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Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang (2016)
, 8 Sept 2022
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.
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> 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?
> 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?
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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.
> 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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