Any tips on backgrounds!

[ExplodingToucans]

I've been making comics here for a while and I fell like I made some progress, but backgrounds aren't one of them. In pretty much all of my comics the background is just a solid color with my characters standing in the front of it. It doesn't look that great most of the time...

Any tips on making backgrounds? I'd like to improve with them so I would like to hear what everyone here has to say about it.

[c0ldw1nter]

You could use real photos. Just trace/filter it heavily, so it looks drawn... The problem is finding the right photos.

OR you can make a big generic background picture, let's say city skyline with lots of same-ish buildings, and pick a random zoomed part for every new panel, so it looks new.

Those are methods if you don't want to put lots of effort in. Otherwise, you just suck it up and study architecture and foliage and such, invest time in it, and get better... Personally I use a mixture of all three options, putting in effort once in a while.

[keii4ii]

It helps to think of the environments as a storytelling tool. Enviro shouldn't just be a backdrop (well they CAN be sometimes, but definitely not all the time). Examples:

• What your character's bedroom looks like can add to their characterization. Do they maintain an impeccable, hyper-organized persona outside -- yet their bedroom is a dump? What kind of decorations do they have? What does their closet look like?

• Characters should interact with their surroundings. A group of bullies trapping someone in a corner, leaning forehead against the window out of emotional exhaustion ("get me outta here...."), kicking trash cans... So many things you can do here!

Learning how to draw things in perspective is a very valuable skill, but learning how to USE it as a storyteller is also important!

[skicoak]

I tend to establish location early in the scene, that's where you put all the important details to the scene and establish mood.

Then you can simplify from there, according to preference in later panels.

[dawgofdawgness]

What helped me is to stop focusing on details so much and focusing on the whole rather than the sum of its parts. You can start by blocking in the colors (references help) and little by little, adding in more and more simple shapes (doors, windows, etc) and when it starts looking like an actual background, you can start focusing on the details.

[qwerty]

Looking at your comic, simple backgrounds actually work well for the style and subject material, IMO.

For more story-driven things, backgrounds can be really important to set a scene, a location, a mood. But in episodic slice-of-life type things like yours, backgrounds honestly aren't that important for the most part.

My advice: don't worry too much on making the backgrounds detailed or impressive since they are not the focus of your comic. If their function is just to minimally establish a setting, you will be surprised how far a handful of well-placed lines can go.

For future / other projects you may do, I'd say (a) learn the basics of perspective if you haven't already, (b) use references, (c) what Dawg said - big picture first, details later, and (d) practice.

[craftymarten]

Yeah learning perspective (1 pt, 2pt and 3pt) really helped me, after that a combination of references and knowing what you want to convey in the scene is good. I tend to draw 1 detailed background every few pages and the rest is blurred parts of the last background. If not knowing where your characters are isn't important then leave the backgrounds but if one of your characters is talking about the room they're in it's useful to actually show it!
Here's a screenshot of the current page I'm working on with the perspective grid on top of it (2 point). I need it to be a large unused space, modern but with no personality or warmth for the moment (it has to feel a bit warmer later on though). Backgrounds are one of those things where the more you try the easier it gets.

[ExplodingToucans]

Alright, thanks you guys for the tips!

[ZombieOwl]

Use a unifying color for your backdrops to create atmosphere.

One of the most helpful things I can think of to create depth in your pictures is that the further away an object is, its color will be more similar to the sky. Try observing that when you're on a car ride, or gazing out the window

[shazzbaa]

BIG agree with Keiiii -- it seems like a silly wording difference, but whenever possible I try to think of them as "environments" rather than "backgrounds." Looking at things that characters can interact with make a big difference, even if they're very simple! In fact, a really simple environment where it feels like your character is part of it is honestly better than a complicated background that might as well be painted on the wall behind them.

As far as perspective goes, a friend of mine collected a bunch of my Cheater Perspective Tips over here: https://imgur.com/a/Uk1Cr -- it helps me to think of perspective as a simple way to visualise where people go in the environment rather than a confusing bunch of rulers and math.