Final Project for Summer Semester- Picturebook

For any classmates who would like to see my picturebook, "Birds of a Feather", or read the analysis guide, here are those links:

"Birds of a Feather" Picture Book by Jared St. Martin Brown
Analysis Guide

Create a Picturebook (Week 8 Assignment)

Purpose- A Storybird Picturebook

My Storybird picturebook features the art of Nidhi Chanani.  I felt it was important to be consistent with my artwork choices, and there is no better way to do that than to stick with a single artist.  I found these images to be delightful and versatile.  The most effective images are found on page 3, in which we see a young woman chasing a will-o-the-wisp through a forest at night.  The woman is running but she appears happy, as if she is enjoying the thrill of discovery.  She is exhilarated.  This really takes the away the potential for negativity in interpreting the meaning of “secret” or “must discover,” which some may assume is about struggle.  In fact, smiling is used throughout the images.  On pages 1-3 the smiles provide a sense of joy.  On the final page we see a sense of contentment as she grins while looking toward the sky.  I am hoping that no one will assume that she has “arrived” at something final, but has merely discovered some secret that is just for her. 

Picturebook Review- Bink & Gollie

Nestled between the genre of picturebook and graphic novel, the Bink & Gollie tales by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee are geared toward young children and yet the artwork and unique storytelling make these books so interesting to adults.  This means they are perfect for those of us whose children require them to read a story aloud every single evening.  While Bink and Gollie entertain children with stories of friendship, community, and imagination, they transport the adults back to the type of world created by those master-craft comics of our youth such as Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes.  So far, the authors have released three books, but I will focus this review on the original, simply titled Bink & Gollie.

Characterization

The story is set in a world that is just slightly different from our own.  Two friends, whose relationship is rather sisterly, live at the top and bottom of tree just outside of town.  Bink, the younger one, lives at the bottom in a cute ramshackle cottage.  Like her hair and clothing, it is decorated haphazardly.  At the top of the tree lives the adolescent, Gollie, in a tree house that looks like it was designed by Frank Lloydd Wright.  Inside it is decorated with mid-century modern artwork and furniture.  Midway between the two, on a branch, is a park bench where they sometimes meet, perhaps symbolically, in the middle.  At the bottom tree, they share a mailbox.  In this world, neither Bink nor Gollie seem to have parents.

Bink is all of the unbridled passion of childhood.  She is obsessed with food, and she does not regulate her emotions.  If she is lonely, she tries to do something about it.  If she upset, she expresses that without shame.  She is quite simple… however, according the authors, she has dreams about Andy Warhol.

Gollie, on the other hand, is slightly more complicated.  She exists in that weird place in which older children find themselves, between adulthood and childhood.  As her short haircut indicates, she is attempting to look grown up, however the tiny bow shows that she still retains some juvenile qualities.  As we see in Gollie, throughout the book she tries to appear mature and wise, but inside she is attracted to kid’s stuff.  When she is alone we may find her sitting and reading like an adult, and other times she find her playing a game of pretend.  This blend seems to explain her attachment to the youthful Bink.  Around her, Gollie can both exercise her adulthood by providing sisterly guidance, while indulging her childhood by taking Bink to the fair or sharing a giant stack of pancakes.

Young children are likely to connect to both characters.  They can identify with Bink’s behavior while taking comfort in the older sister appeal of Gollie.  I imagine that many children will connect with both characters as they resolve conflicts and solve problems.

Images

The images, by Tony Fucile, are perfection.  There is a sort of minimalistic clutter to each image.  Fucile incorporates incredible detail in ink sketches, yet only colors certain elements in each.  This gives the reader an impression of a very busy world, while showing us that only certain elements in each image matter to the story.  Some of the pages are arranged like comic book panels, with white gutters framing the pictures.  Others are full page spreads which allow the reader to dive into this world. 

At least half of the story comes from the pictures.  In fact, the authors do not spend any time at all explaining the setting or the characters inner thoughts and feelings.  That must be inferred from the pictures.  Everything from fashion sense, to facial expressions, to body language in the images keep the readers informed about each character. 

Text

The text also employs this sort of complex minimalism.  The story is told primarily through snippets of dialogue.  Notice that every line is surrounded by quotation marks.  Sometimes we are told who is speaking, and other times we must use the picture to infer.  The text hovers inside each picture, almost like a comic dialogue bubble, only the does not exist.  As a writer myself, I find myself delighting as much in which parts of the story are not included as much as those that are.  The stories can span only a few hours, or even an entire season, and the text provides no explanation.  However, the tension between the modes of text and image are so balanced, that the reader can infer everything important.  This keeps the story moving, and forces the reader to participate in the creation of Bink and Gollie’s world.

I don’t think I could like a picturebook more than this.

Bink & Gollie Official Website

Week 6 Reading and Discussion

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne is styled in a cartoon-ized Social Realism but has many of the characteristics of a post-modern picture book.  It tells its story through multiple narrators, and uses four “interconnected narrative strands differentiated by shifts in temporal and spatial relationships, and/or shifts in narrative point of view” (Serafini, 2014).  In addition to these, Voices in the Park uses a typographical effect by changing the font for each narrator.  According to Frank Serafini, these are all indicative of a post-modern picture book.

The book also utilizes several picturebook codes.  It uses the code of position and size by placing the image at the strong place on the page.  The pictures always sit the left, so as the catch the eye first before the text is read.  The book uses the code of frame by placing the image in a box that we must look through into another world.  The text lingers in the margin land outside of the picture where we will notice it after we have explored visual elements.  Finally, the code of color draws us in to see the image and “read” it before we read the black and white text.  The color is used to set the majority of the mood on the page, and the text relies heavily upon it to convey the story.

Speaking of the text relying upon the image, like many picturebooks, Voices in the Park lets the image tell more than half of the story.  Whereas a textbook or a newspaper page tend to use pictures to supplement a page full of text that could otherwise stand alone, a picturebook could not stand without its images.  The emphasis of picture and text are reversed.  The picture tells the story and could almost stand alone without the text.  A careful observer might infer the entire story of Voices in the Park without any text at all.  This is how it should be, otherwise the text and the images might actually render one another superfluous or redundant. 

In structure, the book is arranged into four different chapters, narrated by four different characters, who are arranged around a map of a park where all of the stories will intersect.  As the reader travels through the stories, we see that each image is positioned at the left, and is filled with color and movement.  To supplement the story we see a text narration in the margin outside of each page.  By the end, of the book we are able to use both image and text to see how each story has intersected.

Ideologically, we may notice that the book deals with how communal spaces, like a park, and the interactions that happen there can provide some healthy alleviation for the burdens caused by urban isolation.  Both people and dogs find some release and encouragement from what had begun as a very bland and lonely day.  The reader is left to conclude that people (and dogs) need other people… even strangers at times.

References

Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: An introduction to multimodal literacy. New York: Teachers College Press.

Analyzing Visual Images and Design In Picturebooks

Analysis of Voices In The Park by Anthony Browne

1. Where is the text located? Within the image? Separated by borders or white space, Why?

The words in this picturebook are located to the right and they are separated by white space.  This is consistent throughout the book, and I think this is make the picture come first in the way the eye reads (which in English speaking culture is from left to right).

2. Are the illustrations double page spreads, single page images, collages, overlapping images, or portraits?

The illustrations seem to be single page images that share the page with block of text.

3. Consider the series of images in the picturebook. Do the images change over the course of the book? Do they get bigger, smaller, change?

The images are consistent in size.  The majority of them contain an animated element, and some sound effects.

Analysis of Page from Voices In The Park by Anthony Browne

1. What is fore-grounded and in the background?

The fore-ground features an anthropomorphic ape person, sitting in a chair.  He is wearing the clothes of a working class man.  The background is mostly white, but it contains his shadow which is cast from the light of a television.  We cannot see the television.  It is implied.

2. Consider the path your eyes follow as you approach the image. What catches your eye first? Why is that element salient?

The first thing that catches your eye is the ape character in the foreground.  He presents about 90% of the emotion conveyed by this page.  His facial expression and body language show his feelings even before you read the text.

3. What colors dominate the image? What effect does this have on you as reader?

This picture is filled with the blues, both literally and metaphorically.  The characters clothes, and his giant shadow are blue.  And since we tend to think of melancholy as “blue” in color, this helps convey the emotion.

4. Consider the use of white (negative) space. Are the illustrations framed or full bleed? How does this position you as a viewer?

The text is separated by white space.  There is a clear gulf between the image and the words, and this helps to make the image come first.  There also seems to be a pause between noticing the pictures and noticing the words.

5. What is the reality value or level of abstraction? Are the images life-like or stick figures?

For cartoon characters, they are lifelike.  I find this character to be particularly realistic because of his clothes, and body pose.

6. Are there any recurring patterns in the images?

Everyone in the story is a human-like gorilla (with human arms).  They all seem to live in a 1950’s style New York City.

7. Are there any anomalous elements? Things that stick out, or seem out of place? Are these important to consider?

I didn’t find any anomalous elements.  I felt the design was pretty consistent throughout.

8. What is the artist trying to get you to look at through leading lines, colors, contrast, gestures, lighting?

I think the artist is trying to get you to notice the facial expressions and body language of the characters before you notice anything else.  The illustrated characters dominate the page.

9. Are there any recurring symbols or motifs in the images?

There seems to be a dog in every picture.  The dogs seem to represent freedom and the draw of the outdoors.  The dogs are part of the reason each character visits the park, and they help as a catalyst to heal some of the depression in the story.

10. Consider the style or artistic choices? Are they appropriate, and how do they add to the meanings of the picturebook?

Turning people into animals is common convention that can make even somewhat serious stories palatable for children. 

11. How are the images framed? Are there thick borders or faded edges?

This particular image is not framed by any lines.

12. Consider the setting of the story. How is this realized in the images? Realistically? Metaphorically?

The setting (a fictitious city) are realized in some skillful artwork.  I think they come across very realistically, even though the artist has added a ton of activity to some scenes.

13. Consider size and scale. What is large? Why are certain elements larger than others? Does this add to meanings of power, control?

Usually the characters are the largest elements in the picture.  This causes you to focus on the people before the background or the text.

14. Consider the viewers point of view. Do characters directly gaze or address the viewer? Are the characters close up or distanced? How does point of view add to relationships with the characters?

The characters do not fully acknowledge the reader, even though they speak in first person.  It is almost as if each character is speaking to his or herself.

Reading and Discussion 5

Reading Reaction

Chapter 3

“As society moves away from the dominance of written language texts, we are also moving from the printed page to the electronic screen (Kres, 2010).  Both of these changes, from language to image and from page to screen, represent fundamental shifts in how we perceive the world and communicate meanings, and the modes and resources available for representing what we know” (Serafini, 2014, p. 30).

I completely agree with this, however, I think we will never drop word-only texts completely… even in art, just like we will never drop image-only work.  This is because people recognize that there is value in sticking to one mode once in a while.  Think about this:  What do people always say “the book is better than the movie”?  It is because the book has reached us through a single mode, and we have used our own minds to provide the rest.  The film has reached us in a multimodal way that leaves the “viewers” mind with less to do.  Sometimes we still want to be engaged by a single mode… other times we do not.  We didn’t need to give up walking just because the bicycle was invented.  Each can serve its own purpose and provide enjoyment in its own way.  However, I must admit that the invention of the car has caused some people to give up both altogether…  How does today’s communication technology fit into this analogy.  I will have to wait and see.

Chapter 4

“As digital technologies make producing and disseminating multimodal ensembles easier, changes in the way people use these texts and the power of relations between producer and consumer are continually evolving…” (Serafini, 2014, p. 47).

Certainly, technology has made it easier to publish, to vote, to create… to do a lot of things.  I think the biggest change in relationship between creator and audience has been the closeness of connection.  I can sort of “follow” my favorite songwriters in almost real time as they release songs and videos, accompanied by e-mail and social media notifications, and I can comment on their work in a way that they could read if they wanted to.  They, in turn, can do the same to what I create.

Chapter 5

“Artists use visual symbols and motifs to convey meanings beyond the literal or denotative level” (Serafini, 2014, p. 61).

This is simple and true.  The sooner we can get students to start seeing motifs and symbols in what they view, the sooner we can get them to understand that those were put there on purpose to help add a layer of meaning to the text.

Photo by ExpeditionMedicine

CONTENT ANALYSIS

What do you see?

Here I see two middle-aged men.  They are Toureg, nomadic people from the Sahara. One is wearing a wrist watch, and holding a stick.  The other looks directly at the camera and his face is partially covered.

What is the image about?

This just seems to be an “action shot” in which the two men were caught on film in the course of their day.

Are there people in the image? What are they doing? How are they presented?

To two people are presented in a very non-contrived fashion.  This appears to be a quick picture, and if I were to guess, I would say they are mounted on camelback, and the photographer is on the ground below.  Toureg people ride camels, by the way.

Can the image be looked at different ways? Explain how the image might be interpreted from two diffferent socio-cultural perpsecitves. Which perpective is dominate? 

I feel that this image is likely to be interpreted a number of ways.  Americans tend to lump many people who wear African or Middle-Eastern dress into a single group.  The head and face coverings, and the robes and scarves are foreign to the everyday American experience.  I actually think many Americans might interpret their style as “old world” or indicative of a “developing country.”  Touregs, however, are still nomadic by choice, and they do use many forms of modern technology (electric guitars, motor vehicles, watches, etc.).

How effective is the image as a visual message?

This picture is effective at telling the story, albeit, one that must be inferred by the viewer.

VISUAL ANALYSIS

How is the image composed? What is in the background, and what is in the foreground?

The background is a clear blue sky.  The foreground contains the two figures described above.

What are the most important visual elements in the image? How can you tell?

The most important visual elements in the photo are the eyes of the two men.  Both of “smiling eyes.”  One looks at the camera and one looks in the distance. 

How is color used?

The various blue hues stood out to me.  I believe the photographer isolated the two men before the sky to show the overpowering blue.  I feel it was an “artistic” decision to do so.

Can the image be looked at different ways?

I think the image can be looked at in a number of ways, but like any portrait it is up to the view.  Very little is being conveyed for emotional manipulation.

What meanings are conveyed by design choices?

The meaning I get here is that people of various lifestyles can lead happy and healthy lives.  Nomadic people do not need to be moved into suburbia.

References

Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: An introduction to multimodal literacy. New York: Teachers College Press.

Illuminated Text