Do You Have Advice On Drawing Backgrounds With Characters?

Do you have advice on drawing backgrounds with characters?

First, don’t imagine backgrounds as “backgrounds,” like some kind of giant placard you place behind characters on a stageplay. Think of them as “environments!” A place where your characters interact, make conversation, eat food, sleep, grab stuff, jump around on, fight, etc. The environment is just as important to the visuals as the characters, nobody exists in a void. 

The most important thing to do is to plan to draw the character(s) IN the background/environment, not as an afterthought.

I also like imagining myself as a cinematographer in my own comic, somebody with a camera, who is on the set with the characters. I think about the best way to “shoot” the characters doing what they’re doing based on what they’re doing and the tone. Is it a happy scene? A sad scene? I also think about the environment they’re in and what are some interesting ways to frame the character.

I’ll give a quick and dirty example. Say you Character1 is waiting at a bus stop. It’s a very boring and normal bus stop. It’s got a bush, a tree and a bus sign on a sidewalk. 

Not a very exciting drawing, but it establishes what Character1 is doing and where at. Notice I used the underside of the tree and the bus sign to make a little “window” around Character1′s head. It puts the viewer’s attention right on them. But what if Character1 is really anxious? How would you convey that?

Now, the “camera” moved to the side. It puts Character1 more on the bottom-left corner of the drawing, making them look more on edge. Once again, notice that I used the tree, bush, and sign to frame around Character1.

Now the camera is behind the bush AND tree, so we’re now looking at Character1′s back. Maybe you don’t want people to know what Character1 is thinking. 

Or what if Character1 is having an existential crisis while waiting for the bus? Here, I’m shooting upward on them and dutch angled the drawing (which means tilting the camera) to give it a jarring, disoriented feeling. 

These are just some ways to draw the environment with the characters in it. And note, this works best if you’re doing comics or storyboarding, but it might not be necessarily true for some illustration styles. This is just the way I do it. :)

This is Natsume! Rey's younger sister. She's taking care a strange looking Budee who seems more poison than grass. She named him Thorne

That’s my first (and probably not last) art tutorial! And Steve, well, he does his best.

Note: The blue at the bottom can be used to add some transparency to the fire but it’s optionnal. On the other hand, gaz lighted fires usually have blue. Good luck with you fiery projects!

A YGO Zine interest check

1st check! All Artist will be receiving a free copy of the zine and merch if we make enough! This is a LGBTQ+ CHARITY ZINE!

Welcome to the first check of our blog! If you have any interest in being a part of this, whether it be creating content or purchasing, please consider filling this out! 

[Art by Mod Chyna]

Look at the warm colours! The lighting!!