In this exercise, I will be reading the image of Mark Oliver by breaking it into constituent parts, analysing what I am seeing, working out the narrative and identifying the story.  I will also describe the palette, tonal range and identify the hierarchy within the image.

Tom’s Clockwork Dragon was illustrated by Mark Oliver from Worthing, United Kingdom and published by Oxford University Press in 2008.  Mark Oliver’s website is http://olly.net and can be found on Bēhance at https://www.behance.net/TheLitterBug.

The same book was also illustrated by Elys Dolan from Essex, United Kingdom and published by Oxford University Press in 2015. (Figure 2).  Her website is https://elysdolan.com.

The above image in figure 3, by Mark Oliver, comprises a dragon sleeping with treasures all around him.  There is a throne, golden coins, swords, shields and tridents.  There is also a young girl and boy.  The girl is holding a torch reflecting light against a rough surface that could be a cave wall.  An oval shape behind the two children suggests an opening through which they have entered the cave.  The texture on the ground is also rough, which can be stone and part of the cave.  The blue on the other side of the opening suggests that it is nighttime.  It is also dark inside the cave, illustrated by using dark blue.  The children’s arms are extended, which indicates that they are on high alert and engaging in a dangerous quest.  The dragon is red, which means it can be dangerous.

The image is about an adventure.  Two children are invading the dragon’s hideout while it is sleeping.  It is a tense moment in the story because the dragon can wake up anytime.  The treasures around the dragon could mean that the dragon is guarding these treasures.  The sharp nails and horns of the dragon indicate that the dragon is fierce.  The warm red of the dragon and the torch reflection make this area stand out as the hierarchy within the image.  The warm green chair contrasting with the red dragon attracts even more attention to the dragon.  The dragon’s horns have a unique pattern and, together with the gold-orange coins, hold the viewer’s attention while observing the dragon.  There is a connection between the warm reds and oranges and the importance of these elements.  The dragon is red, which is the most important image in the story, together with the torch flame reflecting against the stone.  The bright orange tonal value of the torch’s reflection, the girl’s green hoodie, and the bright light-blue ground with dark blue shadows make that part of the image stand out together with the dragon.  The green of the treasures contrast against the red and orange, but being a warm green, it holds hierarchy value and would be of secondary importance in this image.