The line that forms the corner of the wall behind her is much more definite and concrete, but it almost appears as though there has been an attempt to obliterate notions of line in the woman herself -- the folds of her clothes resist any distinguishability.
The different uses of line by these two artists also show up in their simple geometry. In his self-portrait, Picasso uses almost no curved line at all. The result is a very angular yet still completely recognizable face with very prominent -- indeed, almost exaggerated -- features. His woman is far more abstract, and the painting contains far more curves, but Picasso still gives his images very definite geometric shape through his use of line. Hals on the other hand does not define his figure so concretely. The room itself, however, is strongly defined by line, making it seem to extend off the canvas while the woman herself is stuck on it.
The two paintings also show a very different use of color, though the difference is similar to the difference shown in line. Picasso's colors are bright and very vibrant, whereas Hals' are muted and indistinct. This matches the two artist's use of line, with the two elements combining on both of Picasso's work to create very definite structures that jump out at the viewer, while leaving everything much more subtle in Hals' work, forcing he viewer...
The contrast of colors ais also remarkably different amongst the works of the two artists. Picasso's self-portrait contains relatively few colors, but the are of different tone and intensity and still form a contrast. Hals' colors are too muted to do anything but blend.
Because of the differences in line and color (as well as other major artistic differences between the styles of the two men), the textures of the two paintings make them seem to come almost from different worlds. Picasso's self-portrait is somewhat rough, which is consistent through every element of the painting, even the background. His figure of a woman, however, has many different textures. There is an overall smoothness, but the breaking up of the piece into many colorful geometric sections gives the texture a somewhat fractured feel, like large overlapping pieces of glass. The texture of Hals' work is most curious because it the subtlety of color and line makes it so difficult to discern. It appears smooth only for this subtleness; a careful examination reveals that the artist has managed to render the texture of each surface with near perfect realism.
Picasso and Hals were obviously two very different artists. It is amazing that the same elements of line, texture, and color can lead to such different creations.
