The ekphrasis should be at least two paragraphs long. The first paragraph should give basic information about the work of art; such as the subject matter, material, size, technique and the artist. The second paragraph is where the creativity begins. Use this paragraph to describe the iconography, composition, emotion, ideas or even to come up with a story that the object evokes. The goal of an ekphrasis is to describe an art object as vividly as possible so that the reader canactually visualize the piece without even seeing it.

 

This is what my ekphrasis looks like:

As I walked through the museum, a painting of a young girl caught my eye.  It was made with oil paint and was created by a French artist in the eighteenth century.  The painting is in the Rococo style popular at the time.

The young girl sits quietly reading a book.  She seems so delicate with her extended pinky and gentle features.  The viewer is only privy to part of the scene, since the young model is in profile.  The atmosphere is comfortable with a cushy, oversized pillow positioned in front of a wall next to a wooden rail.  The young girl reclines against this pillow, while she concentrates on the contents of her book. 

The artist has made the girl come to life with her period garment. She wears a yellow dress with a purple and pink ruffle placed at her bust; the ruffle is the same color as the ribbon in her upswept hair.  The girl wears a traditional ruff around her neck that highlights and directs the viewer’s attention to the young girl’s face, and what a beautiful face it is!  Her features are soft and smooth and her cheeks are flushed.  What might she be thinking?  Why is she blushing? Might it be the material within the pages that gives rise to this blush?  The questions linger, yet remain unanswered.