Writing with a Painter’s Eye

by Amy Shultz

Paint. That's the magic word. Paint pictures with words. That's the greatest advice I can give anybody. Paint the pictures with words. The picture will appear in the imagination so the person reading it can say, ‘I can see that.’
– Brian Jacques

In his book, Image Grammar, Harry Noden makes a comparison of art to writing when he asserts that in good writing images are “painted” with grammar. He maintains that while ineffective writing is composed of vague impressions, strong writing is full of specific details. Noden endorses the concept of “show, don’t tell” in which writers engage readers’ senses and imaginations through the use of vivid language, rather than simply telling the reader what the writer wants them to know. “For student writers, learning to show is central in their journey toward powerful prose. Showing engages the reader’s mind as a catalyst for visualization. Telling lulls the reader to sleep” (p. 3).

Just as art requires the purposeful use of techniques to construct images, so writing requires the ability to select words and apply sentence structures to create the intended impression in the reader’s mind. Noden suggests that teachers define and model five basic “brushstrokes” to teach the art of image grammar:

Painting with Participles
For ease of instruction, a participle may be taught as an - ing or - ed verb tagged on the beginning or end of a sentence, with the purpose of suggesting action. Ex. “Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.” For a slower pace, students may want to add participial phrases such as, “Hissing their forked red tongues and coiling their cold bodies, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey” (p. 4).

Painting with Absolutes
Noden teaches that an absolute is, “a two-word combination – a noun and an -ing or -ed verb added onto a sentence.” His example shows how absolutes add to the action, “Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the tree” (p. 5). Also effective are absolute phrases, “Feet trembling on the snow-covered rocks, the mountain climber edged along the cliff” (p. 6).

Painting with Appositives
An appositive can be defined as, “a noun that adds a second image to a preceding noun” (p. 7). Noden shares this model: “The raccoon, a scavenger, enjoys eating turtle eggs.” He also gives his reader an example of a more descriptive appositive phrase, “The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake shorelines in search of food, enjoys eating turtle eggs” (p. 8).

Painting with Adjectives Shifted Out of Order
Instead of a list of three adjectives, Noden suggests leaving one adjective in its original place and shifting the other two after the noun. Specific details of the moose are intensified in Noden’s sentence, “The large bull moose, red-eyed and angry, charged the intruder” (p. 9).

Painting with Action Verbs
Replacing being verbs with action verbs is another writer’s tool that helps to show, instead of tell. Noden illustrates this technique with these sentences:
Being Verb: The gravel road was on the left side of the barn.
Action Verb: The gravel road curled around the left side of the barn.

After students are taught the basic brushstrokes, Noden recommends that they search for these and other images in the writing of their favorite authors. Students construct an “image palette” by classifying found images into different categories: mood, movement, character description, traditional parts of speech, etc. This palette then serves as a resource for their writing projects.

In his book, Noden explores many strategies to apply image grammar:

• Compare images from films of best-selling novels to text excerpts, identifying brushstrokes.
• Give students a scrambled list of words from a poem by a well-known author from which to create their own original poems.
• Create a “writer’s gallery” by posting writing samples around the room. Students move in groups to discuss any brushstrokes they discover.
• Practice copy editing. Students revise dull paragraphs using brushstrokes.
• “Paint” paragraphs from dramatic photos or artwork.

Many painters imitate the techniques of the masters; student writers can be taught to imitate the brushstrokes of outstanding authors. Through teaching these skills, teachers can train their students to see their work through an artist’s eye which can help them move toward a more rich and lively text, and ultimately, produce excellent writing.

References:

Noden, Harry.

Image Grammer. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999.

Amy Shultz

Amy Shultz, former fourth grade teacher, works as a facilitator for the Buddy Teaching and Learning Center. She also writes for The Write Connection newsletter and The Writing Site, under the Buddy System Project.

This featured article appeared in Volume 3, Number 1 issue of the Write Connections quarterly newsletter. View other archived newsletters , a topical organization of all newsletters, or sign-up to receive notification when the next newsletters are ready to download.