Strong, incisive details provide energy and emotion in art--and also in writing.
Study the details in "Breaking Home Ties" by Norman Rockwell. A father and son sit on the running board of a battered old truck, probably near a rural railroad station. Dressed in his Sunday best, the son waits eagerly for the train that will carry him to college. The father has the face and hands of a man who has spent his life in the fields, exposed to the elements. He stares off into space, contemplating the passage of life. The family's collie rests its chin on the boy's knee. The boy holds lunch, carefully wrapped by his mother. The father holds two hats, one his own, and the other is a snappy new Stetson for his college-bound son. Every detail is important in this painting, down to the little bookmarks in the boy's stack of textbooks, revealing that, eager to continue his education, he has already begun reading.
(from Norman Rockwell Favorites)
