PICTURE BOOKS - Picture This: How Pictures Work

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bang, Molly. 2000. PICTURE THIS – HOW PICTURES WORK. San Francisco: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587170302

PLOT SUMMARY
The book is a nonfiction work dealing with visual techniques in picture making. In the book’s preface, Bang offers a simple introduction to her cut paper medium which involves creating pictures out of simple shapes cut from four colors of construction paper. The author traces the origins of her project from its early stages of working with third graders all the way through to consulting an expert on the psychology of art. The book goes on to visually show the basic artistic principles that are the foundation of Bang’s work concerning the emotion behind pictures. By utilizing the classic children’s story, Little Red Riding Hood, Bang walks the viewer through the principles. She shows how manipulating such aspects as size, shape, color, and orientation can dramatically change the overall effect of a picture. The book concludes with a step-by-step analysis of ten distinct principles and a guide for personally exercising the principles presented.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Art elicits emotion. We know this to be true even if we are unsure why. What Bang accomplishes in this engaging work is remarkable. She defines and illustrates a set of principles that underlie the emotion in art, providing a straightforward yet rich understanding of the viewing experience.

By pinning her principles to the story of Little Red Riding Hood, Bang ensures a common framework for her readers. The familiarity of the story lends itself to the visual manipulation of a particular scene in which the wolf is pursuing the girl. Since the scene is a “known quantity”, it is understood that the emotion conveyed should be dark, frightening, and foreboding. Bang systematically builds the scene, exploring a set of visual principles along the way. With each new addition to the picture, she shows how varying the element can either contribute to the effectiveness or completely change the mood created by the picture. For example, in one panel, the shape of the wolf’s eye is changed from a sharp, slender diamond to a chunky, equilateral triangle. Suddenly, before the viewer’s eyes, the wolf is transformed from a lurking and evil predator into a complacent, even foolish looking figure.

Eventually, the book breaks away from the Little Red Riding Hood connection. A more in-depth look at the principles is provided through the use of various other illustrations. Bang’s further analysis of the ten self-identified principles gives even more insight into the art-emotion relationship. Her offering of activities to exercise the principles provides the ability to put the learned concepts into practice.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
* HORN BOOK REVIEW: “Using the familiar story of "Little Red Riding Hood" as a touchstone, Bang translates characters and situations into abstract shapes, exploring the range of emotions that can be elicited by the interplay of shapes, sizes, and colors on a page.”
* SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “A familiar story is the vehicle for Bang's unique approach to explaining composition using unadorned shapes and carefully chosen colors. A challenging blend of psychology and form, just right for adolescents.”

CONNECTIONS
* After exploring the visual principles of pictures with students, have the students illustrate a scene from their favorite fairy tale using the cut paper technique.
* Bang explains her color choices in this book. Continue to explore colors with students, discussing feelings that they evoke and meanings attached to colors. Have students create their own four color palette, explaining their choices and connections.
*Other books related to illustration in children’s picture books:
1) Styles, Moraq & Arizpe, Evelyn. CHILDREN READING PICTURES: INTERPRETING VISUAL TEXTS. ISBN 0415275776
2) Shulevitz, Uri. WRITING WITH PICTURES: HOW TO WRITE AND ILLUSTRATE CHILDREN’S BOOKS. ISBN 0823059359
3) Nodelman, Perry. WORDS ABOUT PICTURES: THE NARRATIVE ART OF CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS. ISBN 0820312711