Backgrounds - Essential To Comic Strips Or Not?

[jono_thompson]

When I've been drawing my comic strips (Moments) over the years and my style has changed, so has my ideas on drawing the background. I originally would make sure my comic strips had a background, to give a bit of depth to the comic. But as time has gone on I have found a simple gradient background has worked just as well.

What are your thoughts on comic strips needing a background or not? Does having scenery behind your characters distract from the story you are trying to convey, or does it enhance the comic?

[CarltonIsaac]

Does having scenery behind your characters distract from the story you are trying to convey, or does it enhance the comic?

Backgrounds often do enhance the comic book/strip reading experience, however a good story, excellent dialogue and detailed character design may not always require extensive backgrounds.
I use multiple stylizations depending on the mood or theme of the story.

[TeddyLemon]

Backgrounds are a way for readers to know the characters location, as long as I know that their aware of it, I’m all out for simple gradients(sometimes none at all) on the next few panels. As for sceneries being behind characters, I don’t think its a distraction at all since it definitely enhances the comics’ professionalism and attention to detail.

[darthmongoose]

I think it depends a lot on the type of comic. Generally you only need as much background as is required to tell the story or joke that you're telling. Generally humour comics need less background because it's pretty rare for a joke to stem from the place so much as the characters (not completely out of the question, but a lot less common).

Story and action comics, on the other hand, may need backgrounds for:

• Setting up the world the characters live in. What is the culture? What is the tech level? What is a person's life like in terms of wealth and status in that world?
• Establishing tone. Sunny and light? Grungy and dark? Cold? Warm?
• Showing where characters are in relation to each other. ie. Is MJ at the top of a burning building while Spider-Man is at the bottom!? Is a monster blocking the only exit in the room!?

Like on my latest page:

Errant :: Chapter 0: Page 6-7 | Tapas

I put in a fair bit of background drawing because I needed to firstly establish a change of scene from the previous page, we're in a different place with a different character, but it's still the same light and weather conditions outside, so she's probably not that far away.
In addition to that, the environment also does a fair bit of heavy lifting when telling us about this character. She has a big desk that evokes authority and leadership, the room is quite large and empty to give the sense of isolation and loneliness. The furniture is Victorian-period and made from dark coloured woods, which feels dark and again, authoritative, as well as supporting the idea that this is an older character with an established fortune and a sort of faded grandeur. Finally, there's a lot of blood reds in her environment to... well, I won't spoil anything about that.

I built out the whole room in 3D to allow for interesting camera angles while keeping the layout consistent and help me with all the perspective. It was a lot of work, but I feel like it was worth it.

[Iris-Grimoire]

YES. But not necessarily every frame.

Because you're with a comic and not a novel, your ready will actually skip on using their imagination for a lot of things, and that includes where the characters are. If you're showing gradients and talking heads every frame, it gets visually tiring because that's all we know.
The ideal way is to have backgrounds in a priority of a) when needed(the character interacts with it, b) when relevant(estabilishing shot, crowds, a path being taken), and c)every few frames so the reader doesn't get lost. It doesn't have to be the whole page, after it's been shown and it's on the reader's head, it's okay and actually efficient to obscure it or just stick to nearby objects.
(do what I say, don't do what I do, I draw it too much at times and it increases page creation time)

[JRHoch]

It depends on the comic. Gag comics and slice of life can often get away with talking heads. Are you creating something artistic or fun and disposable?

However, if you're really building a world and the background, like in my comic, is as much a character as the characters, then they are important.

Afterlifer | Tapas

[DokiDokiTsuna]

A lot of people here have answered this question pretty well already, so I'd just like to add one point I haven't seen yet: if your backgrounds 'distract' from your story, you're doing them wrong. ._.

That possibility shouldn't really count against them in a general argument about their usefulness, any more than the possibility of a comic looking 'bland' without backgrounds. If either of those things are happening, the absence or presence of a background probably isn't your only problem.

[beta1042]

i definitely am as lazy as can be when it comes to backgrounds, but even I feel like you can't gradient your way out of them for every update. You need some occasional establishing shots when the setting changes. They're also a must if you're world building for a fantasy comic. Backgrounds when done right make a comic really professional looking imo.

[rajillustration]

I read somewhere (wish I could remember who said this) that you should aim for at least one background on a page, and I found that really helpful. Sometimes you'll need quite a bit more if you're establishing some more worldbuilding or if you got a part of the dialogue where you want to zoom way out from your characters, but one a page seems to be about standard for most comics (not all, but most.)

[aspiderjonny]

@rajillustration My teachers said this. If you show the setting in the first panel you can skimp on them in the following panels because the idea of the setting is still in the readers mind. As long as it's all in the same scene.

Anytime you change scenes (even just leaving one room for another) you should draw some background so the reader isn't confused. For a dialogue heavy comedy strip this probably doesn't happen much so you can get away with drawing a bg in just the first panel and then flat colors after word.

Another note, strong color use can hide a lack of background.

[magalise]

oooh that's a really nice tip! thx for sharing

[LCT_m_a_d]

I think consciously considering a backround is important. I feel like backgrounds ultimately add context to the foreground and moment captured. The absence of background details can provide context as well so I dont think adding more details necessarily makes a panel better or worse. I think it comes down to asking, "does this background choice helps clearly convey this scene, or does it get in the way"

[DualDragons]

I agree with the things @aspiderjonny said; drawing a background every time a character enters a new place does shape the world they live in and intrigues the reader (probably).

You don't have to draw the background on every panel though. Doing a few panels with and a few panels without backgrounds will keep the area idea present but it won't be too distracting either.

[ZombieOwl]

For my comic, I'll draw a background depending on it's essentiality to the story. If my characters are just talking and the jokes are the point, then I don't need a background. Since my comic is about learning kung fu, usually the only props I need are other students to work with, so they become more important than a detailed background.