Molly Bang meets the comics

In yesterday's class, I used excerpts from Molly Bang's classic book, Picture This, to illustrate some basic principles of design. In her book, Bang uses simple shapes and vertical and diagonal lines to create the impression of a deep, dark forest in her illustration of the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Bang notes that vertical lines appear more exciting and active than horizontal lines, and that diagonals imply motion or tension. She also points out that "white or light backgrounds feel safer to us than dark backgrounds because we can see well during the day and only poorly at night." Another Bang principle: the larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it feels. Conversely, the smaller it is, the more vulnerable it feels.

Well, when I read this Sunday's comics in the Mercury News (I just got around to reading them today...busy week), I found that Hector D. Cantu and Carlos Castellanos had applied the same principles...to equally good effect...in their Baldo comic strip. Check it out!