Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

This week I want to share Molly Bang’s Picture This: Perception and Composition with you. I bought this book long ago when my children were in early grade school, and I wanted to have them look more critically at the art in picture books. This is what happens when someone with degrees in art history homeschools their children. Adia, who is now an English major, had a passing interest in the book, preferring text to images. Hannah, now in art school, read and discussed this book and the images in pictures books with me with the joy of one who loves the text, but can get lost in the images.

Molly Bang takes us through the process of telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood in pictures. She starts her image here with Red in an abstract forest.

And develops the image through many edits to here, as Red moves through the forest with the wolf, unbeknownst to her, watching her go. The shadow in this image is my fault. The actual image does not have shadows.

There are many iterations in between these two images, and Bang takes the reader through them all, explaining how each change, subtle or not, changes the intent and the meaning of the image. It is a master class in illustration.

I have held onto this book through the years because it makes me wonder how I would illustrate a single image from a fairy tale in crochet. If I was to make a Princess and the Pea scarf, how would it look? Could I convey the message of the story in a single, long, thin, definitely abstract image made from fuzzy wool? Could I make it so it was serious and not silly? Would I be proud to wear it out as wearable art, or would I hide it away as a failed experiment? This book makes me want to try.

There is a 25th anniversary edition out now that can be purchased for reasonable new book prices online. It’s also available at the library. Go hug your local library and check it out!