The Art of Describing a
point
A picture paints a thousand words. That is true. But that very quality also
reveals the problem with pictures. Pictures are very rich in information, Just
compare the average text file on a computer with the average picture file. Then
you will know what I mean. They blast you with information. That very wealth of
pictures is a problem. As I said earlier their depth is infinite. That depth
affects everyone, but it is those who understand the depth and wealth of images
that can use it to good effect. Therefore a description which directs the
person’s mind in some way complements a picture or an image; it focuses the
mind on those aspects of the picture that are directly relevant to the author’s
argument.
A word can conjure up a thousand pictures. Words can
paint pictures, which have no other way of being properly represented. Words
can add dimensions far beyond the visible three or four.
The principle of it is rather beautifully put by the Chinese artist Tung Chi’i Chang: “Painting” he wrote in the early 17th Century, “is no equal to Mountains and water for the wonder of scenery, but mountains and water are no equal to painting for the sheer marvels of brush and ink”[1]