Building Backgrounds for Characters
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Hi SVS fam, sharing my homework here for accountability as I continue my journey of making a positive impact in the world with my art (wink).
@will-terry-art has a brand spanking new course, which I’m enjoying so far about building backgrounds for characters. Admittedly, I struggle with this as proof in my portfolio. Normally I draw my characters big to avoid my fear of backgrounds!
Here’s homework assignment #1
I pulled an Inktober piece from my notebook and incorporated the desert background. You can still see the spiral bound!
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@Jeremy-Ross This looks great! I wouldn't have known it was a struggle if you hadn't mentioned it.
Your characters & background fit together seamlessly (other than the ghost of your sketchbook
). You did a good job making the lines of the rock formations, etc. in the background & foreground point toward the subject.That's a neat idea to draw the background around an existing drawing.
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@Jeremy-Ross I struggle with backgrounds as well, so much detail scares me! This looks really well done, will you go to color?
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@Jeremy-Ross it looks great to me!
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Thanks @Miriam! Appreciate the kind words; definitely tried to keep simple but pointing towards main characters; thanks for noticing!
Thanks @Asyas_illos, me too!! Lately, I’ve been drawing my characters smaller to force me to build a world around them. I might just go to color on this.
Thanks @Jav-Muz, appreciate the support!
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Assignment #2 - Perspective around characters in environments
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@Jeremy-Ross I usually try to avoid buildings, because I'm not good at perspective!
The red building looks a little skewed to me. I'm not sure if you meant for it to be a fun, wonky vibe. If not, the balcony & windows need to follow the perspective lines & I think the vertical line on the front corner is little off as well. If you are working digitally, you can try dragging a guide line around to check the vertical lines.
The balloon is pretty tight between the trees, so you might want to give it a little more space.The little girls are cute, and I like the carefree feeling.
You do a good job blending your colors and giving your images a cohesive look.
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Hi @Miriam, thank you for your feedback!
Yes, the red house is a bit wonky; I started with perspective lines and then decided to go loose with it. In hindsight, should have stayed more true to form.
Appreciate the other comments, too!
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@Jeremy-Ross Just here to say that your little egg character is awesome. Love the simplicity! Also he feels like my inner child come to life.
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Thank you @katsuds!
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@Jeremy-Ross I actually love the perspective break on the windows and doors, it reminds me a lot of the work of famous Finnish-Swedish illustrator Ilon Wikland (she illustrated the works of Astrid Lindgren), and the way she plays with perspective. If you haven’t seen her work, check it out!
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@Jeremy-Ross I love it! Makes me want to try this.
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Thank you for sharing @Mia-Clarke, that’s a great compliment! I enjoyed looking at her work, very detailed.
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Assignment #3 partially complete; need to do another character with both interior and exterior backgrounds.
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@Jeremy-Ross wow nice! These look great I like the escalator one
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@Jeremy-Ross the escalator is hilarious
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Thanks @Asyas_illos, and @Griffin-McPherson! The prompt had me thinking of how scooters could race indoors!
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@Jeremy-Ross said in Building Backgrounds for Characters:
Yes, the red house is a bit wonky; I started with perspective lines and then decided to go loose with it.
It looked like that might be the case, but since it was on the assignment with the perspective lines, I wasn't sure.
You did a good job making the pair of characters work in both environments.
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Finished last assignment and course!
