Storytelling in visual art has always been a thing since the very first cave drawings. Storytelling can improve art, and artists who tell stories in their work tend to sell more. In this post, we are going to look into what makes storytelling through artwork effective. Plus, I have 5 easy steps for you to follow to help you tell a story through your art too!
“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.”
Cecil B. DeMille
There is no doubt: storytelling is very effective. Whether you use stories in books, magazines, presentations, conversations, or in the visual domain – a great story is always powerful.
Since the earliest cave drawings, humans have been telling stories through art. Ancient cathedral ceilings and walls were decorated with paintings telling the stories of the gospels. Those who could not read were able to understand the biblical stories by contemplating the paintings. So it went on and on: generations would see the paintings and remember the stories behind it.
Contemporary artists tell similar stories: stories of religions, myths, legends, heroes, pleasure, pain, disappointment, betrayal, and so on.
The only difference is that today there is a multitude of traditional and digital art mediums to tell visual stories.
One reason why stories are so effective is because they trigger emotions, feelings, and associations with experiences in our life.
It is a fact that we need art in our life, and stories give our life and the art we see a deeper meaning.
To say it with American writer Joan Didion:
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
Why is storytelling in art important?
“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.”
Jonathan Gottschall
Storytelling in art is important because it is a very effective way of connecting with your audience. As we said above, people love stories.
Storytelling may take many different forms. Oftentimes, visual artists tell stories through their art without even being aware of it.
We all are sometimes scared of making art, so a blank canvas can be daunting. However, if you have a story to tell through your art, it is much easier to get started and fill the canvas with your ideas.
If you have an entire story with multiple chapters in your mind, even better! Just like writers of novels, artists can also tell stories in several volumes. That’s why artists work in series. It gives them the opportunity to create a number of interrelated works in their own art style and take their audience on a journey through their inner world.
Many artists use symbols, so the narrative becomes easier to understand for their audience.
What makes storytelling through artwork effective?
“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”
Robert McKee
Why do we tell stories? Because we want to share our feelings, experiences, and learnings. What did your parents tell you when you were a child? Stories!
“Storytelling captures an aspect of childhood experience when being told a story was a common ritual. It’s a warm place for most of us and in some ways represents our first experience in really listening.”
Paul Lansky
Stories let us connect with each other on a deeper and more meaningful level. Science backs this up.
Researchers found that the human brain is naturally inclined to narratives. People tend to remember facts better if they encounter them in a story rather than in a list. Our brain is not structured to retain facts for a very long time. It is structured to understand and retain stories.
By telling a story, the storyteller takes us on a journey. Sometimes, we can identify with the hero. Sometimes we can not. But all of the time, the story makes us feel something. Either something positive or negative. But it is these feelings that we can associate with and that make us remember the story.
That is also the reason that makes storytelling through artwork effective.
How can storytelling improve art?
Art that tells a story is called narrative art. With narrative art, you can tell an ongoing story with multiple chapters or a one-off tale.
Regardless of which option you choose, storytelling can improve art because it moves people and strongly resonates with them.
Visual communication is so incredibly powerful, because the viewer has something to relate to and interpret in their own way.
Regardless of what type of art you are creating – whether surreal art, popsurreal art, manga and anime art, abstract art, and so on, storytelling can always make your artwork more interesting. So why not give it a try!
How to tell a story through art?
Storytelling is something artists often use naturally in their artwork. Sometimes the story starts with an idea and continues until there is an entire collection of works.
It is very common that artists discover themes, concepts, or subject matters that inspire them to revisit time and time again.
If you feel that storytelling doesn’t come to you naturally, you can learn to incorporate stories into you art. It’s pretty easy.
Here are 5 steps to make storytelling through artwork effective.
5 Steps to make storytelling through artwork effective
STEP 1: Think of what you want to convey through your artwork.
Storytelling through artwork is most effective when you use a personal story. What do you want to convey through your artwork? What moves you?
Think of an even event, emotion, feeling, experience that is of great significance to you and that you want to depict in your art.
No matter what you’ve experienced or what you are feeling, chances are there will always be other people who share the same experiences or feelings.
When something awful happens, many of us tend to think that we are the only ones living through this bad experience. But that is far from truth.
You’ll be astonished how many people can relate to your experience and have empathy. When telling your story through your art, you’ll always meet people who see themselves in your art.
Expressing yourself through your art will make you more relatable and your art more popular.
Nowadays, collectors don’t buy art for the reputation or gallery representation of an artist. Instead, they base their buying decision on the intrinsic value of art, meaning they buy art they can personally relate to. That means artists who tell stories in their work tend to sell more art!
STEP 2: Gather inspirations, references, stock photos, …
Once you’ve made up your mind about what feeling or experience you want to tell in your artwork, it’s time to gather inspirations, references, or stock photos to help you realize your story visually.
If you want to depict an event that moved you emotionally, you might not immediately know how to express it through your art. That’s where gathering ideas can be helpful.
Take a look at other artists’ works to see how they expressed their feelings through their art. For example, I visually expressed the concept of being faced with carelessness in my works ‘oblivion.’ and ‘neglect.’ with the help of birds and pearls. If you are curious to know how I did that, jump over to the Making of ‘oblivion.’ where you can also learn more about my creative process.
Another example of mine is ‘Naufragée’ (French for castaway) that tells the story of being lost. As opposed to the two artworks above, ‘Naufragée’ is much more simple and less detailed. However, the fearful expression of the subject and the hands fighting for purchase clearly show the lostness. More about that in the Making of ‘Naufragée’.
If you create photo manipulations like myself, you can start gathering stock photos at this point of time, or make some sketches or doodles if that’s your thing!
STEP 3: Think out the basic storyline.
By thinking out the basic storyline I mean planning out the details. Let’s say you’ve gathered inspirations, reference images, stock images, or made sketches, so now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty.
If you have human characters in your artwork, what facial expressions do you want them to have? Are they sad, happy, fearful, crying…? What are they doing in your artwork, i.e. what is their position? Are they sitting or standing?
Body posture says a lot about your current state of mind. That means the position of your characters is an important factor to get across the message you want to convey as the artist.
Another very effective factor (apart from facial expression and posture) to tell a story through your artwork is gestures. Think about the position of the hands. Are the hands holding something or signaling something?
Another thing to consider is movement. Even though you cannot create moving artwork (well… actually nowadays you can), you can use negative space or blur to imply movement.
Try to think of as many details as possible to make your storytelling through your artwork effective.
How many main subjects and secondary subjects do you want to have? What is the setting? What is the furniture, the accessories, etc.?
Composition should also be considered at this point in time. There are different techniques you can use to make aesthetically appealing creations. There are certain principles and elements of design that already the old masters used to create unforgettable artworks. Using these principles, you can also create the illusion of space.
I’ve prepared a little eGuide for you that teaches you all the secrets to achieve outstanding artistic compositions. Simply head over to the Freebie Library and download the ‘Secrets of Good Composition in Art‘ for free!
By the way, if you are just starting out and find all of this stuff too overwhelming, don’t worry. Artists tend to put way too much pressure on themselves trying to make their art perfect. But your art doesn’t have to be perfect; rather you should embrace your mistakes!
STEP 4: Choose your color key and lighting.
Once you are clear about your basic storyline, you can go ahead and select the color key for your image. Color is a fundamental component to determine the mood of your artwork.
Light colors, or high-key colors, convey a happy and cheerful atmosphere. On the other hand, dark colors, or low-key colors, create a somber, sad, or dramatic feel. Mid-key colors are a blend of light and dark colors and convey a more neutral atmosphere.
What is the mood of the story you want to tell through your artwork? Try to match the mood of the color with the color key you choose.
The second important element to create atmosphere is the lighting. Lighting and color key go hand in hand. If you choose a bright color key, the lighting will usually be bright. With dark colors, the lighting will generally be darker, too.
However, lighting allows you to set highlights and put things into focus. Highlights in a low-key image can contribute to a sinister and mysterious atmosphere. If your artwork already has a happy and bright atmosphere, you can emphasize it through the lighting.
STEP 5: Speak about the story behind your artwork.
Do you think your artwork tells its story all by itself? To everyone who sees it? Perhaps not.
Even if you tell a story through your artwork, your art won’t completely speak for itself. It only tells part of the story. You’ll need to speak about the story behind your artwork, too.
People are usually curious to know more about an artwork and the artist behind it. They like to see and interpret the stories in your art for themselves, but they’d also like to learn more about the artist’s thoughts.
Explaining your art for the first time can be daunting. If you have never spoken about your art before, it might be hard to find the right words and feel comfortable talking about your feelings and experiences that went into the artwork.
But learning how to write or speak about your art is not as hard as you might think. Before I started to write about my work, I was convinced that I would never be able to do it. I believed I could never find the words to express what I had in mind when creating a particular piece.
But once I got started, I noticed that it is not even that difficult (still a little bit though…). But by now, I even enjoy speaking about my creative process!
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With that said, I wish you lots of joy on your creative journey and heaps of exciting stories to tell through your art!
Do you find storytelling in art important and do you tell stories through your artwork, too? Please leave comments and questions below or reach out to me directly. I’d love to hear from you! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
