#object description

When I have other people read my writing, I notice a lot of them mention the use of adjectives to describe things in my writing.

Eg: -The auburn strands of hair dangling over her almond eyes

-The reddish cherrywood exterior of the rifle

-The tanned businessman

-The ever-present booms of far-away artillery

-Starkly lit in his gray longcoat

-The bare, desolate, grayed-out wasteland Loriendor had become

-wide-eyed tabby cat

-The clear, azure sky above

-The verdant floodplains that stretched across the horizon

Now, I typically do this because I don't want to dedicate the focus of the paragraph specifically to description, but I do want to put an image of how the scene looks to readers; I put a lot of value in helping readers visualize the scene, without going too into the weeds and details.

But I have also had people imply that I use this method too much, as in multiple times within a single paragraph or even sentence! I suppose that actually might become a bit overwhelming over time.....

So how do you guys describe things? Do you dedicate description paragraphs/sentences for certain important characters/things, while reserving adjective description for less important things? Some books I read do give detailed descriptions of certain things that they want to bring into focus. For example, Tricia Levenseller's books dedicate like a paragraph itself to describing the dress the character has worn.

Ready for another round of analyzing The Sims 2 art? Today it's time for descriptions full of lyrical puns. This is the fifth episode of aseries, where Reese analyze the pieces and descriptions from the game.

General Information

This is the fifth part of a video series by Reese, dedicated to analyzing works of art and their descriptions in The Sims 2. In this episode, special attention is given to lyrical puns and satire in the descriptions of art objects.

Main Topics of the Video

Introduction to the Concept

The author emphasizes that all The Sims games are filled with Easter eggs and fantastic details, especially in the buy catalog. The artworks in the game contain many satirical elements and cultural references.

Analysis of the First Artwork: "Handle and Spout"

Key Characteristics

Cost: 2,500 simoleons

Environment Score: 10

Description: A photorealistic teapot commissioned by four sponsors

In-Depth Content Analysis

Critique of Corporate Art: The piece satirizes how corporations commission art not for its artistic value, but as a marketing tool. The description clearly states that this photorealistic teapot was created to promote a new line of tea.

Children’s Song as a Pun Basis: The names of the four sponsors form the well-known children’s song "I’m a Little Teapot, Short and Stout." This turns the entire work into a witty corporate exploitation of nostalgia, where even a beloved children’s rhyme becomes branding material.

Cultural Penetration of Brands: The line “Hardly anyone can now look at a teapot any longer without thinking of these famous four” is a satirical take on how branding infiltrates culture. The author compares this to Nike owning the swoosh and McDonald’s the golden arches.

Photorealism as Critique: The use of a photorealistic style is intentional—this genre is often associated with technical virtuosity but sometimes criticized for lacking emotional depth, making it perfect for advertising art.

(My comment:

Also the "Handle and Spout" painting is a reference to the Utah teapot, a 3D test model so well-known it's become an in-joke within the field of computer graphics.)

Analysis of the Second Artwork: "Spherical Splendor"

Key Characteristics

Cost: 225 simoleons

Environment Score: 2

Description: Entirely composed of words starting with the letter "S"

Detailed Breakdown

Extreme Alliteration: Every word in the description begins with "S," creating such extreme alliteration that it becomes part of the joke. The description essentially says: “Look, I can sound smart while actually saying nothing.”

Parody of Poetry: The language parodies lyricism, rhymes, and poetry in general. Alliteration is a basic lyrical device used in both good and mediocre poetry.

Critique of Formalist Art Analysis: The description focuses entirely on form, composition, and stillness, sounding like something a modernist or abstract art critic would say about a painting more concerned with geometry than subject matter.

Relativity of Artistic Value: Visually, the piece depicts abstract spheres without especially dynamic composition or an interesting palette. The low environment score (just 2), combined with the pretentiously lyrical description, creates a contrast that highlights the relativity of artistic value.

References to Photography: Phrases like “suddenly stopped spinning” and “snapshot stillness” suggest frozen motion, echoing the concept of the “decisive moment” in photography.

Meta Detail: The phrase “some Sim seems suspiciously skilled” hints that such mastery is almost too good for a Sim, closing the loop considering the low artistic quality of the work.

Conclusion and Significance

The author emphasizes that both artworks are a perfect blend of satire, world-building, and the cheeky tone The Sims is known for. The creators of The Sims 2 show a deep understanding of contemporary art issues, including corporate sponsorship, the relativity of artistic value, and the influence of marketing on culture.

A city of immense spires rising into the sky, silverine length gleaming in daylight and blue crystal tips glowing at nighttime. Banners of blue and silver and gold threading billow above the blessed steel walls, showing the imagery of the ruling Edelrath family. 

The cobbled, paved streets are neat and well-ordered throughout the entire city. No litter, no squatters, and certainly no human waste. The main avenues are kept well-cleared by diligent guards in their blue raiments and well-polished steel, so making your way from the outermost gate through all the successive walls could almost be called a breeze, except for the busiest of times.

Sturdy, tall buildings of oak-framed concrete rise up on both sides as you make your way down Valador’s wide-open avenues. Their roofs are steeply pitched into the sky, and even the commoners’ houses present solidly-framed windows of good glass.

But it is when you go further inside the city and witness the homes of the wealthy and the noble, that true luxury, in Olvensterner terms, presents itself. Neatly trimmed rows of flowers line their clean, stark white-and-gray walls, and doorways become larger and more elaborate until finally, houses become mansions with yards, enclosed by firm steel themselves. There, the full opulence of the Olvensterner nobility is displayed; teeming gardens of vivid flowers and fresh produce, estates that soar over a dozen storeys into the sky, intricate geometric patterns and script etched all over their marble walls and stained glass windows, and a distinct air of power that wafts through the air.

Hi simmers! We're still in the game, and we're not done analysing The Sims 2 still lives. I've saved today's video for this special bad boy✨ Let's see if we're able to trancend!

Main Theme of the Video

YouTuber Reese continues their series analyzing works of art featured in The Sims 2, this time focusing on a painting titled “Transcendence” by artist Joan Schnitzel. The video presents a deep cultural and philosophical analysis of this virtual artwork.

Description of the Artwork

The painting “Transcendence” is available in the game for §800 and belongs to the still-life genre. The in-game description mentions the “subtle dynamism” of the work from artist Joan Schnitzel’s retro-moderne period. It dramatically describes the fruits: the pear “suffers from gravity,” and the grapes carry “piercing sorrow”. The artwork provides +6 environment points to a Sim’s home.

Ironic Elements and Parody

Reese points out several ironic contradictions in the description:

Linguistic Paradoxes – The phrase “subtle dynamism” is inherently contradictory, since a still life is by definition static, even if its composition conveys visual energy. Another paradox is when the description claims “words fail me” immediately after a verbose and overly analytical sentence.

Parody of Art Criticism – Phrases such as “subtle dynamism” and “retro-moderne period” parody the jargon of art critics who use lofty terms to assign false depth to a work. This is a classic example of The Sims’ signature humor.

Cultural and Historical References

Still Life Tradition – Fruit still lifes have been a mainstay of European art for centuries, often filled with symbolism. The creators of The Sims exaggerate this tradition by imbuing each fruit with exaggerated emotional weight.

Conceptual Art – The reference to a “series of Garden Hose” nods to conceptual art, where any mundane object can be reframed as grand artistic commentary.

Philosophical Dimensions of “Transcendence”

Reese explores the philosophical meaning of transcendence in detail:

Philosophy – In philosophy, transcendence means going beyond the limits of human experience. Immanuel Kant used the term “transcendental” to describe the hidden conditions that make knowledge possible. Existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre saw transcendence as humanity’s perpetual striving beyond itself.

Theology – In theology, transcendence refers to the divine being beyond the material universe — infinite and unreachable.

Eastern Traditions – In Buddhism and Hinduism, transcendence is linked to liberation: escaping the ego and illusion toward enlightenment.

Literature – The title also evokes the Transcendentalist movement in American literature, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who believed truth could be reached through direct connection with nature and the self.

Art – In art, transcendence is the capture of something beyond the ordinary — an ultimate truth, emotional intensity, or spiritual reality.

Comedic Elements

Despite its lofty name, the artwork includes elements of dry humor. Chiefly, the artist’s name — Schnitzel — sounds like a made-up word one might invent on the spot to describe a still-life painter. Reese notes that while amusing, the name might not be quite creative enough to be genuinely funny.

Concluding Analysis

Reese concludes that this artwork’s description operates on several levels: it lends melodrama to the fruit, satirizes the pretentious tone of art criticism, and playfully nods to real artistic traditions. It exemplifies The Sims’ signature blend of wit and cultural commentary.

The general rule is that you should have enough description to tell the story you need to tell. 

On one hand, you have Tolkein-level descriptions, which are exceedingly flowery, and on the other hand you have writing by people like Hemingway, which was exceedingly stark. In both cases, the stories that were being told fit the way the descriptions were written. If you need a great deal of descriptions for your world to make sense, use a lot of descriptions. If you don’t, don’t. Form should follow function.

That being said, there are limits on each end. Most people aren’t particularly into reading descriptions as flowery as Tolkein’s (or, as my friend complained to me about, Beowolf, which begins with a multi-paragraph description of a lake that serves no purpose in the story).Once you get too flowery, the descriptions overwhelm everything, and the plot gets lost behind the words.

On the other end, you can end up with Hemingway or even further in that direction, where you have basically dialogue and a few stage directions. You may have ended up with Shakespeare, but people aren’t going to be able to envision your story because you haven’t given them anything to envision.

There are also different types of things to describe. Flowery language often ends up being focused on the setting, especially when a lot of it is set outdoors. People describe every leaf, tree, flower, blade of grass, and they use as many adjectives, adverbs, and unusual verbs as they can get their hands on. At the same time, you also need to describe actions that are taking place and, if the story is set in either first person, second person, or third-person subjective, the thoughts and feelings of the character(s) you’re following. 

So basically, make sure you describe enough that your reader can follow what’s going on without describing so much your story is buried in descriptions or your reader stops wanting to read the book.