Part 3: Reading an Image



The content of the image:

Ranked in order of what came to my attention/focus:

  • Dragon
  • Cave roof (lit up)
  • People
  • Coins and treasure
  • Throne
  • Larger pile of armour and swords
  • Torch
  • Smaller pile of armour and swords
  • Scattered coins
  • Cave floor
  • Darker parts of cave roof.

What is this image about?  Identifying the story...

This is a curious image where on the face of things the interpretation is quite straightforward.  The people have come across a dragon who is guarding its treasure in a cave.  However, without the context of the storyline, the interpretation can get a lot more open.  Questions come to mind which can lead to very different interpretations of the narrative of the image, i.e.

Are the characters friendly to the dragon?  They look quite friendly and benign. The first person is holding out the hand in a gesture of openness as if saying, "look.. things here are ok really." This is the way that you'd put your hand out to a friendly seeming dog (but just that slight thought in the back of your mind that it could go nasty and bite your hand unless careful!  Just like this dragon).

Are these treasure hunters or are they here to specific seek the dragon itself?  The people look as though they've "entered the scene" with purpose.   The body language is active and forward in the forward person, with the person behind cowering a little and nervous.

Is the dragon a terrible destructive beast, or is it a friendly beast?  There is little menace in the drawing of the dragon, and its face looks rather serene.  This is visually indicating that it is friendly in nature.

Overall the narrative I'd superimpose on this image is something like:
"The two characters are seeking help from the dragon.  They know that the dragon likes people, and will always listen to an offer.  However, it will always act in self-interest for the thing it loves - more gold and treasure.
Character number 1 is confident in success of the mission.
Whilst character 2 is fearful and uncertain, this stupid plan of character number 1 isn't sounding so good anymore! That dragon is terrifying and maybe cannot be trusted."

Evaluating the colour palette and tonal range:

The tonal range isn't particularly wide. There is not a wide (and noticeable) contrast between light and dark, if anything the tonal range steers more towards darker tone.  I took the image into Photoshop and looked at the histogram of pixel tone:


As I suspected it is fairly even across the tonal range with spikes toward darker tones.

The colour palette is a lot easier to describe: There is very obviously a contrast between the warm and cold colours.  The warm reds and oranges of the dragon, cave glow and treasure.  The cold blues of the cave and pale green of the objects in the cave.

There is a mix of textural and detailed in the warm colours.  The cave glow and skin of the dragon is primarily textural.

Connection between hot colours and the story:

I think there is a very clear connection to the hot colours and the narrative. The colour palette is telling aspects of the story.  A few key thoughts:
The dragon is hot red - this signifies it is alive, perhaps dangerous, and probably breathes fire. This is a scary and potentially dangerous beast in this narrative.
The blue of the cave visually represent that this cave is probably in a cold lonely mountain, and perhaps that the dragon is usually left alone and undisturbed there.

Visual hierarchy:

The most important thing about this image is that the dragon is big. The scale of the dragon to the people and other objects shows that it is a large monster (and not a little lizard!).  The visual scale of the dragon, perhaps indirectly, implies it is firmly the focus at this stage of the narrative. It "looms big" you could say.

The cave is also notable.  In fact, a considerable percentage of the overall image is cave.  It is important in the visual hierarchy and therefore must be saying something to carry the narrative. This is a visit to the cave, and that cave has a dragon in it!

The scale of the people is relatively small in the visual hierarchy.  This may be conveying a narrative of them going into a big scary place.

It is notable to me that the pile of treasure isn't that big.  Perhaps this is indicating a narrative of the dragon not being particularly greedy, or perhaps even a fairly young dragon who hasn't built up its stash.

Overall, the distinction between warm colour and cold colours is clear. Further, I think that this image is a good example of how warm colours come forward, whilst cold colours recede.

Exercise summary:

This has been a thought-provoking exercise that has forced me to analyse very deeply. It didn't seem a particularly interesting image at first; but the more I looked and probed, the richer and more fascinating the artwork became.  The key thing I've gained, is a better appreciation of how palette and composition can enhance, or even directly support, a narrative.


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