A Brief Overview of Brushstrokes (Image Grammar)

The dog walked across the lawn. Core Sentence: The dog walked across the lawn.

#1 Painting with Absolutes Simple Definition: a noun + an “-ing” verb Example: “Ears drooping” New Sentence: Ears drooping, the dog walked across the lawn.

#2 Painting with Appositives Simple Definition: a noun that renames the noun before it (use an article-the,an,a- to be sure it is an appositive) Example: “a mixed Lab and Collie” New Sentence: The dog, a mixed Lab and Collie, walked across the lawn.

# 3 Painting with Participles Simple Definition: “-ing” or “-ed” form of a verb Example: “Foaming at the mouth” New Sentence: Foaming at the mouth, the dog, a mixed Lab and Collie, walked across the lawn.

# 4 Painting with Prepositions Simple Definition: a phrase with an introductory “direction, time, space” word Example: “with her puppies” New Sentence: The dog, a mixed Lab and Collie, walked with her puppies across the lawn.

# 5 Painting with Adjectives out of Order Simple Definition: placing adjectives somewhere other than before the noun Example: “parched and hungry” New Sentence: The dog, parched and hungry, walked with her puppies across the lawn.

# 6 Painting with Action Verbs Simple Definition: Use strong action verbs whenever possible Example: “limped” New Sentence: Ears drooping, the dog, parched and hungry, limped with her puppies across the lawn.