#background tips

second of all, i was just meaning to ask how do you find the inspiration for all of this? especially for all the details in the backgrounds, do you use like references? i'm so curious because i think what you're doing is amazing <3

Thank you so much!! 🫶🫶

I always get a lot of questions about backgrounds (and I'm sorry if sometimes I can't answer them all 😭🫶)

I've always had a lot of problems with backgrounds myself, until a couple of years ago, when my thesis advisor professor said something like, "You're not just drawing, you're creating the lives of your characters, and they need everything they need to live."

So you can't just draw a character sitting on a couch, for example, but also everything that might be useful to them, but also everything that's appropriate for that scene!

For example, if my character is sitting on the couch, I won't draw a sink, because it's unlikely there's a sink in a living room! But I'll draw a low table, some cushions, maybe one on the floor to emphasize that the character moved before being "captured in the drawing."

It's basically like taking a photograph. You did something before being immortalized in the shot, right? And it's exactly the same reasoning!

When you take a photograph, not only the person you photographed appears, but also the rest of the scene (unless there's a white background behind it, haha). Anyway, try this exercise: take a selfie in your room or a room you like and try to draw everything you see! If your bed blanket has a particular texture, draw that too!

It probably won't come out right the first time, but it's just an exercise to understand how backgrounds work! It doesn't have to be a tidy room; in fact, the messier it is, the more fun it will be! And remember, no ruler or tool that allows you to draw straight lines; use your hand, trust your brain, and draw!

This answer is probably not very clear, I hope I was helpful, otherwise feel free to write to me for clarification, it's much easier to write it down on paper rather than explain it ahahaha

By the way, this exercise is open to everyone, and if you want, you can send me the result here or on IG, even if it's just a sketch, or even if you think it came out badly! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm always available to help others improve their art. 🥰🌟

The latest screen Tones episode is out and it’s all about backgrounds!

I think we’ve all heard someone make the joke of setting their comic in a white void before.

When asking around, backgrounds seem to be one of the biggest challenges when creating a comic. In today’s episode we’re going to give our five cents on why this might be and talk about tips and tricks that make working on them more fun!

First off, congrats on graduating!! Backgrounds and colors have always been the hardest for me lol tbh I still struggle a lot with colors especially, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt!

Hello, hello~.

It depends the image:

^ in this one? I merely googled or looked up videos about painting rocks as everything else is pretty much second nature to me.

However, the one technique I can offer that mega helps is what I did with the image below. v

That entire background, while not fully rendered, is done with what's called photobashing.

The best article I could find (that even lists videos about it) is seen here: What is Photobashing?

The tl;dr of it? Take a bunch of reference images, put them together, and start to doodle the landscape you're seeing while adding, taking away, morphing things into your own vision.

The bed? It came from its own image. The staircase leading up to it? Same thing. The banister to the left as well? Same. The candelabra and pillar? All different images.

I took all images from different sources and put them together to make something that was my own.

When it comes to backgrounds from anime series or video games, those are usually done with a screenshot I managed to snag myself.

When I was in my AC: S craze, I walked around London in the game and found a screenshot I could use for this background. It's fully painted in behind the characters.

Also some good notes in the comments!

Anyways I was wondering if you have any tips on backgrounds, like how do you get the characters to exist in them, and make sure the backgrounds aren’t overpowering? You always do it so well

Hi!! I apologize for the super delay in replying!! I've been quite busy lately, and I'm so tired at evening that I go to bed very early 🥲

Anyway, I apologize and thank you so much!

Regarding your question, when I draw, I first draw the characters and then the background. It's very important to understand the characters' poses exactly—whether they're standing, sitting, lying down, etc.—when you've figured out the pose, then you draw the background.

To keep it from appearing oppressive, you have to observe 👓 This is the secret to knowing how to draw! It's not so much artistic skill as an artist's ability to look, observe, and understand how an object is made (this, in my opinion, works for me 🫶) As I said in a previous answer, in a background I will only draw what's necessary in that space, without overloading it. So, in a bedroom, I won't draw a kitchen table, but a desk; not a sofa, but rather an armchair or a rocking chair. Obviously, there are objects that can be found in any room, such as chairs or books. These elements serve to fill the background with detail. 🌟

Another very useful thing to keep the background from appearing too busy is to balance the colors well. If you look at my work, there are many colors, but each one is repeated, balancing the weight in the drawing... I realize it's very complicated; I swear it's much easier to draw it than to explain it 😭