Film as Visual Narrative, a Resource for Painters and Creators

Join VAWAA Artist and fine artist Clarissa on Sunday, May 3, at 11:30 AM EDT (UTC-4), for a captivating discussion on film as visual narrative. A painting and a film are created with the same visual elements. What is a film, but many, many still photographs, all containing visual information that help drive and support the narrative of the film. When we consider one still image, it contains the same structural elements germane to painting. There are differences in method, and language, perhaps, but both are united in the goal of telling a visual story. We can look to one as a resource for the other. This relationship is varied and fascinating. We'll examine composition in film, and how it relates to painting. We'll also compare iconic paintings and painting genres to specific films and film genres.

This talk is for painters, film lovers, and anyone exploring how to tell your own visual story, through the combined lens of film and art history.

What you'll need

If you wish, bring screen captures/ photos of films, and ideas of how you’re inspired to look at composition.

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. We'll send you the link and details to join via email a few hours before it begins.

About Clarissa

Clarissa is a fine artist with a background of almost twenty years working in the film industry as a scenic artist. She studied film and fine arts in art school, university, and through many studios around New York, as well as having been a lifelong film buff. Her paintings are largely inspired by cinematography, photography and other issues of filmmaking, which led her to develop this series, which examines all the ways that elements of film pertain to painting - composition, visual cues, symbolic use of color, lighting/value.

Clarissa’s work embodies the same spirit of visual storytelling, and she loves nothing more than talking about film and pop culture and how it relates to art history.

Visit her artist page to learn more about her in-person VAWAA.


Sessions are ticketed to support artists, makers and our small team. If you’re experiencing financial hardship, please reach out. We may have a generous participant who has paid it forward and would ask that you pay the love forward by sharing online sessions with 3 new friends.