The exercise was to study an image and practice analysing the colours and hierarchy in the image and to answer the following questions:
- What the image is about. What is it saying?
It looks like it might be from a story, maybe a turning point or climax where the characters in the picture have reached a dangerous situation and are debating how to progress.
- Work out the narrative and identify the story.
There is a dragon sleeping in a cave, guarding it’s treasure while a couple of children are arguing about what to do. The girl seems to be pointing towards the treasure, possibly the chair whilst the boy is pointing in the opposite direction, which looks like the way out of the cave. They don’t look like soldiers or knights of any kind.
- Describe the palette and tonal range which has been used. Note if the colours are hot or cold, whether the elements are detailed or textural, and where these approaches are used.
The colours used in the image are blues and purples which are cold and then reds and oranges which are hot colours and they are dominant in the image and draw the eye. The blue cave wall has a wet look texture and the blue gives the feel of a cold, damp cave but the dragon and the torch being carried by the girl look hot and cozy. The cave floor is textured to look like stone, also blue and looking cold.
- Is there any connection between hot colour and the importance of the element in telling the story? Begin to identify the hierarchy within the image. Which are the most important elements in terms of carrying the narrative or conveying the ideas and how have these been treated?
There are splashes of bright green that are like highlights that draw the eye from left to right from the discarded weapons and armour in the bottom left corner to the centre of the picture where a type of throne or chair sits, guarded by the dragon. The dragon’s tail forms an arrow that points towards the chair, too. The first thing the eye is drawn to is the dragon, and then the detail of the story emerges as your eye then moves to the green, whilst the blue sits in the background and gives an overall feel to the environment.
I don’t feel very confident in my study of image composition and reading images but I do enjoy studying this topic, I find it fascinating and I look forward to improving this skill.
Illustration1 