This paper explores the concepts of representation and response as illustrated, first, by "seeing-in" (Wollheim, 1980, 1987) or by the "reading" of a painting in which the viewer regards a particular painting from different perspectives and angles. In both instances, the reading involves a dual engagement with the substance and the medium. This observation technique may appear to a literature teacher as similar to the process that young readers undergo during the initial stages of learning to read. Findings are discussed from a study conducted with two teenagers viewing a painting, their discussion and notes, within actual transcripts of the discussion included. Results reveal that the student perceives the painting, conceives a mental vision of it, and constructs its meaning similar to what would be done when reading a poem. Three steps of synthesis by the viewer toward the painting or poem are discussed: illumination of the viewer's perception, filling in of noted gaps, and constructing the meaning of the object being viewed. (Contains 23 references.) (NAV)