Symbolism and motifs

[weebdestroyer666]

do you use recurring symbolism in your comics/writing? what kinds of things do you take inspiration from?

it's still in the planning stage, but a story i'm working on utilizes different mediums/art styles to represent different perceptions of the world by different people.
since it takes place after a nuclear war, the oleander flower is utilized a lot as well to represent strength and rebirth.
i also give the characters animal motifs. no real reason for it (except the sheep, that one's important) i just think it's cool

[k5rakitan]

I stick in a few here and there that have more meaning to me as an author. Some readers might not pick up on how Joan's dress is green in the gala chapters, and green (especially as a wedding dress color) symbolizes fertility. I haven't released those chapters on this platform yet, but I'm releasing a chapter a day until I catch up to what I've released on other platforms. Here's my story if you're interested:

Kaiba's Prostitute | Tapas

There are a few things about bicycles that have more personal meaning to me.

[Iris-Grimoire]

I try to stick to a theme and use what supports that theme.

Mortimer follows a black heron motif (no particular reason other than being a bird I don't see in media often), so most of the things relating to him follow the theme of birds, freedom in flight, being extravagant in everything he does.
Veriesin has a whip from a wordplay (desert roses being quartz formations but also a flower), so her themes relate to crystals, flowers, but also the animal shapes she takes, so a lot of the misunderstood or easily provoked side of nature.
In a lesser form, Beryl also has some themes of being innocent and only being treated as innocent as different things, so while she has a cute design and shy mannerisms, it contrasts with a bit of her "out-of-character" moments that are very much the true her.

Usually you don't have to always gravitate around a theme, or be super stuck to color and animal motifs, but it's good to have some consistency. If there's a feature of the character that could go into the motif and doesn't need to be anything else, sure, but there's also no need to go full Sam Porter Bridges if you don't want to.

[miramiee]

I like symbols with double meanings. Right now, I'm writing a short story where a man turns to stone while he cares for his sickly mother. On one hand, him turning into stone can mean that he is gradually being calloused to his mother's situation. On another hand, you can say that maybe her situation is weighing him down considerably, and turning his heart bitter and cold. Or you could even say him turning into stone is making him strong enough to care for his mother without having his heart break every time he sees her.

Symbols are most effective when they can rely on meanings people gather from the object you're referring to. I used the symbol/extended metaphor of a "stone" to imply these words: strength, crumbling, callous, hardened, cold...etc so that turning a main character to stone conjures up those images automatically without me having to say so at all in writing.

[Im_moron]

ROLLS IN

Greek, and sometimes Egyptian mythology, I also grab inspiration from media I like. for example, She-Ra really covers cults really well and the whole brain washing "I know you're in there" storyarchs.

I also borrow a little bit from D&D lore, specifically Illithid lore, Mechanus and Limbo :U
my comic literally started off as a D&D fan fic, but I just kinda took my own direction with it and made it my own thing.

[Jenny-Toons]

do you use recurring symbolism in your comics/writing? what kinds of things do you take inspiration from?

Whether it's explicit or not, I definitely have knowledge as a recurring symbolism: the search for knowledge, the destruction made from knowledge, the hope created from knowledge, and what we do with that knowledge.

A lot of this is inspired by cosmic horror/occult stories, where the search for the unknown isn't always a good thing. But it's also inspired by a lot of Greek/African mythology, where knowledge is power and growth.

I like a good balance.

[gmaximin]

Dig into traditional painting, poetry, architecture, opera, traditional fahion, any art piece that heavily rely on symbolism to condense the message, and you'll get a lot of inspiration. Flowers is always a good pick. In Effy, I made one episode using floriography only (symbolism of flowers) to describe decision making (odd, I know):

Effy - The Living Efficiency :: Flower's Republic (floriography & decision...

Now the problem with symbolism is that the message can get lost if your audience doesn't have the same background. So if you already have a clear idea on your audience, you can also dive into classics of that particular group.
If you're tageting at rebirth, which is a natural process, nature is a good starting point. Anything surrounding spring (so weather, flowers, seed, growth), anything surrounding birth (you can add in religious elements here, from nativity to reincarnation or yin/yang), anything with flow (river, thread, smoke...).

[brilliiant]

My comic has a big theme on the dangers of blind faith, especially when it comes to power structures as well as the use of religion to reaffirm the social order (where it applies to gender, colonialist attitudes, etc). And the people who build that power structure in the world of my comic are all named after the Pevensie children from Narnia. Mostly because as a kid I was really struck by how black and white they were in their morals (I mean they're christian books for children written in the 1940s, how could they not be). That and the comic involves people from our world going to what's effectively a fantasy land, so I throw a lot of allusions to Narnia in there.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I put a lot of Metal and Hardcore symbolism into my art. Like headphones, guitars, drumsticks, skulls, the X symbol from straight edge hardcore, references to band logos, easter eggs of album art, and the classic \m/ emoticon that symbolizes the 'rock on' gesture.
(A recent example of the X)

I love that style of music and it has been a constant source of inspiration for my art and characters.

[NickRowler]

I think the most obvious is stuff surrounding eyes. It's common for an eye to be missing or covered up. The are characters with empty eyes, like milky. Or character who lack eyes due to them being covered. I think it is rooted in a personal phobia.

I also have characters who weirdly look like they belong in the 70s.

When it comes to themes. I think I sort of latch on to stuff about misconceptions. Which means that stuff like dealing with social bias, people who lie, anxiety and doubt pops up a lot.

[Lazu]

I always have symbolism in my writings in one way or another, but a story where I'm using heavy symbolism, it's the webtoon I'm making with an artist, as the story is very delicate, symbolism is easier to use, than having to incorporate it and tell it directly^^ I also like hiding hints and meanings behind symbolism and motifs so only the people going to depth with the story notices it xD

Withering Petals (H)

[AilyneGouveia]

I love symbolism and use it a LOT ! The cover of my comic alone and the name is symbolic : Memento Mori.

My comic is done in greayscale, so i just use red for blood and from time to time i color the eyes to put "life" in them when needed. i even made a illustration with a lot of symbolism that tell a lot about the story and both characters that are on it.

So yeah, i use symbolism a lot

[prunier]

sadly yes, I use a ton of references that my youngest readers can't never guess (I've used a reference from a scotish violist, some old nordic mythology creatures and some stuff like that)
lol

[lasluchasbravas]

One thing to remember as well is that we all subconsciously fill our work with symbolism and motifs that we're unaware of as we go. The way we structure our narratives, the way we structure our panels, how we draw and write things all build our subtextual narratives so it's useful to go over your own work (and have others do the same). You might realize a whole world of stuff going on in the margins that you didn't realize you were doing. Some of it will be great... some of it... less so.

[HGohwell]

Colour is a big part of my symbolism. A lot of the world's background lore is related to alchemy. As such the four stages and their colours are particularly important. For instance, red being the colour of completion and wholeness perfection and balance is a very rare occurrence. The only member of the main cast to get to wear red is Isaak, something that in universe is considered a huge honour, while the Obsidian being pitch black is at the other end of the scale, representing decay and spiritual death and basically hitting rock bottom so you can be build back up.

[xenomay165]

i also inspired She-Ra, You took your own direction with it and made by your own self. i love it

[iHateFridays]

Sometimes I think about that sort of thing but more often than not it tends to happen unintentionally. XD I guess I'm more concerned with the plot itself rather than themes, which develop by themselves.

[ccmatta]

I usually use colors and how I paint them. Some photo editing tools too. Mostly you'll se black when something triggered the character, since that's how I experience trauma and/or panic atacks. Things that are good, I use watercolor with soft colors. Flashbacks may be b&w, or have a different filter.

It's not too deep, but I think that showing feelings is something really difficult, I guess.

I may use clothes to show their personalities too. Like the first uni party my charater went to, he was wearing a rillakkuma sweater, He's a baby in that place, he doent really belong around those ppl.

I'm not too deep, all of it isn't nothing new but I like it hahahaha.