Module 2: Lesson 19

Examining Art Elements

Handout 19A: Art Vocabulary and Handout 18B: Illustration Analysis

​Lesson 19

Review Handout 19A

19B: Analyze cover illustration: Ramayana: Divine Loophole

While we analyze refer to Handout 19A and 19B. You do NOT have to write anything down.

• The figures’ feet rest lightly on the line formed by the green line that has the title. The feet are much too delicate to hold the weight of the figures. We can see from the figures that the image is from a fantasy world.

• The figures are fighting. Rama is aiming his arrow. Ravana threatens Rama with arrows and knives brandished in each of his hands. The situation looks desperate.

Describe this element in the illustration.

​Pose

• Rama’s pose shows his bravery. Faced with Ravana, who is much larger than Rama and has many more weapons and heads, Rama isn’t scared and does not back down. His legs are open wide to give him strength. He aims his bow in the same direction as his gaze, right towards Ravana’s face, showing he’s not scared to face him.

• Rama’s pose shows his bravery. Faced with Ravana, who is much larger than Rama and has many more weapons and heads, Rama isn’t scared and does not back down. His legs are open wide to give him strength. He aims his bow in the same direction as his gaze, right towards Ravana’s face, showing he’s not scared to face him.

What does this aspect of the illustration reveal about the characters, setting, or event?

​Pose

• The line formed by the top of the green band of the ground and the arrows at the bottom of the cover are slanted to look as though they go downhill. This angle helps give the image tension. Lines radiating from sun are also diagonal, rather than straight up and down or across. The lines of the arrows cross the lines coming from the sun. These diagonal lines and intersections create tension and energy, even though parts of the figure are light and delicate.

• Ravana and Rama are in profile to the viewer, with each of them gazing straight into each other’s eyes. If viewers follow their gaze, we imagine a diagonal line between their eyes. The line formed by Rama’s arm drawing the bow and aiming the arrow repeats this diagonal line that goes straight up towards Ravana. The arrows Ravana holds in his many hands also repeat the direction of the line.

Describe this element in the illustration.

​Line

• The lines of the sun show the explosion of force that will happen when Ravana and Rama finally attack each other. It almost predicts how much strength each warrior will bring to the fight and what the subsequent collision will be like.

• Rama aims his arrow high, showing that Rama isn’t scared of Ravana; even though he’s significantly smaller, he’s ready to take him on like his equal.

What does this aspect of the illustration reveal about the characters, setting, or event?

​Line

• The artist uses bright purple, green, orange, and blue as accent colors. Purple, the complementary color to yellow, is used most. The color contrast also draws attention. The blue and orange colors in Rama’s figure are also complementary to each other, so his figure too holds color contrast and energy.

• A bright and unusual yellow covers most of the space. The yellow is neon-bright, and is very eye-catching.

Describe this element in the illustration.

​Color

• The colors make the conflict look dramatic; it makes you wonder how such a seemingly uneven battle could turn out. People might buy the book to find out how it ends.

• The colors make the conflict look dramatic; it makes you wonder how such a seemingly uneven battle could turn out. People might buy the book to find out how it ends.

What does this aspect of the illustration reveal about the characters, setting, or event?

Color

• Ravana and Rama have distorted figures—tiny feet, huge bodies, tiny waists.

• We know these illustrations are done with a computer program. It makes sense that the figures look like comic book fantasy figures, adding to our understanding of their power and the enormity of their conflict.

Describe this element in the illustration.

​Shape

• Their stylized shapes accentuate the figures’ strength; disproportionately huge muscles remind the reader what exceptional warriors both men are.

What does this aspect of the illustration reveal about the characters, setting, or event?

Shape

• The background is a single color and the pattern of the sunrays moving away from the center point where Rama and Ravana will collide.

Describe this element in the illustration.

Background

• This shows how time almost stopped as the battle came down to this moment. The other fighters didn’t matter anymore. The climax has come to a demon vs. a god-made man, all the warfare reaching this one defining moment.

What does this aspect of the illustration reveal about the characters, setting, or event?

Background

Handout 19C: Hero Development

​Execute: How do I establish characters in narrative writing.

Today you are going to create your own mythological heros!

In the monomyth genre, heroes are flawed and taking the hero's journey means overcoming that flaw, or weakness, to get what they wants.

​What does the hero want?	​What is the hero's flaw or weakness?	​How does the hero overcome their flaw?
​ ​ ​Odysseus wants to go home Rama wants Sita to be safe and to live happily in the jungle	​ ​ ​Odysseus has excessive pride. Rama can't avoid failure	​ ​ ​Odysseus learns to be humble. Rama has to learn to accept help from others and admit when he's made a mistake.

​Let's analyze the heros of Ramayana and The Odyssey

Handout 19C: Use the questions to help you Crete your original hero for your monomyth.