Visual literacy is the act of how we read and interpret images. A good example of this is road signs, we know each road sign is placed to give guidance for us drivers and by just looking at the simple images we are able to put this into context in our current situation. However visual literacy can be determined by a lot of different key elements, such as size, placement and even colour. So how can we use visual literacy to create a story or emotion.
This is explained to us by American illustrator Molly Bang. Bang released a book in 1991 called “Picture this”. This book talks about the different elements of creating an illustration from using shape and colour to the overall composition of an image. She explains this using individual shapes showing how the shape and colour can make us feel different emotions towards the image.
Above shows two images from Bang’s book as she compares the use of colour and how it adds to the overall scene.IN this image we see little red riding hood (red triangle) being spied on by the wolf in the foreground. The wolf is made to be much bigger than red to emphasise the power the villain has over her. we also see Bang added a purple background as well as some red details onto the wolf. This helps build the scene as it gives an overall spooky and uneasy feel as well as building on the wolf’s character.
As part o this lecture we were asked to create two images based around the emotion fear and joy. These images could only be made using rectangles and triangles and Hereford we must focus on the idea of composition and colour to help communicate our ideas.
Above shows my creation for the idea of fear. For this piece I focused mainly on the idea of colour and how it can be used to create an overall feeling for an environment. For example I used a range of dark tones for the sky and tree to create a dark spooky effect whilst contrasting with two white ‘figures’ which represents the idea of innocence. However before finalising with colour I focused on the idea of placement of the shapes making the triangles much taller to create the illusion of trees that are looming over the two protagonists that are seen in the foreground. I also purposely made the one figure much taller to show the idea of a protective maybe parental figure who steps forward first in an act of bravery. Overall I was happy with how this turned out as felt it communicated the ideas of fear whilst also telling an overall story.
Above shows my second piece of work linking to the idea of emotion. The emotion for this piece was joy and I wanted to specifically communicate the ideas of happiness and positivity. To do this once again i wanted to focus on colour and how the use of chosen tones can effect the overall mood of the picture. For example in this I chose a range of bright colours this contrasts to the image above in which i used dark muted tones to communicate negative dark emotions. Therefore, by using bright tones I’ll be creating a positive atmosphere. Once again like the image above I was only able to use squares and triangles. Therefore, using the two shapes i built up three abstract style characters all of which appear to be dancing and jumping in excimer to and joy. As well as creating these figures using the shapes i also created a visual metaphor using the long black rectangles to represent movement. Overall I was also happy with this piece as I felt it communicated the ideas of the task given.
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