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Monday, October 24, 2016

"The Blank Canvas" by Alana F


     They were young, a completely blank canvas, and wow did they look forward to the
future. The young canvas loved looking at their parents and all of their parents’ friends and
seeing what beautiful works of art they were. Their dreams consisted almost entirely of
imagining what kind of unique painting they would become. Multitudes of ideas drifted across
their pure blank space. Castles in the sky washed over by brainstorms of microcosmic miracles
and colorful creations that poured from their unfiltered enthusiasm. Eventually, the canvas grew
older, and they were sent to school. Bubbling over with excitement, the canvas eagerly attended
school, wondering when they would learn to become beautiful works of art too, but their first few
years passed, and they were still blank. Then the third grade hit, and canvas pranced in,
imagination in tow. Finally, they would learn to paint. When they reached over, grabbing
brushfuls of a rainbow, a streak of red flashed violently across the canvas, blaring and harsh
against the stark white background. Looking up, the canvas saw their teacher, glaring daggers
and holding a red paint saturated brush. Shocked, the canvas stuttered out a weak “why?”
“You didn't follow my instructions,” said the teacher monotonously. The canvas was
stunned, mortified, and confused, but they didn't step out of line again. As the years passed, the
blank canvas was slowly filled up with angry splatters, awkward splashes, anxious stripes and
annoying specks.
They asked their parents why they had to let others paint them, when it wasn't others
blank space to fill, but the parents just replied with a dull “That's just how life is,” and another
smear of paint across the canvas’ diminishing ghostly pale complexion. By the time the canvas
was in mid-high school, all of the muddy colors that had been forced upon them bled together
and ran down the canvas, eventually turning them completely black. No longer did the canvas
dream bright colors and vibrant scenes, dark clouds and greyscale skies had taken their place.
Everyone worried about the canvas, and wondered why they had gone from so vibrant and
excited to so dull and unmotivated.
Eventually, everyone moved on, and canvas moved out. Once they had some time to
themselves, the canvas got angry. “Why should they be the ones to determine how I am. I’m the
one who has to live with it for the rest of my life?” So the canvas found some buckets of paint,
and slowly started to repaint themselves. The end result was perfect, much more beautiful than
before. Brilliant blue and shimmering silver seas gave way to vibrant violet flowers in gorgeous
gold and green fields, a purple sky, cotton candy clouds, and a rainbow in between. Despite the
shocked and slightly offended reactions of their peers, the canvas was never again anybody but
themselves. Sometimes, in the right light, the original image still shows through, but they quickly
find the thin spots in the second coat and cover them with love. The canvas resolved to never
let anybody paint their own expectations onto them again, because nobody deserves to be
forced to hide who they really are.

28 comments:

  1. This story is so descriptive and the imagery is so powerful. The extended metaphor used throughout was spot on and really gave a different perspective to a traditional style of writing. Your voice was so clear throughout the entire piece and the way the story of the canvas connected to the story of a child growing up worked well together. I think your piece was amazing!

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  2. From the beginning of your story I was curious how you would use a "blank canvas" in order to relate to a specific topic. The more I read, the more excited I would become by how you established the idea of growth through a different viewpoint. It's refreshing to see how someone is capable of writing about what one goes through in order to become and individual through such creative comparisons such as the blank canvases and paints. Great job on providing a scenario that someone like myself would of never thought I could relate to when going through life.

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  3. This is so amazing! Referring to the child as a canvas made your point clear and gave your message even more impact. I also admired the way you described the child as hopeful and exuberant, it contrasted with the way you described the teacher with a monotonous tone. This piece was awesome and powerful. Great job!

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  4. This is a great story. I liked how you used a blank canvas and paint to show how you shouldn't have to adapt to other people's ideal images of yourself. Also, you used imagery really well; it went along nicely with the topic of painting.

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  5. Alana, I really loved this piece because of the way that you were able to connect the canvas as a child. This idea of it being a blank canvas to develop and become a work of art allows your audience to see your message and how an individual should never sacrifice their personality in order to fit into our society, but instead be themselves.

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  6. This piece describes the effect school typically has on people very well, from coming in a kid with predilections and lessons set forth by their parents in early development, to having their imagination essentially killed by the sameness of schoolwork and requirements, and the (hopefully) eventual acceptance of oneself. You did a great job, and thank you for sharing!

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  7. This was truly a beautifully unique piece. I very much enjoyed the use of diction and how you told the story though the perspective of "canvases." The story was very intriguing and an accurate portrayal of society today. I really enjoyed reading this piece. Great job Alana!

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  8. This piece was really great. The message you give the reader is an endearing and nice one. The theme seen in this piece can as well be seen in everyday life and I think that's what makes it so good. Also, the creative thought put into it makes it great.

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  10. Your piece is so creative and has a universal theme of there being light at the end of a dark tunnel. I really enjoyed how the canvas was finally able to see that noone should leave a mark on him without his consent. You so imaginatively and uniquely were able to tell your readers a story of finding oneself through hardships. I feel that everyone faces really hard times in their life where they feel everyone is making decisions for us but ourselves and we have such hard times finding ourselves. However, your story taught an inspiring lesson of perseverance and strength that we can all use as well as reminding us that if life's hard, it's not the end yet! Beautiful!

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  11. This story was really imaginative and colorful with all the paintings the little canvas dreamed of. I think we can all connect with the canvas being painted into something it didn't want, which grabs the attention of the reader. The message that this story conveys is very inspiring, to not let anyone force you to be something you are not. Great job.

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  12. INCREDIBLE! I loved the universal symbolism throughout between blank canvases and a child. The truth is so bluntly present in the correlation of the two; also, the point of view coming from the canvas adds to the creativity as many people think of the work that will become but not of the material for its foundation. I loved the word flow and how well the diction of the canvas could relate to a persona.

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  14. This story was really amazing! I loved how it shows the effects of real life on children, but uses canvases and painting instead. This story is very imaginative and helps to show how the people do tend to let others define themselves. The message of this story is very clear and inspiring reminding others to be themselves and to not let others affect you. Really great job!!

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  15. Your story is amazingly creative and original! I love how you used a blank canvas to represent how children especially are effected by the guidelines and rules of society, and how it can lead to a loss of innocence for those people. I thought your story helped convey that people need to define themselves and take charge for their own lives, paint their own canvas if you will. The message of this story is conveyed in such a creative way that I find to be truly inspiring and imaginative!

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  16. I really enjoyed this piece and the way you conveyed the blank canvas with society! At a young age you don't realize something since innocence is the main feature of you. The image I got out of this was that you should be your own person and not let others affect you in anyway possible. Good job on this piece !

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  17. I loved the imagery in this story and the metaphors. It was so creative. The way you represented society as a black canvas was amazing.

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  18. I really loved your story and how colorful and creative it was. I took the blank canvas as a representation of a person and how at first a human goes to school and as they are in high school and getting ready to chose a career that they will commit to for the rest of their lives, everyone starts to implement ideas and start to tell them what to do and who to be. I saw the blank canvas in the end finally take control of its painting. Just like us teenagers feel that our parents are the ones who control us but when it comes to our careers we have to do what is best for us.

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  19. This is a beautiful story, I think it's essential that we as people don't accept the identities that others may force on us due to their own predilections. I can personally relate to this as it wasn't until I entered high school that I became more assertive and protective of my own identity to make sure that no one would force me to do things their way.

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  20. Your use of elevated language captivated me. You wrote with such eloquence that I felt as if I was reading an excerpt from a distinguished novel. I think your extended metaphor where you compare an individual to a canvas really defines this piece. It allowed you to use an abundance of detail, specifically appealing to the sense of sight. Overall, I believe this is the most well written and unique blog post I have read.

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  21. The feeling of being put down and underestimated was beautifully portrayed in your story. It follows the story of the canvas growing up, being told what to do. The canvas is being "coated" with the social norms and I think the canvas feels blinded and confused as to what is wrong or what is right. And so, because it is so confused, it starts to creates its own path and break away from the social norms, so that it can live a more peaceful and successful life.

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  22. I think the metahpor used, comparing the individual in society to a blank canvas helps to get the main point of this passage across. I believe overall you had a great message with truth behind it and it was well-written. Good work

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  23. I think the metahpor used, comparing the individual in society to a blank canvas helps to get the main point of this passage across. I believe overall you had a great message with truth behind it and it was well-written. Good work

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  24. This was a really cool story! Loved how you describe children and people as canvases, that their character and personality shape the painting they make. I think it was really interesting how the seemingly mechanical nature of school turns the canvases black, voiding the students of personality. I especially love how making a conscious decision to be yourself makes the beautiful painting and not simply accepting things as they come. I really loved this story.

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  25. I liked all the color imagery. I wasn't really sure where this was going when I first started reading it, but I enjoyed the ending. I liked that you also mentioned that sometimes underneath the second painting you can see the original colors. It shows us that sometimes we still act based on the expectations other people set for us, but in the end we're still the people we want to be.

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  26. i enjoyed how you delve so strongly into your metaphors and conveyed a very inspiring universal message that there is a light at the end of a dark road. I believe that your vocabulary usage was exquisite and this made me feel that much more interested.

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  27. This story had a great foil between the teacher and child. We see this young kid who is innocent and hopeful, but then the teacher is more serious and kind of restricting. I liked the the imagery used with the canvas and think you did a great job of it in the story.

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  28. This story is something I relate to so deeply. All my life, I have been trapped into a bubble and trying to hide who I am as a person because my parents forced me to be somebody I was not. When i was younger I dreamed about princesses and castles and all things fairytale when i truly never got my happy ending.

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