6 March 2009

Storytelling / Jon Foster

This illustration by Jon Foster is a great demonstration of how to reveal a story in a static artwork, with its excellent composition and unusual cropping.

You'll probably first notice the passengers expression because of their direct gaze (eye contact being the strongest way to attract a viewer's attention). Next, your attention will likely cycle around the passengers flapping t-shirt (which has been deliberately painted in green; the complimentary colour to red, which is used for the vehicle) to the passengers arm, which leads you past the driver, down to the cartoon character, and on to the twisting tubes and detailed engine, before coming back up again to the passenger.

Skyborn, Jon Foster

It's only once you've cycled around the composition and become familiar with the larger, more detailed and colourful elements that you notice the vehicles in pursuit—painted in muted colours and softer contrasts—revealing the images context as a chase scene.