Backgrounds/Environments: Where to start?
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Hi everyone!
I wanted to focus on including backgrounds in my children’s book portfolio but I don’t know where to start haha.
I’m thinking of ways to make this fun so I won’t be so intimidated... do you guys have any prompts for me? Maybe some drawing exercises/challenge ideas to improve in this area?
Let me know!
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Ohhh I have the same problem. Have you tried will terry’s draw 50 things? I’ve not braved it yet but think it would help with making backgrounds interesting eg filling up shelves and drawing clutter. But I feel your pain!
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I feel the same way. Until that part of the curriculum comes out, how about watching the perspective course and developing an interior? Then you could set characters inside it. That might seem like an intimidating way to start, but you could imagine a scene in a room and then work it out from a floor plan sketch (set design) on up, kind of like a film. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I find that if I don't get some idea of the room/floor plan/perspective, I have a hard time deciding on the angle/what to include, etc.
Of course, landscapes are a different matter, so maybe you could go with that first!
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@hayleyannececil whew yeah. That makes me break out in sweat haha. Let me know if you plan to take it on! Maybe we could do it together?
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@donnamakesart Oh yes would be good to have some accountability
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@LauraA Oh yes! Having a floor plan is a pro tips haha. I guess what I’m looking for is a prompt to make me interested in drawing backgrounds. I kind of know the technical skills but I can seem to make myself draw environments
If you have a compelling idea for a prompt or a challenge let me know! I find when they come from someone else, it motivates me to doit more. The collaborative aspect makes it feel not as lonely or boring to do
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I'll keep an eye out! It's true that most of the ones I see on Instagram are character prompts. I did some backgrounds for Childhood Week, though.
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@LauraA
that’s actually a good idea. Maybe I could reworks some of inktober work to have backgrounds 
waaah that would be so cool ~~~ -
If you search for background challenge or background prompts online, there are a few that you could choose from. This one has some fun ones:
https://pin.it/2DMW8qAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiminyrose/
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@Kim-Rosenlof this is so helpful! Thank you
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@donnamakesart There's this one art channel I follow on youtube called Art Prof. They make all sorts of videos covering a lot of different aspects of art. Recently they've been working on imaginary landscapes or backgrounds. It might help you to get started without any pressure, and to just have some fun
It's fun to watch, and they usually have some really good pieces of advice throughout the video. Be forewarned though, the videos are about an hour and a half long each.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4nhFgoQx90Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/jacy13
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacy13draws/?hl=en
Portfolio: https://jacy13.artstation.com/ -
@Jacy13 will check it out!
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@Jacy13 Thanks Jacy. Exactly what I was looking for.
