I don't know enough about how to use art programs to have many shortcuts (but I do intend to delve deeper into it this coming winter). I have recently started using some shortcuts though, namely, reusing certain background elements.
Here is the first time I did it, though you can't really tell. When I draw a background I draw the whole thing, regardless of what will be visible in the final image. In this particular one, I drew the whole throne room, including the throne, which became blocked by the foreground characters:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/8/d/1/8d19d44d216f6f5151b016df88f0db8c01ef4eb6.png)
So the next scene, when Darion was actually sitting in the throne, I reused it, along with the whole back wall:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/8/f/e/8fe34b90ff1b3170c931f19d9e32df75ccd2af45.png)
Similarly, in this one, I drew the whole Great Hall in detail even though the characters in the foreground would obscure most of it:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/a/0/8/a08c44a4fa48e85d97de25e2d297cc65f54046ba.png)
I really liked the way those windows turned out, so I reused 'em for a following scene:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/8/b/a/8ba4f82dab63b00e1e4463d33529eeee323122de.png)
And again:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/c/8/4/c84f79cac71a5cea759313a4600c2896b61533df.png)
And (I'm ashamed to admit it), again:
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/6/5/5/6554997b4485f413fef2e34f86f8b5e3ff061aa3.png)
But sometimes the easiest shortcut is to not draw a background at all. But there's more short-cuttery going on here: That wolf was reused in another scene (shown a few images above. Normally I'd never C&P a major scene element, but the wolf is frozen in mid air by magic, he literally is paralyzed, so this was the easiest and most accurate way to show that):
![](/uploads/default/original/4X/b/6/7/b6796d089fa0d96c4f83dd17eca6ae3682924e26.png)