Picture This

The edges and corners of the picture are the edges and corners of the picture-world.

I see how powerful white is here because it shows up so strongly against dark backgrounds. The white is effective because it is used with restraint.

When we see similar shapes in a picture—or in life—we relate those shapes to each other: they seem to belong together.

Curved shapes embrace us and protect us.

One interesting aspect of this picture is how our eye is drawn into the white triangle—and stuck there.

In an asymmetrical frame, diagonals give a sense of depth.

Regularity and irregularity—and their combinations—are powerful.

We associate the same or similar colors much more strongly than we associate the same or similar shapes.

I cleared almost all the pieces away again, and tilted some tree trunks. Now the heroine is no longer in a forest of vertical, reliable trees, but in a woods where trees might fall on her at any time.