Molly Bang's Theory of How Pictures Work

    In her book, Picture This: How Pictures Work  (New York: SeaStar, 1991), children's book writer and illustrator Molly Bang attempts to define how the structure of a picture affects the reader/viewer's emotional reaction to the images they see.  Using simple shapes and hues, she develops a system of contextual clues that suggest geometry and color contribute significantly to the affective (emotional) response to any illustration.  After working out the emotional content of a picture-story of  “Little Red Riding Hood” created solely with differently shaped and colored pieces of paper, she derived the following set of principles for understanding pictures.  (Page numbers in parentheses refer to her book.)

Principles:

1. Flat, horizontal shapes are perceived as more stable; it follows then that horizontal pictures are generally perceived as more stable, and small horizontal areas within a picture can be an “island of calm” (42).
2. In contrast, vertical shapes seem more active, conveying a sense of strength and excitement. (44)
3. Diagonal shapes and lines suggest movement and tension.  Most readers, at least in Western cultures, interpret diagonals from left to right, determining whether a slope ascends or descends by its direction (46-52).
4. Objects in the upper half of a picture appear relatively more free and happier; they may also convey a sense of spirituality.  Conversely, figures in the bottom half of a picture are more likely to appear sad or heavy, possibly under threat (54-56).
5. The eye tends to go to the center of the page, “the point of greatest attraction”; illustrators can induce the reader to “explore” the picture by keeping the focus away from the center.  Figures at the edge of the picture, breaking out of the frame, imply additional space and/or action outside of the picture and create added tension (62-66).
6. Light-colored backgrounds feel “safer”; she relates this to human vision, which functions well during the daytime but is more limited at night. (68)
7. Pointed shapes are relatively frightening; rounded shapes and curves are comparatively comfortable. (70)  Consider then, e.g., the mix of rounded shapes and pointy teeth and claws in Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.
8. Larger objects tend to seem stronger; an object or a figure can be made more vulnerable by making it smaller (72).
9. The human mind tends to associate objects by color more than by shape; other things being equal, similarly colored items will be seen as related to one another even if the picture contains other objects that are similar or identical in shape but colored differently (76).

10. Contrasts (of color, or of light and dark) guide our ability to see images (80)

11. Spatial relations can be used to isolate figures or to show tension; either very wide spaces or tiny slivers of space between two objects can create tension (89-90).

A. Waller Hastings
Professor of English
Northern State University
Aberdeen, SD  57401

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