Tips for Building Narrative in Your Art
Every Picture Tells a Story:
Visual art is a powerful storytelling medium. Think about the swirling night sky of Van Gogh or the dreamlike scenes of Magritte – these artworks captivate us not just with beauty, but with narrative. In other words, they convey a story or meaning that goes beyond the paint. As an artist, learning to infuse narrative into your digital work, paintings, or drawings can deepen their impact and connect with viewers on a whole new level. But how do you tell a story with a single image? In this guide, we'll explore what narrative art means and share friendly, practical tips to help beginners and intermediate artists start building compelling stories in their own artwork. Along the way, we'll draw inspiration from masters like Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Johannes Vermeer, René Magritte, and Edward Hopper – artists who each prove that every picture truly tells a story.
What Does “Narrative” in Art Mean?
In simple terms, narrative art is art that tells a story. It’s the visual message or story that a piece of art communicates to the viewer. This story might be explicit – for example, a painting of a historical event or a mythological scene with a clear beginning, middle, and end. But narrative can also be implicit and subtle – an emotional undercurrent or a suggested sequence of events that the viewer senses without it being spelled out. A famous example is Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. On the surface, it’s a nighttime landscape; but art lovers often interpret it as “not merely a depiction of a serene night sky but an emotional outpouring of the artist’s struggles... The swirling stars and the quiet village below become metaphors for the turmoil within his mind”. In other words, the painting’s narrative is Van Gogh’s inner life at the time – his longing for tranquility amid mental turmoil.
Narrative can be found in many forms of art, from the vibrant self-portraits of Frida Kahlo (which boldly depict her personal pain and identity) to the silent, cinematic scenes of Edward Hopper (which often evoke feelings of isolation or nostalgia and invite us to imagine the characters’ stories). Even abstract art can be narrative: Jackson Pollock’s action paintings, for instance, might look like chaotic splatters, but they “invite viewers to engage with the process of creation” and find their own meaning in the colors and shapes. Pollock himself believed “every good painter paints what he is”– suggesting that the story of a painting is ultimately the story of the artist. No matter the style, narrative art aims to connect with the viewer’s mind and heart. It’s like a silent dialogue between artist and viewer: the artist uses images instead of words to convey something, and the viewer interprets and feels that story in their own personal way.
Why Storytelling Enhances Your Artwork
Why bother adding a narrative element to your art? Simply put, storytelling can make your artwork more engaging and meaningful. Humans are storytelling creatures; we’re naturally drawn to images that make us feel something or spark our imagination. When you infuse a bit of story or message into your painting, you create a richer experience for your audience. They might admire the technique or colors at first, but it’s the underlying story that will linger in their minds. As painter Edward Hopper famously said, “If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” In other words, some feelings or ideas are best communicated visually.
Telling a story through art also helps express your voice. It’s a chance to put pieces of yourself, your experiences, or your imagination onto the canvas. Pablo Picasso once remarked that “painting is just another way of keeping a diary”. That diary-like quality is the narrative – your art can reflect your life, passions, or beliefs in ways that viewers find authentic and relatable. Likewise, Frida Kahlo said, “I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” Her paintings were deeply personal visual stories about her pain, love, and culture, and that sincerity is exactly why they resonate with so many people.
Finally, adding narrative doesn’t limit your creativity – in fact, it can inspire it! When you have a story or message in mind, you often experiment boldly with composition, color, and detail to communicate it. The process of planning how to get the story across can push you to try new techniques or imagery. And remember, the narrative doesn’t have to be obvious or universal. Each person who sees your work may take away a different story or emotion (and that’s a good thing). René Magritte, the surrealist known for his mysterious scenes, put it this way: “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” In art, leaving a bit unsaid, a touch of mystery, invites viewers to dive in and find their own meaning. This personal engagement can make your artwork more memorable and powerful.
How to Create Narrative in Your Artwork
There’s no single “right” way to build a good narrative, art is wonderfully personal, but here are some approachable tips and techniques to get you started on storytelling in art. These ideas are meant for beginners and intermediate artists, but even advanced artists know there’s always more to explore with narrative! Feel free to adapt these suggestions to your style and medium.
Begin with a Subject You Care About: Start by choosing a theme, subject, or idea that means something to you. It could be a memory, a feeling, a poem, a social issue, or even a simple daily life moment that left an impression. When you care about the story you're telling, it shows in the art. For example, Frida Kahlo painted her own experiences and emotions – her joy, heartbreak, and heritage – which gave her work powerful narrative depth. If you’re not sure what story to begin with, try this exercise: jot down a few personal experiences or beliefs that matter to you, and create imagery that comes to mind for each. Even a lighthearted idea (like “my cat’s secret life when I’m not home” or a favorite childhood memory) can be a charming narrative for a painting. The key is that you feel some connection to it. As Vincent van Gogh wrote in a letter, “I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'.” When your art stems from an honest place, viewers are more likely to feel that and find a story in it.
Plan the “Scene” and Focal Point: Once you have an idea or story in mind, think of yourself as a director setting up a scene. What subjects or objects will you include in the artwork to convey the story? Who or what are the “characters” of your visual tale? If your story is literal (say, a girl reading a letter), you might draw the girl, the letter in her hand, and maybe the setting around her that gives context. If your story is conceptual (say, the feeling of loneliness), you might depict a single figure in an empty room, or an isolated tree in a vast landscape – something that symbolizes that feeling. Decide on a focal point: the element that the viewer’s eye is drawn to first. That focal point is usually the star of your story. In a narrative painting, typically the focal point might be a person’s face or body language, or a vividly colored object amid muted surroundings – whatever element is most crucial to the story. For instance, in Johannes Vermeer’s painting Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, a young woman engrossed in a letter is the focal point, and it immediately sparks our curiosity about the letter’s contents (the implied story). By planning your composition around key storytelling elements (who, where, what), you set the stage for your narrative.
Use Details and Symbols as Clues: In narrative art, details are your friends. Little details or symbols in your artwork can act like clues that enrich the story. Think like a storyteller: what hints can you give the viewer about the plot or the characters? For example, imagine you’re painting a portrait of an elderly man. A simple portrait might just show his face, but a narrative portrait might include meaningful details around him – perhaps he’s holding a wrinkled letter (suggesting a backstory of correspondence or news), or there’s a family photograph on a table, or the lighting is coming from a TV displaying a wartime documentary. Each detail can hint at elements of his life story without explicitly spelling it out. Many great artists have used symbolism this way. Frida Kahlo packed her self-portraits with personal symbols (monkeys, flowers, a broken column) that represented aspects of her life and pain. You don’t have to be that surreal or complex, but even one or two well-chosen details can elevate your piece from a picture to a narrative. A vase of wilting flowers on a table might convey loss or the passage of time; a bright balloon stuck in a tree might evoke childhood or freedom. Brainstorm a few objects or visual motifs related to your theme and see if you can incorporate one or two in the scene. These details invite viewers to linger and discover the layers of your story.
Convey Mood with Color and Lighting: The colors and lighting you choose are like the tone of voice of your story. They set the mood and can hint at the emotions or themes behind the narrative. Ask yourself: should this story feel happy and bright, dark and somber, mysterious and dreamy, or something else? Then consider using a color scheme and light/shadow to match. For a joyful or hopeful narrative, you might use warm, vibrant colors and a sunny or soft light. For a melancholic or tense narrative, cooler or duller colors with high-contrast shadows might work better. Think of Edward Hopper’s paintings, like Nighthawks or Automat: he used stark electric light and deep evening shadows to create a mood of loneliness and contemplation, which fit the quiet urban stories he was telling. On the other hand, Vincent van Gogh pushed color to an extreme to express emotion – Starry Night’s intense blues and yellows, for example, swirl with emotional energy, conveying both the beauty of the night and the chaos he felt. You can do this on a smaller scale in your own work. If the story you want to tell is tender and nostalgic, maybe wash the scene in gentle sepia tones. If it’s about conflict, use sharp color contrasts (complementary colors like blue/orange or red/green in tension). Don’t be afraid to let the colors exaggerate the feeling – as van Gogh believed, it’s important that the color speaks. Similarly, consider the direction and quality of light in your scene: are you painting a dawn (new beginnings), a twilight (ending or uncertainty), a dramatic spotlight (focus and drama), or a flat dull light (calm or bleakness)? These choices can subconsciously cue the viewer into the narrative’s mood.
Compose for Storytelling: Composition – how you arrange elements in your artwork – has a big impact on narrative. A good composition not only looks balanced but also guides the viewer’s eye through the image in a way that can mimic a story flow. For instance, you might place elements so that the viewer’s gaze moves from one character to another, creating a sense of interaction, or from foreground to background, creating a sense of depth in time or space. Johannes Vermeer often used windows or maps on the wall in his compositions to add context and direct attention, quietly suggesting a world beyond the frame (think of the map behind the Girl Reading a Letter, hinting at far-off places related to the letter’s news). You can use lines and angles in your composition to lead the eye: a road or fence that leads toward the main subject, or the gaze of a figure looking toward something important. Also, consider framing and cropping. Do you show the whole scene or crop in tight on a key moment? A closer crop can intensify the narrative focus (like a close-up in film), whereas a wide view can show more context and subplots. If your story has multiple characters or elements, you can compose in a way that the relationships between those elements are clear. For example, placing two figures far apart versus close together tells a different story about their relationship. Composition can also create suspense: imagine a composition where a character is staring at something just off-canvas – the viewer will naturally wonder, what are they looking at? That unanswered question becomes part of the narrative intrigue.
Invite the Viewer’s Imagination: A great narrative artwork doesn’t explain everything – it lets the viewer become part of the storytelling process. Leave some things open to interpretation. This doesn’t mean your painting should be confusing; rather, include suggestive elements and allow the audience to connect the dots. Surreal or symbolic art does this a lot, but even very realistic art can leave questions unanswered on purpose. René Magritte’s surreal paintings are excellent examples – his works (like a man with an apple covering his face) don’t come with a caption explaining “this means X.” Instead, they present an intriguing scenario and trust that we, the viewers, will supply meaning from our own minds. Magritte noted that viewers have an “interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us”– in other words, we love a little mystery. So you might paint a scene that captures a moment in a longer story, and the viewer will wonder what happened before and after that moment. (Think of Edward Hopper again: in Nighthawks, four people sit in a diner late at night. Nothing obvious “happens,” but we can’t help imagining who these people are, what loneliness or stories brought them there, and what they might do when they leave.) To practice this, you could sketch a simple story with a few panels (like a comic strip) showing a beginning, middle, and end – then try painting only the middle scene. Aim to paint it in a way that the viewer can sense the prior events and anticipate the outcome without you depicting them outright. This engages the audience’s imagination, making them co-creators of the narrative. Remember, as an artist you are suggesting a story, not forcing a single interpretation. Every viewer might walk away with a slightly different story in mind, and that’s actually wonderful. It means your art is alive and interacting with each person uniquely.
Learn from the Masters (and Your Peers): As you experiment with narrative, keep looking at narrative artwork by others for inspiration and insight. The masters we’ve mentioned each have something to teach. Van Gogh teaches us to pour genuine emotion into our work (and that personal expression is narrative). Frida Kahlo shows how personal symbolism can make an artwork deeply intimate and storytelling. Jackson Pollock reminds us that even abstract techniques can convey the story of the artist’s state of mind or process. Vermeer demonstrates the beauty of everyday stories – that quiet, ordinary moments (a maid pouring milk, a musician tuning a lute) can be poetic and meaningful. Magritte encourages us to be playful and thought-provoking, using imagery that asks questions rather than answers them. Edward Hopper shows the power of mood and leaving things unsaid, allowing viewers to fill in the blanks. Beyond famous artists, look at contemporary art in galleries or online communities – many modern painters, illustrators, and digital artists are doing exciting narrative work right now. Notice how a concept artist tells a story about a game or movie character in one frame, or how a comic artist uses composition differently from a fine art painter. Quote: “Artists utilize symbols, colors, composition, and even the absence of elements to craft narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.” In other words, there are countless ways to tell a story visually. By observing and even emulating techniques from others, you’ll discover approaches that suit your style. Don’t be afraid to mash up ideas: maybe you love the color expressiveness of van Gogh and the mysterious gaps in Magritte’s logic – why not combine those influences in your next piece?
Practice with Small Projects: Lastly, treat narrative-building as a fun, exploratory part of your art journey. You can start small. Try a series of quick sketches where each sketch conveys a simple story (for example: “lonely at the playground”, “finding a surprise gift”, “chasing a dream” – any prompt you like). Stick figures or rough drawings are fine; the goal is to train your brain to think in terms of story. Another idea is to illustrate a favorite short story or fairy tale in one image – how would you compress that narrative into a single scene? This is a common challenge illustration artists tackle, and it can sharpen your narrative skills. By practicing on low-pressure projects, you’ll build confidence to pour narrative into more serious pieces.
Embrace Your Own Art Story
Above all, remember that your art is your story. There is no formula for narrative art, and that’s the exciting part – you get to decide what story you want to tell and how to tell it. Don’t worry about being as profound as the masters we talked about. Narrative can be found in a heartfelt doodle or a beginner’s painting just as much as in a museum masterpiece. Start with the stories you want to share, whether big or small. Maybe this means painting a scene from your life that moved you or creating a fantasy piece that expresses an idea you care about. Approach it with curiosity and trust your imagination.
Over time, you’ll develop your own narrative style. Some artists naturally lean toward very clear, illustrative storytelling; others prefer whispering in riddles and metaphors. Both are valid. As long as you are creating art that has meaning to you and invites viewers in, you’re on the right track. And remember, every time someone views your art, a new narrative is born – a mix of your intention and their perception. That’s the magic of narrative art: it lives between the artwork and the audience, in a shared imaginative space.
Ready to tell your story through art? Give these tips a try in your next project. Even if it feels challenging at first, enjoy the process. Narratives might not click overnight, but with practice, you’ll find it becomes an inspiring part of how you plan and create your pieces. Keep learning from artworks you admire, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep expressing your truth. Your canvas can truly become your storybook.
A minimalist graphic representing a creative community. We’d love to hear your art’s stories! Feel free to share your experiences or artwork in the comments. If you’re looking for a supportive space to continue learning and growing, come join us at Pixel Palette Nation (PPN) – our friendly online community for creatives. At PPN, we regularly share educational content like this, along with workshops, challenges, and discussions with like-minded artists who are also exploring their creative journeys. Whether you want feedback on a piece or just to connect with peers who love art, we welcome you. Together, we can inspire each other to paint, draw, and design the stories that matter to us. So keep creating, keep storytelling, and join the conversation with Pixel Palette Nation – we can’t wait to see what narratives you bring to life. Happy art-making!
Sources
date published
reading time
8-10 min
