Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang (2016)

, 8 Sept 2022

Some images simply work, they feel right to us. We don't consciously know what makes images work because many times, when we look at an image, we attribute value to what we like. However, an image works or doesn't regardless whether we like it or not. So, which elements or principles make an image work?

This is the premise for Picture This. Molly Bang asked herself this question 25 years ago, dived into the world of imagery and then came up with a series of principles that make any image work and give it more or less expression and emotional content.

 
BASIC PRINCIPLES SUMMARY
These are basic staple principles that Bang lists and are grounded in our instinctive positive or negative responses to the world. The concepts are always used in combination and within a given context.
> Smooth, flat, horizontal shapes give us a sense of stability and calm.
> Vertical shapes are more exciting and active. Vertical shapes rebel against the Earth's gravity. They imply energy and a reaching.
>  Diagonal shapes are dynamic because they imply motion or tension.
>  The upper half of a picture is a place of freedom, happiness and power; objects placed in the top half also often feel more spiritual. The bottom half of a picture feels more threatened, heavier, sadder or constrained. Objects placed in the bottom half also feel more grounded.
>  The center of the page is the point of greatest attraction.
>  The edges and corners of a the picture are the edges and corners of the picture-world.
>  White or light backgrounds feel safer to us than dark backgrounds because we can see well during the day and only poorly at night.
>  We feel more scared looking at pointed shapes and more secure or comforted looking at rounded shapes or curves.
>  The larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it feels.
> We associate the same or similar colours much more strongly than we associate the same or similar shapes.
> Regularity and irregularity—and their combinations—are powerful.
> We notice contrasts as contrast enables us to see.
> The movement and import of the picture is determined as much by the spaces between the shapes as by the shapes themselves.
I LOVED
> The book  feels fresh despite this being the 25th anniversary of the first edition.
> The book is short and sweet and gives artists some tools to consciously create images and scenes that work. Some of these rules might sound simplistic, but most of us would not come up with this conclusions when looking at any sort of artistic imagery. //
>  Bang explains everything in simple language and using minimal imagery that shows, without a doubt,  how and why images work.  
> The initial chapter "Building Emotional content of Pictures" in which Bang uses simple shapes, basic colours and an exploratory approach to build an image for Red Riding Hood. as she verbalizes her art process. I also loved the example she gives at the end of the book, with imagery from her illustration book When Sophie Gets Angry—Very, Very Angry, exploring her depiction of the arch of feelings in the book.
> The  exercises mentioned at the end of the book. Even if I haven't done them yet, because the advice given is sound when creating an effective picture. One of my takes from this section is also the fact that, sometimes, we tend to focus on the details in a picture, but the question is, are the details necessary and contribute to enhance the feeling or message or emotional impact of the picture, or a distraction? 
 
 
DOWNSIDES
> The epigraphs font size is too big and there is no gradation in sizing when there are sub-epigraphs or big sections. That's an edition problem that can be easily fixed in the Kindle edition.
>  Bang mentions that the principles are a work in progress. Since these principles were explored and listed 25 years ago, I would have loved Bang mentioning if any others can be added . 
 > I would have loved having some famous paintings being analyzed following each of the principles listed, so that we could see them working in action. This would have rounded the book beautifully and it is easy to do digitally. 

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The Adjacent Possible: Evolve Your Art. from Blank Canvas to Prolific Artist by Nancy Hillis (2021)

, 1 Sept 2022

Hilli's book is both a source of inspiration and a constant frustration to read.  This could have been a great book if anyone had bothered to edit the book for content. It has great advice and concepts, but it is too wordy and repetitive and feels amateurish.
 
MAIN CONCEPTS
> Zero to One, there is more distance or space between zero and one, than from one to two, two to three. In art, this means that the most difficult thing to do is starting anything. That is why a blank canvas can be terrifying and we postpone or delay working on it.
> The adjacent possible shows that any option that we make, whether in life or art, leads to something else that was unpredictable or unknown. It is something like the butterfly effect. So a new mark or line in a canvas might create, for example, a shape that inspires us to create something else that we hadn't thought about. For that to happen, the artist has to be ready for the unknown, dive into the unknown, allow the unknown to materialize by opening to it, and leave the predictable, the rules and the comfortable behind.
> Exploration and experimentation are at the core of creativity, and are the basis to progress, grown and evolve as an artist as complacency gets artists stagnant.
> Ugly art is necessary and teaches us invaluable lessons. We need to get comfortable with our ugly stuff and see that as a stepping stone for improvement and growth.

THINGS THAT I REALLY LIKED
Beyond the concepts mentioned above I liked some of the points that the author made. Here some of them:
> Not being a known artist is actually a blessing, as this allows to create good art. However, even professional artists benefit for the approach of obscurity: What would you create if you were invisible? How would you sing if no one were watching? What if you were unself-conscious in your art making? What risks would you take if the outcome didn’t matter?
> It is never pleasant when someone is critical of your art. The worst part: however, is when a part of you agrees with the criticism.(p. 60).
> Advice on how to keep track of our art.
> The questions to make a self-assessment of our art.
> The technique trap: No amount of technique will move you closer to expressing your deepest art. Technique is painting from the outside in, rather than the inside out" (p. 148).
> Learning that Joseph Campbell wasn't the father of the concept of the hero's journey.but Edward Burnett Tylor.
> The fact that luck is related to two habits: changing up daily routines and avoiding over-scheduling.  
> I thought that the best chapters in the book, due to their content, structure and clarity, are:   
-- 12 Three tips for artists (keep a journal, just start, and work in a series).
-- 13 Three massive mistakes even the pros make (painting paralysis, the tyranny of technique, and empty virtuosity).
-- 14 Four traps artists face where old beliefs are replaced with new ones ( the critique trap,
the imposter trap, the judgement trap, and the technique trap).
-- 15 Three invisible paradoxes ( the refusal, the perils, and he dark night of the soul).
Finally, I also liked the recaps at the end of some chapters, some of the simple exercises advised and the fact that any major point discussed in the book has a real life story attached to it. 
 
NOT SO GOOD

This is a self-published book and, unfortunately, shows terribly. The book lacks a good structure, lack of cohesiveness in structure to be precise, as repeats the same ideas na concepts over and over, ad nauseam. One  gets exhausted after the same ideas are repeated ad nauseam for nearly 200 pages.

Some of the more scientific concepts are unnecessary discussed in scientific jargon when in fact the simple explanation given at the beginning is sufficient. I thought that the description of what the hero's journey is was too long. Also, Hillis has a tendency to divert from the discourse at hand to then go back to it. 

For the rest, the book seems addressed to professional or established artists not as much to beginner artists.
 
 
 
KINDLE EDITION

The Kindle edition is well edited  except for some minor typos. Some of the ones I've noticed:
-- p. 78 short dashes should be replaced with long ones.
-- p. 155 there is the 3rd item of a list, mistake number 3, but is mistakenly labelled as mistake #1 .
-- p. 215, an hyphen is used instead of a long dash.

IN SHORT
The core of the book is as follows: start something even though that's the most difficult part. Experiment, be fearless, accept your mistakes and learn from them. Do art that reflects who you are not what other people want to see. Keep open to experimentation and the unknown as these are the keys to artistic growth. Technique serves art and it is not art per se.

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