#doodletext

Starting to look like the only way I can get an image of its left-hand side (that's Avalugg's left) is if I were to take my own screenshot. This is a problem, because I have no way to access a Hisuian Avalugg, I still don't have.... any game I could feasibly have it in. (Well, except GO, but if it were released (can't remember) it'd be raid only and I live in the middle of nowhere.)

So many people are afraid of drawing backgrounds and I think it's a shame, so here's some tips and tricks, because I'm not perfect at it myself but I think the hardest part is really just knowing where to start.

First off: Perspective

Yeah, yeah, that's the scary word. But I promise you, once you're familiar with the basics, backgrounds are a LOT less intimidating. Don't get discouraged if WHEN you have trouble with it. Even professional artists struggle with it. I promise you, screwing it up is good and normal. That's how you learn after all!

Now I'm not going to go into detail on how to do it here, because honestly there are a thousand and one free resources online and in libraries that can explain it far better than I ever could in a singular broad-strokes tumblr post. But I AM at least telling you you should familiarize yourself with these basics:

Important Terms: Horizon Line: A horizontal line across your canvas, showing your viewer's eye level and providing a location for most of your vanishing points. Vanishing Point: Integral to drawing in perspective. The sides of a 3D object get smaller as they become farther away from the viewer in space. This point is where the parallel lines of a side eventually meet.

The Basic Types of Perspective: One Point Perspective: Good for drawing things that you're looking at straight on. Two Point Perspective: Good for drawing things at an angle. Three Point Perspective: Good for drawing things the viewer is looking up or down at, especially at an extreme angle.

[Click images for ALT descriptions]

And if you're comfortable with these and serious about improving your skills for use in storytelling, I also might suggest looking up:

4 Point Perspective: Great for extra wide or tall shots and for camera tilts if you're doing an animation or animatic. I think some other names for this in animation include "banana pan" and "warp pan."

5 Point Perspective: Fish-eye lens. Good for all your angsty anime boy slipping into madness needs!

Some perspective tips I wish someone had told me earlier:

Objects' relation to the horizon line is constant. A super helpful tip to remember when placing a character or object in space is that they will always (assuming they aren't changing in size or moving up or down) have the same relation to the horizon line no matter how far or close they are. If your horizon line is at shoulder height for your focus character in the foreground, any character of the same height in the background will still line up with the horizon line at the shoulders.

How to pick the distance between your vanishing points: 2 pt perspective uses 2 vanishing points, 3 pt uses 3, etc, etc, but how close should they be? Well, first of all, for anything that isn't one point perspective, one or more points will usually be off the canvas. Super annoying, I know, but the closer your vanishing points are, the more warped your drawing will become. Second, a helpful thing to know is that choosing the distance between your points is basically the illustration equivalent of picking your camera lens! Photography buffs will know that wider (shorter focal length) lenses show more space and make the distance between foreground and background more dramatic, while longer focal length/telephoto lenses are flatter, and more focused and intimate. The same is true of vanishing points that are closer (shorter focal length) or farther apart (longer focal length).

2 point/3 point/etc doesn't actually mean you're limited to that many points total on your page. this one confused me a lot when I was getting started, lol. A lot of examples will show you drawings of nice, neat cities or something, in which all the buildings are facing the same way in order to demonstrate perspective drawing. But in real life, buildings don't all face the same direction. They're at all sorts of different angles. So how do I do that??? Answer: Just because you're drawing in 2 point perspective or whatever doesn't mean you... have to actually keep your 2 points in the same spot. You can move them around, just keep them the same distance apart, so you're not screwing up your camera lens.

Other Tips:

Use reference! The instant you try to draw a house, you're going to forget every house you've ever seen. That's just how it goes. Buildings are complicated. Do yourself a favor and collect a few reference images first, buddy!

Consider details (like architectural style, amenities, and materials) Your building will look more like a building when you keep in mind that buildings have gutters and door knobs and light switches and paneling and stuff, and aren't just boxes with roofs on them. Again: reference! You will forget electrical sockets and baseboards exist immediately. Art brains are dumb.

Use details and texture to fill in negative space Giant stretches of blank space tend to be boring and distracting. Put a few suggestions of wood grain or something on that wall back there, bud, just don't overdo it.

Line weight Darker, thicker lines draw more attention, look heavier, and look closer to the viewer than lighter, thinner lines do. Take advantage of this to draw the viewer's attention to your focal points, de-emphasize less important details, and imply depth. It's up to you to decide how you want to use this and what your style is, especially once you start getting into combining or replacing it with shading, values, and color, but a helpful rule of thumb is to try reserving your thickest lines for focal foreground characters and use thinner lines on backgrounds, especially details in the far distance.

ART ONLY

story post 1

story post 2

story post 3

story post 3A

story post 4

story post 5

story post 6

story post 7

story post 8

story post 9

story post 9A

story post 10

story post 11

story post 12 (part one)

story post 12 (part two)

story post 13

story post 14 (part one)

story post 14 (part two)

story post 14 (part three)

story post 15 (part one)

SUPPLEMENTAL DRAWINGS

1st sketch

wheelchair struggles sketch

beard Caleb

bald Caleb

Caleb and Belos drawing

Caleb and Belos time lapse

Caleb and Gus sketch

be nice to your uncle

bad end drawing

rough time sketches

fake assault

meme

pottery sketches

BEHIND THE SCENES

furniture exploration sketches

wheelchair exploration sketch

costume design sketch

costume design sketch 2

grimwalkers

Caleb's room

Clawthorne shop

ART AND TEXT POSTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (only works on PC)

Not every story post requires india ink and a bunch of furniture and background designs, I remind myself

This one will just be some simple character drawings, I decide.

Me, now, standing over a set of blueprints and my inking set like

I know it's been long enough since the last update that some of you are beginning to wonder if I'm going to continue.

Don't worry, I still plan on it!!

In fact the next page is partially inked rn. Normally I'd be posting in a few days.

However, I am forced to admit to myself that I'm going to have to put a pause on things for a little bit. I'm in the process of moving and it doesn't really leave much room for comics.

The good news is I'm not going far, so it's not like I have to drive across the country or anything. But I do need to focus on packing.

[Image ID: The Gru presentation meme.

Panel 1: The presentation board reads "Move to a town full of witch hunters in search of a better life."

Panel 2: "Teach my little brother to fit in with the witch hunters so he'll be happy (and not dead)"

Panel 3: "Get murdered by my brother for associating with witches"