Edgar Degas’ painting L’absinthe shows a French couple abusing the alcoholic beverage absinthe. The over consumption of pure absinthe can cause dramatic hallucinations. Degas is able to capture the subject’s detachment from reality caused by absinthe in his painting style. Degas used harsh brush strokes to depict the harsh realities that people who abused absinthe faced. The man on the right side of the painting is shown in a pale, almost sickly color, which represents the negative effects, that absinthe has on the human body. Similarly, the woman in the painting is shown with tired, drooping eyes and a look that suggests complete detachment from reality. The hallucinations caused by the misuse of absinthe are responsible for the disjointed look on the woman’s face. The lonely pair seems to come to the bar to escape loneliness. Degas painted the absinthe in the painting in a putrid, repulsive color. The shadows that the couple makes on the wall create a stark contrast with the white wallpaper. Degas sets the characters in the painting off center, with a huge foreground. Degas, as well as many of the impressionists drew inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints. The flatness seen in Degas’ painting comes directly from the woodblock prints.