FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON’T WANT TO READ MY WHOLE PARAGRAPH I SUM UP MY QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM. I do implore you to read it though... I often like to convey big concepts or story through my work but it is difficult to visualize, some times. Either my work ends up being too obvious, and robs my audience of mystery, or the symbolism is too obscure. I want to get better at symbolism but I can’t seem to get the hang of knowing what specific things could be a symbol for whatever it is I am trying to convey. How do people come up with symbolism? How can I learn the secret visual language that certain things possess? When researching symbolism on the internet, the majority of search results that come up are more like abstract symbols such as ying and yang, the eye of horus, or swasticas. I am looking for more classical symbolism such as a lamb, daisy, pitchfork. And I notices certain symbols when changed can mean different things such as a broken shield specifically next to a pig or something. I am aware that a lot of symbols stem from mythology, the bible, or psychological archetypes. The symbolism I am going for is most likely found in classical, renaissance and surrealist art. The symbolism I want to avoid is logo-esque symbols or symbolism found in r/im14andthisdeep art (which, at least to me, I find superficial and surface level) SO TO SUM IT ALL UP: How do you fellow artists go about knowing when it is most appropriate/ effective to use symbolism in art and what things hold certain meaning?