1. SP 2020 . FA 111.01
Nathanial Aubin
Chapter 6, page 142
The Unswept Floor
Herakleitos
2nd century BCE
Mosaic
I Spy
Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
March 1, 2005
Picture book
2. Color
Both pieces have a lot of different colors in play almost exclusively on the various objects placed
on a white, or mostly white, background. The colors used in both are fairly similar, however the
color in the I Spy book is much more vibrant.
3. Shape
There are many different shapes in both pieces. Most objects are fairly distinct from each other,
but falling within a general theme. However, where The Unswept Floor feature mostly natural
shapes from plants and animals, I Spy seems to have more geometric ones, mainly owing to how
almost everything on the cover is some kind of toy or tool.
4. Space
There is a large amount of negative space in both pieces broken up by the many objects scattered around
with semi-even spacing. The Unswept Floor seems to have more negative space since there are fewer
objects to break it up than in I Spy.
5. Contrast
The background of both pieces are white, while the objects are multicolored, lending to a large amount of
contrast in both pieces. However the color and brightness of both the background and the objects are
much higher in the I Spy book, so much so that even from a distance the objects are fairly distinct. The
pattern and darker color of the mosaic tiles in The Unswept Floor makes the contrast weaker than it
otherwise could be.
6. Summary
The Unswept Floor and the I Spy book feature many different objects scattered across a relatively uniform
white background. The objects in the latter are much denser and more numerous than in the former, and
feature mostly man made objects, whereas the latter has more negative space and natural shapes.
Nevertheless both are fairly similar even though they were made more than 2000 years apart.
7. Works Cited
Rowe, Chip. “Jean Marzollo, Children's Book Author, Dies at Age 75.” The Highlands Current, 12 Apr.
2018, highlandscurrent.org/2018/04/10/jean-marzollo-childrens-book-author-dies-at-75/.
Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael W. Cothren. Art: A Brief History. 6th ed., Pearson, 2016.
“The Unswept Floor .” The Unswept Floor - The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia,
www.artandpopularculture.com/The_Unswept_Floor.
