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I WAS IDLY BROWSING in a model shop, finding myself intrigued and
entertained by all the model railway supplies, which included thoroughly realistic
buildings, trains and other props. I was particularly drawn to a series of large-scale
human figures made by the German model maker Preiser, which stood out from
the crowd due to their realism, both in the modeling and in the choice of situation
in which the characters were portrayed.
One set of figures baffled me. It was a group containing three elements: a man
slumped in a chair, a woman holding a brassiere, and an open suitcase. It was a
while before the scenario dawned on me: the man has just returned from a trip and
his wife, unpacking his suitcase, has come across a piece of underwear belonging
to another woman.
Whole novels and movies have been based on plots such as this – and yet here
was the entire story, told with just three figures, all packaged in a box measuring
just a few inches on each side. The body language all makes sense: the fury in
the face of the woman, her mouth open mid-yell, her finger pointing accusingly.
There’s a look of utter resignation on the face of the man; unable to meet his wife’s
eye, his whole body is slumped in an attitude of defeat. He’s dressed for work
rather than pleasure – this has clearly been a business trip rather than a vacation.
Her more casual clothing, meanwhile, confirms that she has not been on the trip
with him. And finally, the crucial third element: the suitcase, its crumpled contents
signifying that this is the end of a trip rather than the beginning of one.
There isn’t a wasted element in this box, and it tells its story with total
economy. Every detail is essential to the tale, and has been calculated to
perfection. It’s all muscle, and no fat.
This is the ideal we strive for when we construct a montage in Photoshop.
We’re not just throwing elements onto the page, we’re telling a story. And we have
to bear in mind the questions the viewer will be asking: what are these people
doing in this situation? What’s their relationship with each other? Where are they
located? What happens next?
I N T E R L U D E
I want to tell you a story
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Earlier in this book, we looked
at how the relationship between
characters could, to a large extent,
be explained by their body language,
by their relative poses. The same
considerations come into play
when we choose a background sky,
for example. If it’s doom-laden, is
this because we want to convey an
air of foreboding? If it’s bright and
sunny, then are we being optimistic
in our outlook?
Every element we incorporate into a montage helps to tell the story, and
we have to be sure that every element earns its place. The temptation to chuck
in various items of interest is a trap we all fall into, myself included – but the
best illustrations are usually those that get their point across with simplicity and
elegance.
When you’re creating your montages, bear in mind that people like to read
pictures in much the same way as they read a book. They start with no knowledge
of the plot, and their job is to interpret the sense of the image from the visual clues.
Your job, as the illustrator, is to feed them the story. It doesn’t have to be obvious at
first glance: like the railway model, you can choose to make it reveal its true nature
only upon close inspection.
The most complex stories can often be told with surprising conciseness. Ernest
Hemingway once claimed that the best thing he’d ever written was the following
six-word story: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. It’s poignant, elegant, almost heart-
breaking in its resonance. This is the simplicity we seek as illustrators: we can play
with the emotions of our audience as we gradually reveal to them the story we
want to tell.
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