So You Want To Be

President?

Melissa Greenwalt

Medium

The book used more than one medium

Ink, water color, and pastel chalk were used

The drawings themselves were caricatures, making the book more suitable for kids

By using these mediums to draw the cartooned presidents, the illustrations stay fun and light-hearted while still being similar to reality

Texture

By using the pastel chalk, the illustrator brought texture to the pictures

For instance, the suits of each drawn president looked more three dimensional due to the shadows and crisscross effect drawn into them

Shape

Because the drawings resembled real people, the shapes stayed relatively natural

This kept the focus on what the text was saying, rather than trying to give elicit a certain emotion

Color

The colors used throughout the story were lowly saturated, keeping the emotional response from being too overwhelmed

Colors used were mostly blues and greens, as well as light browns and soft yellows

While the emotional response was kept calm, certain specs of red were placed in the pages (horse, flag, etc.)

Composition

The composition played a key part in the illustrations

Many pages included the Presidents grouped together, which suggests stability—a good thing to have when looking at the presidents!

Tension

The book had a lot of text, taking up a good amount of each page when compared to other books

The focus is drawn in due to the pictures relating very much to what is read

The pictures do not strictly stick to the text, however, but fill in the ‘blanks’

‘Blanks’ being what a child may imagine, while keeping the idea the same

The picture is obviously not realistic, but imaginative, while still keeping the idea of what was said

Tension

Without the text, the pictures wouldn’t make much sense, which sparks the reader’s interest to read the text to understand

Space

There is definite space on each page, except for one or two

This allows for the pictures to stay highly entertaining while keeping the page relatively calm

The borders were an inch thick of plain white space

Rhythm and Movement

The illustrations have definite areas of shown movement, with characters drawn running, bowling, being lifted out of a bathtub, and even having a head of cabbage thrown at them

This allows the story to look fun and interesting, versus stiff and unmoving

The child is able to feel more comfortable, despite the subject matter actually being a serious topic, due to the playful movement displayed

Lines

Lines were used strategically in the illustrations

For instance, the lines of the wooden floor successfully draw the eye towards a president delivering a speech

Curtains, bricks, tile floor panels, water ripples, stairs, and carpet design were also used in drawing attention the main focus of each page

The End!