Picture this

Picture This Mary Ann Reilly

Molly Bang began with the question:
“ How does the structure of a picture affect our emotional response?"

In the Foreword to Rudolf Arnheim writes that Bang's "special talent derives from her natural response to what comes alive when one is open to the elements of vision, the disks and the rectangles, the reds and the blacks. Far from being mere shapes, they transmit joy and fear, awe and gentleness. . . These simple shapes, animated by Molly Bang, do more than tell a story: they offer an order, a kind of grammar for the eyes, a recipe for yet further things to say. Therefore, they also teach" (x).

These are 10 (though by no means all) of Bang's insights (all are direct quotations from Bang):
1. Smooth, flat, horizontal shapes give us a sense of stability and calm. See Bang, pp. 42-43.
2. Vertical shapes are more exciting and more active. Vertical shapes rebel against the earth's gravity. They imply energy and a reaching toward heights or the heavens. See Bang, pp. 44-46.
3. Diagonal shapes are dynamic because they imply motion or tension. See Bang, pp. 46-54.

4. The upper half of a picture is a place of freedom, happiness and triumph; objects placed in the top half often feel more "spiritual." The bottom half of a picture feels more threatened, heavier, sadder, or more constrained; objects placed in the bottom half also feel more "grounded." An object placed higher up on the page has "greater pictorial weight." See Bang, pp. 54-62.
5. The center of the page is the most effective "center of attention." It is the point of greatest attraction. The edges and corners of the picture are the edges and corners of the picture world.
6. Light backgrounds feel safer to us than dark backgrounds because we can see well during the day and only poorly at night. See Bang, pp. 68-69.

7. We feel more scared looking at pointed shapes; we feel more secure or comforted looking at rounded shapes or curves. See Bang, pp. 70-71.
8. The larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it feels. See Bang, pp. 72-76.
9. We associate the same or similar colors much more strongly than we associate the same or similar shapes. See Bang, pp. 76-80.
10. We notice contrasts; contrast enables us to see. See Bang, p. 80.

Engagement
Create a picture in which you combine in some fashion up to but no more than four colors (including background) and distinctive shapes in order to illustrate some aspect of Bang's principles.
You might use a particular moment from a poem, fairy tale, a nursery rhyme, or some other well-known story as the inspiration for your picture.
You might even re-illustrate a scene from an illustrated work we've read or provide an illustration for a moment not depicted in the illustrated work.
Strong emotions are easier to depict than weak ones. Don't be too realistic: follow the abstract style of Bang's depiction of "Little Red Riding Hood" (where she relies on a red triangle to characterize and represent the heroine). Use construction paper -- experiment with different sizes, shapes, colors and arrangement. Tape it together.
Write a brief explanation of what you did and why.

Sleeping Beauty by Shannon Winter

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Picture this

by Mary Ann Reilly / Blueprints for Learning, Inc. on Feb 03, 2012

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