Writing Workshop - Learning About Point of View and your own Creativity
Choose an artpiece you really like. Sometimes something you know too well isn't the best choice because there is less opportunity for discovery. Below are some suggestions. Choose something that is full of something so that you can imagine different things!!!
Step One
We are going to write a story with three sections.
Section one: Write as a person within the painting. (If you chose an abstract painting or a still life, you can write as an object or a feeling or the paint!)
Section two: Now write as the artist.
Section three: Now finally write as you, the person writing a story, perceiving the art.
Step Two
Which voice do you like best? Which voice helped you learn new views on the outer world or yourself? Which was easier to work out?
Now consider the three sections as a whole. Can it make sense? Can you identify a theme or topic common to all?
Choose from what you have written what you would keep. But don't throw away the rest! It can be enlightening later on...
Cape Cod Morning (1950) by Edward Hopper
People in the Sun (1960) by Edward Hopper
Migrant Mother (1936) by Dorothea Lang
Towards Los Angeles, California (1937), by Dorothea Lang
Sunday on the Porch (1935), by Ben Shahn
Girl at Gees Bend (1937), by Arthur Rothstein
The Starry Night (1889), by Vincent Van Gogh
The Sleeping Gypsy (1897), by Henri Rousseau.
Nebuchadnezzar (1795) by Blake (1757-1827)
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1895-6) by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
The Park (1910), by Gustav Klimt
More...
Read an article by Amy Newman on a similar exercise for a poetry workshop. I actually used it to work out this version I did for you.