Depicting Motion In Illustration

How do illustrators convey motion when creating static images?

As a case study, we can’t go past Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Others have analysed her illustrations in depth. Although soft watercolours aren’t the usual medium for high action, life-or-death picture books these days, Potter successfully used soft watercolours to create excitement. It’s deceptive. Impressively, she created high action illustrations even without the comic book flourishes, without the slashes of primary colour, without the art noir techniques.

THE FIELD OF UNIFIED MOTION

Building a field of unified motion has been an artist’s tool for attracting the viewer’s attention. A unified field of motion keeps the image coherent, sustains the attention of the viewer and, invests the image with an enlivening spirit, “its Alive!” We pay more attention to active than inert subjects.

J.M.W. Turner took pride in his ability to suggest motion. He invested so much motion in his later works that viewers complained he sacrificed legibility. But, motion is more evocative of vitality than objects delineated in stasis. Turner’s fascination with motion inspired him to create his famous early 1844 locomotive painting, “Rain Steam and Speed”. The entire surface roils with clouds of movement.

David Dunlop

In his post, David Dunlop also talks about Degas and Van Gogh, and points out how natural weather events contribute to motion. Wind is one such event.

Rain is another, creating a natural sense of vertical motion, except of course when it’s accompanied by wind.

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite 1888 - 1960 The Storm
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite 1888 – 1960 The Storm

Back to children’s books, Blinky Bill is another interesting case study into motion, partly because koalas are famous for doing nothing all day (or appearing to). Yet Dorothy Wall created a story full of action. For young readers who knew koalas, this in itself would have functioned as a comic paradox.

By 1933, the comic book conventions are established. Notice the motion lines of the kangaroo, of the items flying off the desk, and of Blinky Bill’s slingshot. The image of Madam Hare reprimanding Brer Rabbit is more interesting, because Wall has used a motion flourish behind the onlookers, who are still, to suggest drama. The black flourish itself looks like a massive motion line. Wall reuses this technique in the final blow, where Madam Hare delivers a parting kick. This time, Wall makes use of ‘pow!’ lines as well as that black, background flourish.

More modern children’s book illustrators also use comic book flourishes to suggest motion. In full colour illustration, the white brush stroke is aesthetically pleasing.

The troll from the Three Billy Goats Gruff flies through the air. Illustration by Robert Lumley.

Chris Van Dusen also uses the interesting technique of bordering his characters in a thin corona of white aand/or yellow, to help them stand out against his beautifully detailed backgrounds. (Basically this is his way of dealing with aerial perspective.)

Mercy Watson Goes For A Ride, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

Mo speed, mo lines. The entire road in this poster comprises motion lines.

Le Mans 1954 poster by Charles Avalon motion
Le Mans 1954 poster by Charles Avalon motion
Alfred Crocker Leighton (1901-1965) Canadian travel poster 1933
Alfred Crocker Leighton (1901-1965) Canadian travel poster 1933
Alfred Crocker Leighton (1901-1965) Canadian Pacific Railway poster for use in the travel market in Belgium, ca 1930
Alfred Crocker Leighton (1901-1965) Canadian Pacific Railway poster for use in the travel market in Belgium, ca 1930
1928 car advertisement with eagle by Lagache motion
1928 car advertisement with eagle by Lagache
Grant Haffner
Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman for the Pontiac Bonneville Vista, 1960. Less lean and sway on turns, corners, curves.

Back to Billy Goats Gruff and Robert Lumley. No motion lines here, but we do have a visual depiction of sound, which coincides with the goat trip-trapping across that bridge. This technique is especially widespread throughout manga, which originate in Japan — a language rich in onomatopoeia and mimesis.

Robert Lumley illustrates the billy goat trotting across the bridge.

The Art Deco poster below uses decoration to double-duty as the motion of ringing bells and a visual representation of the ringing coming out of them.

Certain objects lend themselves to motion, and in this case the motion of the lasso provides a ‘grid’ for the entire composition. This is an excellent case of typography helping out with the sense of motion.

Cover by N. Zimelli, 1931 motion
Cover by N. Zimelli, 1931
magazine cover from 1927
magazine cover from 1927

As Beatrix Potter knew, watercolour, in the hands of a master painter, is excellent for depicting motion. Even in the hands of a master painter, it always does its own thing, and this unpredictability is felt by the viewer.

Janusz Grabianski (1929-1976), Polish children’s book illustrator. This fox in motion is from The Big Book of Animal Stories, 1961
Franz Marc (1880–1916) The Foxes 1913
Dugald Stewart Walker illustrator, Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) writer, ‘Rainbow gold; poems old and new selected for boys and girls’ 1922-6
LADY FILMY FERN or The Voyage of the Window Box (early 1930s and 1980) Edward Bawden sandstorm
Harry Beckhoff (1901–1979) Reader's Digest illustration from the 1950s, train, motion
Harry Beckhoff (1901–1979) Reader’s Digest illustration from the 1950s
Robert L. Dickey 1930
Robert L. Dickey 1930
Robert Falcucci (1900–1982) Monaco 1931
In The Snowman, Raymond Briggs demonstrates that colour pencil/pastel is also pretty good for motion lines, too.
Dan May moth
Dan May

TEXT AS MOTION LINES

From School Friend Annual, 1962, Fleetway
From School Friend Annual, 1962, Fleetway

DISTORTED BODIES

Distortion of bodies and even of objects is a…conventional means by which pictures convey motion. As Peter runs from Mr. McGregor in another picture in The Tale of Peter Rabbit, his head seems almost bullet-shaped, his ears apparently held down by air resistance, his body at an impossible slant that conveys great speed.

Perry Nodelman, Words About Pictures

Below are more exaggerated examples of the same technique.

Alè Tran Tran, Mattotti Tettamenti, 1995
Alè Tran Tran, Mattotti Tettamenti, 1995
The Greedy Little Cobbler by Tony Ross, Arrow Books Ltd, London 1988 motion
The Greedy Little Cobbler by Tony Ross, Arrow Books Ltd, London 1988 motion

FABRIC IN THE BREEZE

Where characters wear loose clothing with billowing potential, illustrators can easily convey motion by simply billowing the fabric. (Actually drawing fabric in motion is an art in itself, however!)

Lisbeth Zwerger
Jessie Willcox Smith

Where the fabric is not particularly billowy (ie. most clothing worn by masculo-coded characters), leaping and jumping is conveyed by inserting some space between the feet and the ground. It’s not entirely clear how high this guy is jumping as there’s no grounding shadow. (I conclude he’s flying more than jumping.)

RENE BULL (1845 - 1942) Leaping Warrior based on Ballets Russes, Polovtsian Dances by Michel Fokine
RENE BULL (1845 – 1942) Leaping Warrior based on Ballets Russes, Polovtsian Dances by Michel Fokine

Long hair is as useful as fabric in the motion department. Birds are clearly necessary to the story in The Great Sea Horse illustration below, but birds in flight come in handy more generally for conveying a sense that the static world illustrated before us is alive. A bird with its wings in ‘m’ position cannot exist without constant motion. Ditto for humans in mid stride, and so on.

The Great Sea Horse 1909 by Isabel Anderson 4
The Great Sea Horse 1909 by Isabel Anderson

Skies, especially stormy skies, can be utilised to convey a sense of motion on the ground. This pretty much always results in a dramatic scene. Notice too how Alexander Zick makes use of birds in flight to indicate the motion and direction of the ship.

Alexander Zick (1845-1907) 1892 illustration called ′The Viking’s Funeral’

A fight scene, on a ship, during a storm. Peak motion. Notice that Amos Sewell also makes use of static onlookers (proxy for us). These static viewers serve to emphasise the motion they perceive (as well as lead our eyes to the fighting characters).

Amos Sewell fight on deck during a storm

MOVING BUILDINGS

I’m not talking in this case about houses on legs, Baba Yaga style, though that’s one way of moving a building!

Is the building moving in each image below, or does motion solely derive from the movement of the viewer? It doesn’t matter, and in fact I think it’s both, in which case art does something everyday vision cannot achieve: a melding between object and perceiver.

First we have an example of a music theatre from Gaston and Josephine, a French children’s book from the mid 20th century, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky.

In this double spread illustration, we can clearly tell the music has begun, because the interior itself appears to be in motion, with the people in the gallery dangerously tapering away, their seats sliding far to the right (at least they would be if this illustration conformed to the laws of perspective and physics).

Gaston and Josephine
Gaston and Josephine

Otar Imerlishvili is ‘known for his whimsical scenes that depict daily life through the colored lens of innocence and wonder.’ This fantasy piano house is another good example of an illustration of music. You wouldn’t think it possible to illustrate music, which is an auditory experience rather than a visual one, but the magic of music seems to morph the visual world in synesthesic fashion.

Otar Imerlishvili piano motion
Otar Imerlishvili

Below are more examples of the ‘liquify filter’, applied long before Photoshop existed. In all cases, the buildings and background seem to be in motion.

Cover art for House Beautiful by Marjory C. Woodbury [1891-1964]
Cover art for House Beautiful by Marjory C. Woodbury [1891-1964]
Tumble Timbers (study drawing), around 1925–26, by Wanda Gág
Tumble Timbers (study drawing), around 1925–26, by Wanda Gág
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (Japanese Painter, 1886 – 1968) Rue d’Arsonval, Paris, ca. 1917
Whodunit by Wanda Gág (1893-1946) Lithograph, 1944 motion
Whodunit by Wanda Gág (1893-1946) Lithograph, 1944
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Concept drawing by Hermann Warm for the movie THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)

Sidney Walter Stanley for The Willows and Other Queer Tales by Algernon Blackwood 1932
Sidney Walter Stanley for The Willows and Other Queer Tales by Algernon Blackwood 1932

The ‘liquify filter’ on the house below is more subtle. The scrubby brush strokes on the trees work harder to convey a sense of motion. But the wavy lines and slightly off-kilter perspective on the house is still there, aided by the unlikely height of the building.

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories 1908 illustrated by Sidney Herbert Sime
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories 1908 illustrated by Sidney Herbert Sime
Cyril Power, 1934 train movement
Cyril Power, 1934 train movement
Poster by Aldo Mazza, 1921
Poster by Aldo Mazza, 1921
Gabriele Münter (German expressionist painter) 1877-1962 Munich avant-garde style, early 20th c

REPEATED OBJECTS

The poster below works a little like the continuous narrative art technique utilised by picture book artists to suggest a sequence of activities, only in this case it depicts speed.

Motorcycle Rally Poster – Italian – art by Lucio Venna – 1927 motion
Giacomo Balla (1871-1958) (Italian) Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash 1912
Mikhail Bychkov - Peter Pan
Mikhail Bychkov – Peter Pan
Zbigniew Rychlicki train
Zbigniew Rychlicki
Umberto Boccioni (Italian, 1882–1916) Dynamism Of A Soccer Player 1913

INCLUDE ADJACENT MOVEMENT

Sometimes there’s little you can do to make the moving object itself look like it’s moving. In the illustration of a moving vehicle below, Anton Pieck includes exhaust fumes coming from the rear of the vehicle, which is a cue that the car is moving rather than parked. However, it’s not quite enough. He includes the boy running alongside the car to show us that the car is in motion.

Anton Pieck (1895-1987), Dutch painter and illustrator
Anton Pieck (1895-1987), Dutch painter and illustrator

TILT THE HORIZON

This illustration technique works especially well for ships. In the work below, the ‘horizon’ of the ship is tilted, but the actual horizon remains horizontal. It’s the mismatch which conveys the motion. I almost feel sick.

Jean Emile LABORER (1877-1943) Transatlantic, 1907 transatlantic steamboat

In Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein illustration below, the horizon itself has shifted. We view the ship from a distance, not as a passenger.

Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ illustration by Bernie Wrightson (1976)

Below we have a non-seascape example of a tilted horizon. Storms and titled horizons go hand in hand. This comes in handy even if your ‘storm’ is pathetic (inducing pathos) rather than literal.

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories 1908 illustrated by Sidney Herbert Sime
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories 1908 illustrated by Sidney Herbert Sime

Contrast with the painting below, in which the artist aims for absolute stillness (and achieves it admirably) with a horizontal horizon, water almost like a mirror and a collection of three artfully arranged ships, differing in distance but nonetheless evenly spaced from the viewer’s perspective.

Carl Brandt (1871 - 1930) After the Storm, 1914
Carl Brandt (1871 – 1930) After the Storm, 1914

In Ronald Searle’s illustration below, ‘motion lines’ suggest the big stack of books has been plonked onto the table, In fact that stack of books is probably the only thing not moving. However, those scribbly lines give the illustration an overall sense of motion. ‘Motion lines’ aren’t always attached to the item that’s meant to be moving.

from 'Slightly Foxed - but still desirable - Ronald Searle's wicked world of Book Collecting' Souvenir Press 1989
from ‘Slightly Foxed – but still desirable – Ronald Searle’s wicked world of Book Collecting’ Souvenir Press 1989

LEAVE THE SKETCHY OUTLINE INTACT TO SUGGEST MOTION BLUR

Victor Ambrus
Victor Ambrus

DOUBLE UP

Does this horse have two heads, or is it quickly looking backwards then forwards?

André François, 1972
André François, 1972
Nadezhda Illarionova - Cinderella
Nadezhda Illarionova – Cinderella
'Virtuoso' - The Roger Wagner Chorale
‘Virtuoso’ – The Roger Wagner Chorale
CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

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