11-26-2023, 03:55 AM
In my case, I think it's more about interest than comfort. Landscapes and architecture are actually easier for me than portraits, but I enjoy doing portraits more. Even in paintings where it's a full scene with both characters and background, I always enjoy painting the characters more. Back during my early years as a professional artist when I was working full-time in comics (from my late teens to mid-twenties), I felt the same way. Panels that required me to draw a bunch of buildings, cars, trees, street signs, furniture, etc., felt like a chore, but not when I was working on the characters.
I also discovered during that time period that I actually enjoyed writing the story more than illustrating it, and realized my main creative focus should be on writing/storytelling instead. The simplest way I can explain this is that I have never shed a tear or felt rage or despair or ecstatic joy when looking at or working on a drawing or painting, but I do all the time when I read or write. Tears would fall as I type an emotional scene, and that would never happen when I paint an emotional scene. Books, movies, TV shows, and video game cutscenes can make me feel things a single static image cannot. And I also find photojournalism to be a lot more resonant emotionally and intellectually than paintings because photos capture the most direct impact of reality.
I think that's the main reason I don't do visual storytelling in my paintings as much anymore like I used to. I spend my energy for storytelling on my writings, and with paintings, I focus on brushwork and visual design and imparting a certain aura.
One thing I do find that's unique with visual storytelling in a single image, is that it's very good at making the viewer curious, because often single image artworks excel at asking questions instead of answering them. The reason is because in order to answer the questions it asks, we need to see what happens next, and single image narratives are a split second frozen in time, so they cannot answer the questions unless the artist does a series of them (which is the root essence of comic books). Single image artworks that show the conclusion instead of asking the question have their own unique power, as they show the punchline without the setup, but compared to mediums that can set up the question and then answer it, it's inherently a bit less satisfying on a purely primal level.
I also discovered during that time period that I actually enjoyed writing the story more than illustrating it, and realized my main creative focus should be on writing/storytelling instead. The simplest way I can explain this is that I have never shed a tear or felt rage or despair or ecstatic joy when looking at or working on a drawing or painting, but I do all the time when I read or write. Tears would fall as I type an emotional scene, and that would never happen when I paint an emotional scene. Books, movies, TV shows, and video game cutscenes can make me feel things a single static image cannot. And I also find photojournalism to be a lot more resonant emotionally and intellectually than paintings because photos capture the most direct impact of reality.
I think that's the main reason I don't do visual storytelling in my paintings as much anymore like I used to. I spend my energy for storytelling on my writings, and with paintings, I focus on brushwork and visual design and imparting a certain aura.
One thing I do find that's unique with visual storytelling in a single image, is that it's very good at making the viewer curious, because often single image artworks excel at asking questions instead of answering them. The reason is because in order to answer the questions it asks, we need to see what happens next, and single image narratives are a split second frozen in time, so they cannot answer the questions unless the artist does a series of them (which is the root essence of comic books). Single image artworks that show the conclusion instead of asking the question have their own unique power, as they show the punchline without the setup, but compared to mediums that can set up the question and then answer it, it's inherently a bit less satisfying on a purely primal level.