Picture This: How Pictures Work

Bang explores The Emotional Power of Visual Elements through her experiments with the story of Little Red Riding Hood. As with her children’s books, Bang uses visual language and illustrations to convey meaning, though in this case, she uses them as educational examples. In a book about visual vocabulary and interpretation, showing illustrations provides evidence for Bang’s assertions. She carefully manipulates shapes, colors, sizes, and positions to evoke a range of emotions, from the comfort and stability of the red triangle representing Little Red Riding Hood to the fear and unease created by the wolf’s large, black, pointed triangles. Bang explores her own emotions, such as when she lists out her responses to Little Red Riding Hood: “These, then, are the feelings I have for this medium-sized red triangle: stability, balance, a prickliness or alertness, plus warmth, strength, vitality, boldness, and perhaps some sense of danger” (4). Bang shows that by viewing even the simplest of shapes in their context, people can feel strong and nuanced emotional responses. By adjusting factors such as the size and placement of the protagonist, the tilt of the tree trunks, and the color and shape of the wolf, Bang controls the viewer’s emotional journey, creating a powerful and engaging visual narrative. She also demonstrates how the interplay between these visual elements and their context can shape the viewer’s perceptions and emotional responses, such as how changing the mother’s shape and color from a large red triangle to a rounded, pale purple shape makes her appear more huggable—and therefore maternal—and less overwhelming.

Throughout the Preface and Chapter 1, Bang highlights The Primal Nature of Color and Shape and how they tap into deep-rooted human experiences and emotions. In the Preface, she describes her process of studying paintings and trying to discern how they made her feel. In doing so, she recognized the innate understanding that people have of visual language. In Chapter 1, Bang delves deeper into the primal associations of colors and shapes. For example, in discussing the color red, she says, “Part of the reason may be that we associate red with blood and fire, so this is a bloody, fiery eye rather than an eye associated with flowers or with the evening sky” (39). She suggests, “Maybe it’s because we've seen drunken, bloodshot eyes, or eyes reflected in a campfire, and those were red. In some fairy tales, the eyes of witches are described as being red” (39). She links these primal associations with the psychological implications of red, such as its associations with warmth, boldness, vitality, and danger, which can evoke powerful emotional responses in the viewer: “What is red? Blood and fire. Ah. The feelings evoked in me by red all seem to be associated with these two things that have been red and only red ever since humans have been around to see them” (4). Bang implies that humans react to color according to their evolutionary instincts, suggesting that certain emotional aspects of visual perception are universal and innate.

Bang emphasizes the theme of The Picture as an Extension of Real Life in these opening chapters. While viewing a picture, viewers connect with it and experience emotions in a way that mirrors their interactions with the world around them. In the Preface, she describes how her friend Leon encouraged her to create whole pictures, capturing entire scenes, rather than sketching isolated objects. This advice led Bang to recognize the importance of context in shaping people’s perceptions and reactions to shapes; the emotional impact of a picture is determined by the interplay between its components and the context in which they are presented. In Chapter 1, Bang further explores this concept through her experiments with Little Red Riding Hood. This figure remains the same red triangle throughout, but the different contexts in which Bang places her evoke different feelings. During these experiments, Bang says, “I finally realized that when Little Red Riding Hood is more distant from me, I don't identify with her or sympathize with her so much as before” (23). However, she demonstrates how carefully composing a picture, such as placing the small red triangle within the context of the tall, black tree trunks, can create identification between the viewer and the subject, fostering empathy and emotional engagement. By manipulating elements such as Little Red Riding Hood’s size and position, Bang shows how visual storytelling can tap into human experiences, such as the fear of being small and helpless in the face of danger. She explicitly connects these emotional experiences to the fact that pictures appear to be an extension of life: “How do pictures make us feel in specific ways? We see pictures as extensions of the real world” (49-50). Through her analysis of the principles of picture composition, Bang illustrates how artists and visual storytellers can create works that resonate deeply with their audiences, evoking the charge of real-life experiences through visual art.

In the Preface, Bang positions visual principles as innate and instinctual, emotionally felt but not always consciously recognized. She builds ethos by sharing her own journey as a successful illustrator who, despite her achievements, struggled to understand the fundamental principles of picture composition. As she studied art and examined how pictures made her feel, Bang began to recognize that visual principles feel innate, even if they are difficult to articulate. Her experiences teaching picture-making to her daughter’s third-grade class further reinforced this idea, as both Bang and the children realized that they possessed an instinctual grasp of how simple shapes and colors could evoke different emotions. Bang’s personal journey and the insights gained from working with children and adults led her to believe that humans have an inherent understanding of how pictures work. Her book represents her effort to bridge the gap between instinctual understanding and conscious awareness, making these principles accessible to others and demonstrating that anyone can learn to create emotionally powerful pictures.

Throughout Chapter 1, Bang employs an iterative process, guiding the reader through her thought process as she composes the image of Little Red Riding Hood. She starts by representing the protagonist as a simple red triangle and analyzes the emotional associations evoked by this shape and color combination. As she develops the picture, Bang introduces new elements, such as the mother, the basket, the woods, and the wolf, and she experiments with their size, color, and placement to create the desired emotional effect. For example, when depicting the mother, Bang initially uses a larger red triangle but quickly realizes that this choice overshadows the protagonist and disrupts the visual hierarchy of the picture. By rounding the corners of the mother’s shape and changing her color to pale purple, Bang maintains a visual tie between the two characters while letting Little Red Riding Hood shine as the protagonist. This iterative process is an effective teaching tool, allowing readers to witness the evolution of the picture and understand the reasoning behind each compositional choice.

Bang’s approach emphasizes the importance of play, experimentation, and exploration in creating emotionally powerful pictures. She encourages readers to engage with their own emotional responses and trust their instincts when making compositional decisions, such as when she adjusts the size and placement of Little Red Riding Hood to intensify feelings of fear and vulnerability. By checking in with one’s feelings and making adjustments based on the desired emotional impact, Bang suggests that artists and visual storytellers can create dynamic and interactive narratives that resonate with their audiences.