Reading an Image

The Content of the image:

Inside a Cave, there is a dragon curled up around a throne - and sitting on a pile of treasure. He is surrounded by knight's paraphernalia; helmets, swords, shields etc. There are two children in the cave, a girl holding a torch which is illuminating the cave and gesticulating towards the dragon, and a boy who is wearing a strange eye piece on his head and is pointing towards the exit of the cave.

The Narrative of the image:

I would guess that the children have been sent to search out the dragon and retrieve the treasure. Now they have found him they are alarmed - and have different plans as to how to go about getting the treasure off the dragon. The Boy either wants to leave because he's frightened or because he has a plan involving something outside, he has the look of an inventor, and the girl looks as if she wants to act now. Because she is holding the torch and is clearly leading, she seems the more 'in control'. 

The dragon does not look too alarming and there are no bones around of dead knights, so it is not to threatening a situation!!

Note: An internet search tells me that this is from 'The Clockwork Dragon' 

The Palette and Tonal Range of the image and the impact on the Hierarchy

The Eye is immediately drawn to the dramatic reds of the Dragon and the walls of the cave. The Artist has used hot colours (gold red and yellow) for both the dragon and the treasure. The warm reflection of the torch on the cave dominates the image, and contrasts with the cold blues and the cool purples beyond its light. The effect is to create an impression that this is a cold dark cave. There is a wet textural element to the walls of the cave which look like they are covered in stalactites. 

The next element you take in are the green areas: the Children, the throne and the armour all share the same bright green palette which is in stark contrast to the red of the dragon. This helps them to stand out in what is quite a 'busy' image. Also it creates the impression that they are dwarfed by both the dragon and cave. The eye connects all the green elements and is drawn around the image taking in the details. The children's clothes are in rather cool colours, but there is a warm light reflected on their faces.

I find the reds on the cave walls distract me from the children. It took me a while to notice that they were there at all. All in all the image is quite busy and maybe it's the resolution, but I find it a bit 'red heavy'!