Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Mood or Mystery - Or Is He Just Resting?

The use of line and color in this illustration draws the viewer's eye to the figure of the sheep dressed in male 18th century attire. After just a quick glance, one realizes that the only thing sheep-like is the protruding head of the sheep, yet the posturing of the body and hands have human qualities. These unusual clues lead the viewer to wonder what has transpired here on this road to the town. This feeling is intensified with the quizzical look on the sheep's face.

The illustrator's use of shading heightens the mood of mystery. The three bags and the black sheep are sitting in dense shade. Here the proportion of the amount of shade on the ground is much larger than the tree producing the shade. Since the light in the illustration is directly overhead, the shadows are not addressing a time element but rather creating a haunting mood.

This mood is placed in check by the color palette used. The warm oranges and red tones keep the illustration from evoking a true menacing tone. The light background between the sheep and the town on the hill also lighten the mood.

The silhouette image framed above the color illustration seems unrelated to this rhyme but is important to the overall "counting rhyme'' organization of the book.