Part 3 Exercise 2 :Reading and image

What I see in the image….

Dragon

Treasure

People looking for dragon or treasure

2 children one holding a torch

Cave

Contrast between cold and warm colours

Remains of knight’s armour

Dragon is sleeping protecting a throne and riches

 

• What the image is about. What is it saying?

My interpretation of the picture is that the sleeping dragon has hoarded everyone’s riches and possible a royal throne, it seems to have acquired some knights armour too possibly even have killed them after their attempts to find the fortune? There is little boy and girl medievally dressed at the entrance of the cave, the girl is holding a torch and the boy is point away from the cave. It may be that the girl is willing to confront the dragon for stealing the treasure whilst the boy would rather leave the dragon to sleep. Both appeared shocked, maybe they were following a myth or story heard in their town or village of a dragon stealing the king or queen’s riches or even the villages and found the culprit sleeping on top of it all.

• Work out the narrative and identify the story.

After trying to decipher the image myself I decided to reverse image search and find that it is from a story called Tom’s clockwork dragon published in 2008. My assumptions were very similar to the actual story except the actual story is about a young toymaker Tom who tells the king he can get rid of the ferocious dragon, although not taken serious due to the fact knights and others have tried before he is still determined. Then he comes across a girl called Lizzie and together they create this amazing plan and set out on a journey to defeat this dragon. Their plan is to make a clockwork dragon to battle the real dragon and end its reign of terror over the kingdom. They are successful in the end and the king grateful, rewards them.

• 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 are very vibrant in this image and the tonal range is obvious in the sense there is no certain gradation of the colours other than the paint or however it was illustrated being displayed as melting and gooey. Because some of the cave colours are quite different from each other you can see the contrast between the torch light and its warm fiery colours, the richness of the red dragon against the cold blue midtones which continue into a deeper blue throughout the cave. I feel the image is very childlike which is important considering it a child’s book, the colours are not too dark, the characters are not scary. The textures are not too heavy, it can only really be seen for things like the light hitting the floor cobbles and the melting torch light on the cave walls. Other than that, the dragons’ scales are not visible, and the characters are kept light. I think this is all to play on the cartoony friendly theme of a child book.

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

Maybe the hot colours from the torch flame the girl is holding and dragon are the most prominent as they are the focus of the story. Red can often associate with evil or danger in a story and it is probably easily recognised by children that the dragon is the villain because of its colour. Also, the flame from the torch and red can also relate to how typically dragons are known for breathing fire.

As for the compostion, its a very clear. Where the characters are placed the dragon is on one side and  the children on the other with a bit of distance away from eachother, there is contrasting colours depending on the part fo the image too the darkness surrounds the dragon as it stand out and then the warm bright colours on the left. These components leave you  wanting to look at every part of the page. The size of the red dragon standing out is important for a reader Its where your eyes are drawn to first and then you see the treasure it protecting before moving onto the other bright part which leads you down to the kids and you can see there expressions. A little detail that also helps you gauge what the story is is the little boy points outside the cave. After these main elemsnts are discovered there is things like the armour in the corner that also tells abit of the story and yet its colour isnt as prominent so you gave to look around for it.They chaos of the image is intresting cause you can keep finding ittel details like the dragons horns, how the jewerly is wrapped around its foot, how the armour is placed and how the kids our dressed.

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?

The colours are something that you can notice immediately in this illustration I think they are an important element as it brings life to the story, and it appeals to the children reading. The main characters are showcased in the image which helps with the narrative, the kids’ expressions when finding the dragon sleeping on the treasure creates a sense of suspense because the dragon could wake up at any moment. The style of drawing and colour keeps it playful. There are also details like the throne among the treasure and the dragon. This confirms the idea of the treasure being kings which is a big part of the book as well as hinting that knights have tried before, and only their armour remains as though they have been eaten.