Image source: Drawbridgepuppets.com

You can’t simply be a good artist and expect to get ahead in the world of visual effects. You also have to be a great storyteller. After all, your artwork will fit into the overall story of a movie or video game, so it’s critical that you understand how your artwork will cooperate with the other components in the story to create a cohesive whole. Follow these basic tips to become a better storyteller.

1. Tell Stories

This is one of the most obvious and effective ways to improve your storytelling skills. Get out there and just start making up stories. Play roleplaying games. Write short stories. Create short films. Write a play. Join a creative forum and do a collaborative storytelling project. Make up stories on the fly when you tuck your kids into bed rather than reading a story from a book. Whatever the case, flexing those creative muscles will give you greater insight the next time you sit down in front of the drawing board.

Image source: Jamiecrawford.co.uk

2. Create the Same Art Piece from Different Angles

Take a piece of art and then recreate it from a completely different perspective. As artists, we often set up a scene so that everything works together oh-so-perfectly. If you’re looking at the scene from a different angle, however, suddenly your perfectly framed image is all out of whack.

The picture below is a pretty good example. The bright sun on the right and the dark shadows on the mountain to the left create an interesting visual contrast, but are you a skilled enough artist to make the scene look beautiful if you were viewing the image from the back, instead of from the front?

Image source: Gnomonschool.deviantart.com

3. Don’t Tip Your Hand

A good story needs a good climax. You can ruin the dramatic tension of the art piece by giving too much away. It’s certainly acceptable to allude or foreshadow other elements of the movie or video game, but just be careful not to show too much too soon. The key is to always hold a little bit in reserve. To continue the card game analogy, always keep an ace up your sleeve. Showing lots of explosions will water down your explosion-filled climax, and washing every scene in red tones will similarly numb the audience to a bloody conclusion.

Image source: Tobinrussell.com

4. Do Something Wild

Here’s a clever quote from artist Craig Frazier: “The moment a viewer is surprised because something isn’t the way they expected is the moment you have captured their interest and opened their imagination.”

I couldn’t agree more. Being original will capture the heart and imagination of your audience, so think outside of the box in order to come up with the next great idea.

Right at this very second, hundreds or possibly even thousands of artists across the world are practicing their artistic skills. Don’t get left in the dust! At the Gnomon School, you’ll learn invaluable techniques that can help you take your art skills to the next level. Discover new and exciting sources of inspiration! Learn art techniques from veterans of the industry! Learn how to create a niche for yourself in this ever-growing market! Are you ready to become a better artist? Get started today!