Picture This: How Pictures Work

Picture This: How Pictures Work is a book by Molly Bang, an acclaimed illustrator, writer, and educator known for her unique approach to picture book design and her contributions to the field of visual literacy. Originally published in 1991 as Picture This: Perception & Composition, this nonfiction work explores the principles of picture composition and visual perception, demonstrating how the basic elements of a picture can evoke specific emotional responses in the viewer.

Picture This has become a seminal text in the field of visual communication. In the book, Bang uses simple, abstract shapes and colors to illustrate her insights into the emotional language of visual elements, guiding readers through a series of principles that govern the creation and interpretation of visual narratives. By distilling complex theories of psychology and perception into accessible and engaging examples, Picture This is a useful resource for anyone interested in the art and science of visual storytelling.

This study guide refers to the 2016 Chronicle Books e-book edition.

Summary

In the preface, Bang recounts her journey to understanding the principles governing the emotional impact of pictures. Through her experiments and teaching experiences, Bang realized that anyone can create emotionally charged compositions using a few clear principles. She validated her findings with the renowned psychologist Rudolf Arnheim, who praised her approach of using geometrical shapes as dynamic expressions of human behavior, stripping away the prettiness to reveal the stark sensations derived from pure looking. Bang concludes the Preface by stating that her book explores how the structure of a picture influences one’s emotional response.

In Chapter 1, Bang explores the intricate relationship between the elements of a picture and the emotional responses they elicit from the viewer. Using the story of Little Red Riding Hood as a case study, Bang demonstrates how the strategic use of color, shape, size, and placement can create a powerful emotional impact. She begins by representing the protagonist as a little red triangle, analyzing the associations evoked by its shape and color. Throughout the chapter, Bang experiments with depicting various characters and elements, such as the mother, the woods, and the wolf, to illustrate how their visual properties influence the viewer’s perception and emotional engagement. She emphasizes the importance of context, visual hierarchy, spatial relationships, and psychological associations when crafting emotionally resonant pictures. Bang also explores the roles of ambiguity, exaggeration, and contrast in creating a visceral and engaging experience for the viewer. By manipulating elements such as the tilt of tree trunks, the color of the wolf’s eye, and the background color, Bang showcases the power of strategic visual choices in shaping the emotional narrative of a picture. Ultimately, she argues that the effectiveness of pictures lies in their ability to tap into primal human experiences and emotions, making them an extension of the real world.

Bang presents a series of principles that govern the emotional impact of pictures in Chapter 2. She begins by discussing the influence of gravity on the perception of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal shapes, as well as their placement within the composition: Horizontal shapes seem more stable, whereas vertical shapes emphasize energy and growth, and diagonal shapes imply movement or tension. Bang then explores the emotional associations of different shapes, colors, and backgrounds. She emphasizes the importance of contrast and the interplay between regularity and irregularity, noting that, in nature, nothing is ever perfectly orderly or perfectly chaotic. Therefore, one extreme or the other can evoke a sense of threat and lifelessness in the viewer. She also delves into the significance of size, stating that larger objects are perceived as more powerful and smaller objects as more vulnerable. Bang highlights the influence of color on human perception, noting that people tend to associate objects of the same color more strongly than those of the same shape. She also explores the concepts of depth, space, and time within pictures, explaining how the arrangement of objects and the spaces between them can create a sense of movement, tension, and emotional resonance. Throughout the chapter, Bang stresses the importance of understanding these principles to create pictures that not only convey a visual narrative but also evoke an emotional response in the viewer.

In the third chapter, Bang discusses the process of creating illustrations for her 1999 children’s book, When Sophie Gets Angry—Very, Very Angry…, which follows a young girl named Sophie as she navigates overwhelming anger. Bang emphasizes the importance of deciding on the emotion in every picture before beginning the illustration process and using various elements such as composition, colors, outlines, and symbolism to convey specific emotions and guide the reader through the character’s emotional arc. She explains how she depicts Sophie’s fury as a large, red silhouette behind her normal self; her sadness through darker colors and sympathetic bending trees and ferns; her expectancy as she stands at the base of a large beech tree urging her toward a new emotional space; and finally, her contentment as she sits nestled in the tree’s protective branches, representing her newfound inner steadiness. Throughout the chapter, Bang highlights how she uses the book’s gutter (the place where the pages meet in the book’s spine) to evoke specific feelings, outlines to infuse energy and relate objects, and composition and symbolism to create a powerful visual narrative that complements the written story of Sophie’s transformation.

Bang then briefly reflects on a cherished illustration from her book Dawn (1983), an adaptation of the Japanese folktale “The Crane Wife.” Although Bang created this image before fully understanding the principles she outlines in Picture This, it remains one of her favorites. She invites readers to consider how the book’s principles are applied in the illustration and how it makes them feel. She also emphasizes that artists must ultimately rely on their own instincts when crafting their work.

In the final chapter, Bang emphasizes the effectiveness of using cut paper to explore picture structure, explaining that it is an inexpensive, familiar, and non-threatening medium that encourages experimentation and focuses on the essential aspects of composition. She provides an exercise in which readers create an image of birds or sharks attacking a victim, offering guidelines and key questions to consider. Bang also addresses the topic of revision, cautioning against adding distracting details and encouraging readers to assess whether each element enhances or detracts from the picture’s emotional impact. Finally, she proposes additional exercises to practice the principles discussed in the book, reiterating that cut paper encourages concentration on an illustration’s basic structure and emotional impact. As she concludes the book, she invites readers to embark on their own creative journeys.