10 Ways to Improve Your Visual Storytelling
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- Опубликовано: 10 май 2022
- Artists are all storytellers, no matter what medium or field. But, telling a story isn't just about expression - it's about communication. Enhancing these skills can impact how effective our art can convey the story we want to tell.
In this video, I share 10 ways to help improve visual storytelling skills through examples and personal experiences. Since the dawn of existence, humans have been communicating, through stories, reports, performances, often re-telling old stories to new audiences.
But, in looking at our own artwork, today, how can we improve our approach to communicate our message more quickly and effectively, in a vibrant visual representation that will easy to translate by viewers?
Here are just 10 Ways to Improve Your Visual Storytelling:
1. ORIGINALITY: Even re-telling an old story can be original.
2. IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE: Know who we're telling our story to.
3. MAKE IT PERSONAL: Knowing the truth behind a story makes it real.
4. ENJOY YOURSELF: When our art becomes a chore, it will show in the work and in the story.
5. MAKE IT ATTAINABLE: Having access to fresh ideas, quality materials, and the precious time to work is vital creating good artwork.
6. KEEP IT SIMPLE: It's best to keep things simple than overcomplicate with conflicting ideas, directions, or intentions.
7. A STORY IN ONE TAKE: The most memorable works of art tell at least one powerful story. Sometimes more.
8. COHERENCE & CONTINUITY: The flow from piece to piece, by the same hand.
9. THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: Too many details can generate unexpected problems. ("God is in the Details" suggests adding appropriate detail to elevate a piece of art without problems).
10. DONE IS GOOD: Knowing when a piece is finished prevents us from overworking it and possibly ruining it.
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The intent of my channel is to bring videos of useful content to help fellow artists and art students with insightful information, as well as bring consumers real-world reviews on the products we're likely to buy and use every day.
I'm always grateful for feedback to help improve my channel, so please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Thank you for your time watching! Cheers! ~ Mark
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As always, I'm finding your advice both timely and relatable. There are plenty of artists here on YT, but what really sets you apart (at least for me) is your wisdom and experience. I could listen to you talk about this stuff all day! Thanks for the video. You always make me want to get back into watercolor.
Thank you, Alyssa V. I am sincerely humbled by your kind feedback. I'm thrilled you enjoy what I present here and only wish I could do it more often. I sincerely hope you can find your way back to watercolor and to engage your creative spirit. Whether it's once a day, once a month, or even once a year, it's all beneficial! Thank you, again, and stay well! ~ Mark
Thank you for such a wonderfull explanation of how to tell the story in a composition, and communication. That is of great help thanks !!!!! I love your art work.
I'm really grateful for your feedback and I'm so happy you enjoyed this one and the artwork. Thank you, Delia Pita! Be well! ~ Mark
Thank you so much for this! So helpful to put all these points together and they can be applied in any form of art!
It's so great to hear from you, Vicky! Thank you for taking your time to check this one out. I hope all is well on your end and I appreciate your thoughts so much! ~ Mark
Hi Mark, Thank you for making this video. Your list is a good collection of "life rules". The tenth point isn't easy for perfectionists or people who work for them :-)
You invented a nice "family" for Inktober 2021, I really liked those drawings (still do).
I really appreciate your thoughts, Tina Krueger! Thank you! Especially grateful for your kind words about my Inktober 21 work! That is really nice of you! ~ Mark
Your RUclips channel rock! Completely relate with your students not knowing when to stop or add more.
I always love to watch you create and listen to your thoughts. Not sure I agree with you about the writing example with all of the brand names. Instead of being distracting, it helped me learn so much about the person being described. My take away was that they cared very much about appearances and having the best of everything.
Thank you, my friend! I'm grateful that you chose to share your perspective on the writing aspect. I was a big Stephen King reader back in the 80s and often found myself skipping pages of extraneous detail that, for me, cause my attention to drift away from the story. But, I completely see your point of view and can certainly appreciate a broader palette of details lending toward the characters, story, and even location. I like that and glad you shared! Hoping all is well! ~ Mark
@@MDCampbell We were reading Stephen King at the same time! I loved all those extra details in The Stand. I am doing well and keep up my art practice every day. I cut way back on Instagram posting because It ate up so much time. During Covid, I started having a weekly art chat Zoom call with a few of my IG friends.This real-time show and tell gave me the creative community I needed. Maybe a topic for a future video (Do Artists Need Other Artists?)
I like taking concepts from podcast I listen to and thoughts I have and translate them into art... I'm not always very good at it, but I enjoy it. It's all based on distiling my understanding... which is basically what art is.... at least to me.
And I totally get the good enough... I don't look for perfection, just good enough. It's easier to add later when you see what more is needed and your confident in doing it than to push it and ruin it when you liked what you had done up to that point.
That is such a great idea, Jenny's gettin' inky with it! I'm reminded of when I was in college and would doodle during lectures. The doodles would be exactly what the lector was discussing, usually with a humorous twist. The thing is, it got me to remember what had been discussed, even weeks later. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and I'm excited to try your idea of doodling while listening to podcasts. Great idea!! ~ Mark
Thanks for this video. I learned very much.
I took down notes. If you don't like it, you can freely delete my comment thank you❤❤❤
10 ways to improve your visual storytelling:
1. Originality
📌 Telling or retelling a story in a unique voice.
📌 Talk with your own voice
2. Identify your audience
📌 Understand exactly who your work appeals to.
📌 Self-explanatory
3. Make it personal (relatable)
📌 Personal experiences make a story more relatable.
📌 Don't forget emotion even if it's just a leaf
📌 Make it relatable
4. Enjoy yourself
📌When we enjoy creating art others enjoy seeing it.
📌 Choose something that you'd enjoy
5. It must be attainable
📌 We must have realistic goals, skills, and expectations.
📌 Be sure you know how to do it
📌 Working outside or comfort zone is different from not working outside our skillset
6. Keeping it simple
📌 Simple stories are often the most successful.
📌 Avoid clutter.
📌 Avoid unnecessary elements to be added
• Too much trees
• Too much rocks
• Too much houses
• Everything in the background that should not be included should not be put.
📌 Make it universal, imagine an airport and wanting all ethnicities with different languages understand it.
7. A story in One Take
📌 Allow a single piece of art to tell an entire story.
📌 Make sure all the information is included in one picture.
📌 Imagine an opening of a movie, where in one shot you get an idea of the whole movie.
📌 The piece should be able to tell the story on its own .
Communicate with:
• Emotions
• Color
• Texture
• Words
• Shapes
8. Coherence and Continuity
📌 Artwork in a collection that flows seamlessly
📌 For a collection and not a singular drawing.
📌 Consistency in style
📌 Continuity like in video making
9. The devil is in the details
📌 There's a fine line between too much detail and not enough.
📌 Somehow, related to No. 6 but more on pertaining to unnecessary over-detailing:
• Hatching
• Lining
• Coloring
• Product names and it's flavors and types if we're talking about a movie script.
• Over-highlighting a specific area of a drawing.
📌 Including a highly detailed elements causes distraction.
10. Done is good.
📌 Overworking a piece can have devastating results.
📌 Don't overdo things.
📌 It's important to know when a piece is finished.
📌 When a piece is 3/4 done, get back to it after a short/long break with a FRESH SET OF EYES and see if it's done. Done is good.
I have just recently gotten a lot more free time and wanted to start doing just this! This popped into my recommended at the perfect time!! :D
Wow, that's great to hear, MissHulabuloo The1st!! I hope what I've provided is helpful in some way or, if for nothing else, gets you excited to indulge in your creative adventure! Best wishes and thank you for checking this one out! ~ Mark
Your advice is gold! Thanks!
Thank you for such kind words! I really appreciate that and happy you chose to comment. Cheers!
This is really interesting and it gives me things to consider while drawing. Thank you for all your helpful videos. You and this channel are amazing 💙
Thank you, Emily Love! I'm happy you found this one interesting and enjoy the work I'm doing! I'm grateful for your generous time and feedback! Stay well! Mark
Thanks Mark for this remarkable video. Actually, it is super useful and applicable not only in art but in all life.
Thanks again and again.
You are always so kind in your feedback, ismail abdelhamid. Thank you for that. I'm very fortunate for your time. Thank YOU, again and again! :)
Elizabeth Keefner here: Insightful as always. I very much appreciate your thoughts and wisdom. Thank you.
You're very welcome, Elizabeth Keefnew, and thank you so much for your considerate and thoughtful feedback. I'm grateful! ~ Mark
This video is so underrated!! 🔥
Thanks for the advice 🙏 👍 ☺️
@davidbriggs1031 thank you for such kind feedback. I haven't been posting much on RUclips lately, as other things in my life require more attention. However, reading this gave me a smile and really made me happy that you took the time to write. I hope you're enjoying your creative journey and having fun! Take care! ~ Mark
Fascinating insights! Thanks for sharing these tips! 💯
THANK YOU! You are amazing.! I got a lot of inspiration from you.
Wau, You have truly set up lots of meditation, time, to clear all these ideas and how to tell it . Very interesting. Will be listening more of your videos.
Thank you for making this video! I remembered that simplicity makes the story more understandable. By the way, Jesus loves you!
I really appreciate your kind and generous words, Zond whom loves Jesus! I'm really happy you enjoyed this one! ~ Mark
Your ideas are very interesting. However, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is not a riff on the Three Musketeers. It was originally a comic book parody of the work of Frank Miller made for hardcore comic book geeks at the time.
Funny how the comic got turned into a child friendly show
Great tips and well presented . The painting is interesting and fun.
Thank you so much, Elly Space!!
Incredible that anyone would criticize R. Crumb...
I am not anywhere good enough to be able to tell a story through art. I hope to be. But, I need more practice.
As I tell first year students, if you can draw two stick figures, you can tell a story. Right? I can only suggest we let the story happen and be amazed at what we can tell. Thanks for checking this one out, Diane! I hope you are well! :)
Fantastic advice as always!!
Thank you, my friend! I appreciate your time checking this one out. Hoping all is well! :)
😊
Hey Mark, how are things going? trust the family are all well. i admired your little palette, but i keep feeling like i am doing something wrong in watercolour when i prepared the amount of paint i want in a separate palette rather than take directly from the pan. I dont like to dirty my watercolour pans. it is wrong of me to take the paint from the pan and prepared them in a separate palette for use?
Good evening, Made by Dawn! Things are well on this end, considering all, and I hope all is well on your end! My family are healthy and happy, so that's all I can pray for! As for the way you work with watercolor, it's perfect just how you're doing it. By that, I mean, whatever is working for you is the best way to work with them. For me, I also don't like to dirty up my pans or my sets. So, I mix all my colors in my ceramic palettes (or in the included palette for some tins). I draw pure color from the pan, but bring it over into water to dilute for painting. Not sure if that's helpful, but it's how I typically work. I never work directly off a pan or out of the tube, if that makes sense! Thank you, as always, for checking this one out. I'm always grateful to hear from you! Stay well! ~ Mark
hm.. it seems a little harsh to me to say other artists are drawing 'just a leaf' or something static in a way that's essentially meaningless... it's like you say elsewhere, that's probably a meditative and meaningful practice for people. their 'spirit' could be in trying to commune with the nature of the object they're recreating?
or what do you mean about 'random colour palette'? there's a lot of fun in just playing with colours in some intuitive way ...
I think you misunderstood him. He was speaking in the context of expressing emotions, stories, and personality through the piece, not implying that their art is meaningless. People who practice art for meditation are probably not trying to tell a story. Random color selections are like trying to express an idea/story through a random jumble of words. How effective would that writer be? Playing with colors isn’t bad, it’s just not storytelling.