Creating worlds with image storytelling techniques
Arturo Gutiérrez offers 6 techniques to use in your concept art to successfully convey a story and build a world...
Arturo Gutiérrez offers 6 techniques to use in your concept art to successfully convey a story and build a world...
Lets say we are masters in the technical aspects of painting and we can accurately and easily represent anything in any light condition of any style form any angle. What then? What comes next is hard in a different respect to the technical one, and because of this, it is a matter that requires a certain degree of mental abstraction. What comes after the technical capability is meaning. A sense we give to the images we create: anima, life, or soul. There are many roads to get there, but in concept art and illustration, that roads name is usually storytelling.
The most basic phrase in any language is composed from a noun and a verb. I am is said to be the shortest possible explicit sentence in the English language. In itself, the structure of language tells us that for humanity to understand each other, stories must be told: something or someone (noun) undergoing activity (verb). It is no different with images.
Images usually have a subject to them; in concept art it can either be a scene, character, environment, prop or any mix of the above. Every single one of these has a potential to tell a story.
Even props tell stories
The most unusual idea here can be that a prop can also tell a story. The way a vehicle or item is made or weathered gives us cues about how it is used, by whom, in what environment and how old or new it is. A very detailed metallic orb trinket with white sand in its gaps and rusty markings, can make us understand that it was made by a character from a society of high metallurgical advancements that may now interact with sand in a desert, or a hot sandy place and sweat made it rust over time.
The importance of contrast
Now lets suppose a big reptile humanoid holds this orb and he lives in houses made of unpolished stone and wood. This gives us the idea that the society this orb comes from is probably not the same as our character. Maybe it was a different society or the same society in a different time. Either way, we get contrast between the story the orb tells us and the story the character tells us. The technological level differs, and this gives way to the viewers feeling curious about an explanation, wanting the story to keep going.
Internal logic
Telling a story within an image is a bit like reverse engineering a game of clue. The key to effective storytelling is having a cohesive universe, where things make sense internally. Key word: internally. Killing someone over bubble-gum is not a very reasonable or relatable action to follow, unless in this particular universe, the most valuable currency is bubble-gum or you can have a character that is manic and hates the sound chewing bubble-gum creates, he cant stand it. You can also have a type of bubble-gum that, turns out it is a weaponized explosive. So externally it wouldnt make sense, but internally because of an environment, character or prop, it is completely feasible to kill someone over bubble-gum.
Compositional storytelling
When we see an image, our eye travels through it. Artists have a way to guide the eye of the beholder: composition. Artist James Paick focuses a lot on tension line setting to tell stories. This image for Deadpool creates tension lines that always redirect us to the main character. When we see this image, the usual flow of the eye is looking at the white distance, then the falling containers and finally the endangered characters. The story is being told by composition.
Geometrical storytelling
This way of telling a story is generating clues between elements through the use of geometry. The artist Matt Rhodes sketches geometrical compositions first. In this image, there is a similar organic silhouette to the guys in the back, no real square edges or items really. In contrast, the main character in the front has many items that are square and his silhouette generates right angles everywhere. This sets a rivalry between the party in the back and our main character: narrative.
Chromatic storytelling
This image by Simon Stålenhag gives us a whole story using all of the above plus chromatic storytelling. We understand that the kid is controlling the robot because of the colours and the shape of the hand. Its pretty much any team sports dynamic, dividing elements with colours.
This can be as literal as Stålenhags image, or as subtle as this image by Kilart (Choe, Heonhwa) where there is a slight difference in the cool tones the soldiers are painted with and the central golem.
That difference is enough to generate contrast. If we put a large orange rampaging creature inside this frame, we could probably think that the golem belongs to the soldiers army. Warm versus cool reads easier than cool versus slightly cooler.
So what now?
There are a myriad of ways to convey storytelling meaning through images, these are just a few of the strongest and most basic approaches in my opinion. Applying them to an actual painting or drawing form imagination is a difficult task. Thinking before painting is key, along with sketching.
We all have yet to master our disciplines, so use your time wisely: while you hone your technical skills, try challenging your images one step further and let them tell their own stories!
Related links
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Juan Pablo Roldán on ArtStation
Felix Riaño on ArtStation
Sebastian Kowoll on ArtStation
Arturo Gutierrez on ArtStation
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