Do you still go on iscribble? I think i've watched every speed paint you have up there and they're so mesmerizing. I love how they go from just blobs of colour and value into these epic compositions. I envy your storytelling and would love to know what would be best in terms of giving art more "umph" or feeling? The comic you did with Orianna and Blitz or the one with Kindred and Soraka, they're FULL of emotion and always make me feel something. Love you art to death :)
Hiya! I pop on iS every now and then, but I don’t use it for sketching anymore.. the new HTML shift kinda changed the feel of its response, and I’m just more comfortable working in Photoshop. Glad you like the replays though, it’s a great feature for sure.
There are multiple things that contribute to storytelling in an illustration/comic: Frame composition, shapes within the frame, camera lens, camera position, lighting, colour, props/background. And then there’s the characters themselves with body language, gesture and expression(acting). Alot of this study is closely tied to cinema!
Pushing for emotional impact often rely on camera placement and framing/shot size to ‘put you in the moment’ or ‘in someone’s shoes’. Colour and value(and every other element/principle of art) helps direct your eye and can enhance the emotions even more.
Book recommendations!!!!!
Framed Ink : Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers, Marcos Mateu-Mestre
The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media, Bruce Block
Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know, Jennifer Van Sijill
What I like to first do when working on a scene is to decide what part of the story/moment appeals to me the most, then work toward selling that scene. It’s a highly subjective process and everyone has their personal way of composing from the same idea, the challenge comes in leaving a strongest impression.
The Blitz/Ori comic was really bare- simple render/lighting, no backgrounds, alot of close-ups. But its simplicity helped immerse you in the scene more, since the characters and their emotion(or lack of) are the focus of the story. (but this doesn’t work all the time, context is very important). The frames lead the viewer’s eye, and you have to be conscious of what visual information you’re putting in(or leaving out).
I left the general palette muted and dull to synergize with the mood, and let the colour blue be the contrast colour of the light(life). I’m not always aware of what I’m doing, but the more you understand what you need, the more you can design your work to be successful.
I can’t tell you how to UMPH a piece of art in the best way- there are only multiple variations with different focuses. Build your own visual library of artwork like illustrations or screenshots from film/comics that you find interesting. Learn the conventions that artists use by breaking down an image to its elements. You’ll start seeing patterns everywhere. And if that’s difficult, just look around online for blogs/tutorials/studies where smart people explain the thing for you.
Good luck! Practice alot! And constantly ask friends/people for feedback. They don’t have to offer fullblown critique- they’re just as valuable for telling you that ‘they don’t understand what something is’ or ‘something feels off’ or if their response is opposite of what you hoped to achieve.
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