For this year's A-Z Challenge I have selected a word from the dictionary for each day and written a story around it with a 100 word limit. For extra interest I have chosen words that are unknown or unfamiliar to me. All definitions are from the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus 2007 Edition. Today's word is Grisaille.
Grisaille: A method of painting using only various shades of grey.
This
was going to be the painting to make his name. He could feel electricity
coursing through his fingers. They said the grisaille style was boring. Well,
now shades of grey were where it was at. Fifty of them, to be precise.
His
depictions of the book’s characters in various erotic couplings were going to
sell like hotcakes. And he could use more than fifty shades. Seventy, a
hundred.
He
went over a line to make it darker. A new shade. Black. No! He threw the canvas
to the floor.
There
was no room for black or white in grisaille.
Thanks for teaching me a new word and sharing a great story.
ReplyDeleteScribbles From Jenn - Visiting from the A to Z Challenge
Cool idea to write a story around a new word. Like it!
ReplyDeleteA great word - new to me as well. Great story loved the punchline
ReplyDeletePriceless!!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteAh, brilliant. Never knew there was a word for shades of grey though - gotta love the English language!
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep
What a great way to stretch your writing. I will probably always remember the word 'grisaille' now. :O)
ReplyDeleteI have this painter friend that does a lot of grayscale portraits. Never realized there was a word for that particular art style until now. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a new one for me--now, how do you pronounce it???
ReplyDeleteAnother new word on me :) Great story - 50 shades ::g::
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Grisaille sounds like a beautiful foreign girl's name:) I actually love the color gray! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love it and I learned a new word.
ReplyDeleteI felt bad for the artist, trashing his work. I hope he has success in the end.
ReplyDeleteIt's great learning all these new words.
I took 5 fine art courses in college and don't remember hearing about this g-word. I like the humor and it reminds me of a joke my husband made last night: "Hey, I know what you need to write for a sure-fire bestseller: Fifty Shades of Grey's Anatomy!"
ReplyDeleteHahaha. These stories are awesome.
ReplyDeleteHa! Fantastic. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother new word for me too. This one was funny LOL. Poor guy.
ReplyDeleteThat is a new word for me. The story was frenetic with the artist's passion. Almost like a mad scientist. Great job.
ReplyDeleteLove this story. The artist's frustration with getting it right.
ReplyDeleteAwesome story! I liked the little reference to 50 Shades.
ReplyDeleteOne shade too dark.
ReplyDeleteI guess that would be like pencil drawings.
I loved how you wrote this, incorporating something recent with 50 shades of grey into your story. Too bad he had trouble with it though when black decided to show up.
ReplyDeletebetty
Hi Nick - great thought - bet it would sell like hotcakes - going to try?! You could publish a book of them ...
ReplyDeleteJust don't use the New Black .. cheers Hilary
His work sounds a whole lot of fun! Or not! Another word for me to add to my internal dictionary.
ReplyDeleteGreat job. In the end, you caught his anger in a few words.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Humorous and dramatic at the same time. Nice job.
ReplyDeletehttp://mpaxauthor.com/mpaxworks-books-and-stories/the-renaissance-of-hetty-locklear/
You came up with a great way to integrate grisaille into a story,
ReplyDeleteDo you think if they'd called that first novel simply 'Grisaille' it would have been such a hit?
ReplyDeleteAnother great little story.
"Fifty of them." Nicely done, Nick. Nicely done :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on the word, Nick. Well done! :)
ReplyDeleteWeird, I read another blog today that said Grisaille was another word the rich used for garage sales.
ReplyDeleteI prefer yours. LOL
Good story too.
Bushman
2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
@jwb81074
50 shades... Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteHAHA!! Fifty shades of grey!! I love it...
ReplyDeleteThe scary thing is... who would even *want* to paint in only grey!!
Great idea for A-Z.
ReplyDeleteLiked your story - and learned something too!
I liked your little twist at the end. Rather than having people think in terms of black and white w/o shades of gray (as young kids usually do), it's nothing but shades of gray and it's the extremes that are unacceptable.
Nice. I like the final line. And the using more than fifty shades--clever!
ReplyDelete