I couldn't get the form to let me post with an image attachment, or insert an image link, so here's a normal link:
click for sunflower sketch
Sunflowers are the perfect subject for a reflection about perspectives and ideas: at first glance, they're a single flower. But then you look closer and discover that they're a whole collection of flowers. Not just that, but there are two types: the outer flowers (ray florets/the yellow "petals"), and the inner flowers (disc florets/the "eye" of the flower). Sunflowers are easily recognizable & quickly rendered in broad strokes, but are The Nightmare Subject when rendered with more detail and realism. Each little dot on the eye is a flower with five little petals or a seed. The seeds (depending upon the variety of sunflower) are often covered in delicate, contoured stripes & are held in place by elegantly curved forms. And everything is arranged just so across a slightly domed form that, in many varieties, is both convex and concave--there's nothing simple anywhere. Even the ray florets, which are seemingly big blobs of yellow, are made from five fused petals that curl neatly around the stigma & style. This results in a mix of deep and shallow ridges, and irregular, multi-pointed tips, all on a gentle curve. Because, of course the ray florets do that. They're part of a sunflower--nothing with sunflowers is easy.
Then you add in lighting, and, ta-da, The Nightmare Subject is born.
That's rather like perspectives, isn't it? At first glimpse, it's easy to think we understand what we see: it's a sunflower. Problem solved, no need to examine any further, this is a known quantity & we know how we feel about it already. The familiar colors and shapes make it easy to tune out details, forget the part that lighting plays, and all around not observe what makes
this sunflower unique.
When you think you know what you're looking at, it's easy to see and react instead of observe & listen.
And, just like perspectives--well, it's a pain to explain them, isn't it? All the nuance is hard to capture with words, and even if we think we pinned things down, words are slippery. What connotations and experience is your reader bringing to their understanding? Will they read the whole thing instead of skimming (this
is pretty long...)? Is it even worth trying to get your thoughts across clearly, or should we just draw loose lines and scribble in the center like I did? I mean, you know what I'm drawing, right? I don't need to get out my paints and do a good job of it. That's a sunflower. Problem solved.
Or, in the case of misunderstandings that result in conflict or pain, problem created.
