Exercise - Reading an Image - Hierarchy in the Image

What is the image about?  What is it saying?

Dominating the image is a large, red dragon, lying curled up asleep, on top of some treasure, in a cave.

In front of him are swords, shields and armour etc, possibly from soldiers/knights that the dragon has defeated in battle, probably over the treasure that he is now protecting.

Also in the cave, are two people.

They both look young in age because of their appearance, they are not dressed in armour, so are not great knights or warriors, they look more like explorers, one is carrying a torch, which is lighting up the darkness of the cave.

The person at the front, looks like a young girl, her body language is bold, and there is another person, behind her, cowering and gesturing for them both to leave.

Work out the narrative and identify the story.

This is a childrens fantasy story, and I think it is about adventure, treasure seeking, a battle between good and evil, and possibly about weak overcoming the strong, a David and Goliath type tale, i.e. no matter what size you are you can still be strong.

It reminds me of Tolkiens ‘The Hobbit’ where dwarves and a hobbit defeat the great dragon, Smaug to get the treasure, using not strength and size, but cunning to reach their goal.

The chair that the dragon is curled around looks like it could be a throne, so it could be that the dragon has taken over a kingdom, defeating its king or queen and their army.

Describe the palette and tonal range which has been used.  Note if the colours are hot or cold, whether the elements are detailed or textured, and where these approaches are used.

Hotter Colours:

Firstly, the most dominant colour is red, which being a very bright, rich colour, it immediately catches your eye.  This has been used to describe the colour of the dragon, the torch reflection on the wall of the cave and the torch itself.  On the outside of the dragon facing away from the two people with the torch, there is a darker red that has been used, to create shadow, this then progresses gradually to a lighter, brighter red, helping highlight the areas lit up by the torch.

This progression in colour from dark to light gives us, as the reader, an idea as to how far the light from the torch spreads.

The next colour is orange/yellow which has been used to colour the treasure and the rest of the reflection on the wall.  The treasure colour is important, gold has greater worth than any other precious metal, it is also easily identifiable, so painting the treasure this colour makes you realize it is not just a pile of stones that the dragon is lying on top of and protecting.

Cooler Colours:

To show this is a cave, or at least somewhere a dragon might want to live or hang out, the cooler colours have an element of blue in them, to give this environment a dark, damp feel.

Where the shadows are at their darkest, behind the dragon, it is almost a deep purple, this then gets lighter the closer you get to the torchlight.  Yes the purple does have red in it, but blue is the predominant colour, so makes it a cooler colour.

The use of pale blue on the floor, shows that there is some light being reflected on to it, but not enough to use a warmer colour, as there still needs to be shown as cool/cold and damp.

There are other colours in this image, that have been used as contrast, such as the green of the chair/throne, which can be a sign of wealth/money, it is also stated that green is a neutral colour, so it is a good one to use as there is a large amount of hot and cold colours in this image.

The red colour on the walls looks almost like it is dripping down the wall, giving the idea that the wall is not smooth, but textured as is the use of a textured blue colour on the floor, to give it an uneven look.

Is there any connection between hot colour and the importance of the element in telling the story?

An important element in this story, is obviously the dragon, he/ she must be shown as fierce, perhaps fire breathing, but this is difficult when he/she is asleep. You  have to remember that this is a children’s story, so you cannot bring too many frightening details, visually, into it.  As most children are aware, and would be if they were reading this story on their own,(which I think is probably aimed at seven to eight year olds) red is normally associated with fire, heat, flames etc, so use of this colour is vital, to portray this, as the first thing you would look at in the illustration is the dragon, followed by the other elements, in order of whether the colours are hot or cold.