manet,
Approximate Word count = 1005
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)