Painting Fine-Art Cartoons in Oils - Enchanted Images

Interaction:
...use equipment
to extend the...
ELEMENT 1:
Construction worker
ducks
can be anything in the
painting: figures, props,
setting, actions. “Story”
is created when elements
interact with each other
to imply action. I call it a
“compound” narrative when
three or more elements
interact in a cause-effect
chain of action. The more
interacting elements there
are, the more complex the
narrative. In this example,
the story being told is that
Scrooge’s wealth has grown
so much that he must
extend his money bin’s
depth gauge. The visual
elements are: the money
bin full of wealth, the “hole”
that has been dug out
around the depth gauge;
ELEMENT 2:
Depth gauge
120
Implied action:
...which is being
measured by...
the tip of the nearly buried
depth gauge; the yard
stick that is being used to
extend the depth gauge;
and the construction
tools. Scrooge holds the
yard stick so Donald can
tighten the hand vice that
will hold the yard stick
in place, extending the
depth gauge so it won’t
be buried by the Scrooge’s
wealth. The nephews use
the surveying equipment
to ensure the yard-stick is
straight. Early versions of
the composition included
additional props – the
nephew’s hardhats – that
reinforced the story, but
these were removed for
commercial reasons.
Interaction:
...which is being
buried by...
ELEMENT 3:
Scrooge’s
wealth
Above: Diagram of Barks’s “An Embarrassment
of Riches.” Note: The captions for the narrative
diagrams are read in a counter-clockwise
circle, beginning with Element 1.
Diagram of an early version of “An Embarrassment
of Riches.”