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Background Art

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Background Art 2009-08-13 19:51:02


I really suck at drawing backgrounds, it's not that my drawing skill is that bad but that my imagination is just lacking. I was wondering if people could share how they get ideas for backgrounds, or mention some sweet stuff you can do in your backgrounds like making it animated but not suck, or just share some background art. Here's some of mine

Background Art


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Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 20:05:00


Add shading. It helps add a lot of depth.

Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 20:08:07


Also, the colours are abit weird. They are all really close together. Try making the sky brighter. Use more gradients to simulate the look of atmosphere.
Unless you're going for a cartoony style, those are horrible clouds. Use shading, look at pictures of real clouds to determinate the right shape.
Make the lines less harsh and obvious and use gradients to blend the horizon in abit, so that the sky and land fade together somewhat.

Yeah, that should be a start.


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Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 20:19:34


At 8/13/09 07:51 PM, KillerKandyKorn wrote: I really suck at drawing backgrounds, it's not that my drawing skill is that bad but that my imagination is just lacking.

Try taking photos of piles of everyday object... get some root veg drop in a heap or pose them, take a photo of them then use the shapes they make as the outline of your landscape. I have used this many time when stuck for a non-eart background. The idea is the more random the shapes the better it will look.

Best to start by thinking where your Bg is... what sort of rocks, smooth, rough or even crystal... plants? there, not there, brord leaf, narrow. Don't get bogged down though as only the Bg and you don't want peole looking more at that than what is going on infront of it.


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Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 20:32:14


Try adding random detailed objects to the background to create an environment.

For instance, a 1970's Toyota supra has absolutely nothing to do with the story but it fits in with the current surroundings and instantly makes it look better.

Think about the backgrounds you'd see on games back in the days of side-scrollers. Mega Man X, Double Dragon, all of those would have detailed backgrounds.

The graphics aren't as good in those games, but their level of detail is just as much as Crysis. Random pipes wires and patches of dirt on the floor. It makes your background have more definition, but still doesn't distract the viewers too much from what is actually happening.

Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 21:06:32


I had the exact same problem a few weeks ago, and no matter where I turned I couldn't figure out how to do it. I wanted to make a BG with a path running through it. After weeks of frustration I decided to go back to basics.

I drew pages and pages of grass. Individual blades up close and large bunches of grass, all in different shapes, sizes and distances. Then I drew rocky path portions, and tree bark, different plants, stars, the moon. I drew everything my picture was going to be composed of.

Then I googled for picture references on how paths wind through grass. Finally I decided to slowly and carefully draw out my background, and it's now in pencil form and I'm very satisfied with it.

Good luck!


"Animation is not the art of drawings that move, but the art of movements that are drawn." -Norman McLaren

Response to Background Art 2009-08-13 23:33:06


thanks for the responses they're really helping me out, Iv'e actually been able to put together a background and I'm pretty pleased with it


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