Colour

Colour
Tangles is illustrated entirely in black and white, with heavy use of black-outs and white-outs to illustrate reflection and despair.

Black-Out Characters
Tangles uses character blackouts to depict heavy scenes of self-reflection. Examples can be seen on pages 14 - Mariam consoling Sukey after her husband died; 19 – Mariam resigning from her job at the Elementary School; 23 – Mariam trying to convince Rob to speak with Mariam about the symptoms; 37 – Rob and Sarah being asked to leave the doctor’s office while he assesses Mariam; 85 – Sarah sits waiting for her mom to finish in the bath; and 96 – Sarah and Hannah making light of their mother’s situation.

In each scene, whether positive or negative, the characters are in deep self or shared reflection regarding the moment.

Black-Out Background, White-out Characters
Excluding night-time scenery, blacked out backgrounds are used with whited-out characters to depict heavy despair and burden. Examples can be seen on pages 21 – Family get-together when Mariam (for the first time) was not there to greet everyone, and Sarah noticed immediately when hugging her mother; 25 – When Mariam opened up and admitted that she had Alzheimer’s for the first time; 57 – Sarah is telling her mother that she wants to spend as much time with her as possible before she dies; 60 – the first time Mariam was unable to bathe herself, and instead pooped in the bathtub, it was Sarah who found her; and 111 – when Mariam lost privacy to her own body, Sarah and Hannah shaved Mariam, but later found out Donimo and Rob were against it.

In each of these scenes, the colour appears to weigh heavily on the character, illustrating a deeper sense of despair to the scene.