How to design a background for a certain panel where a character is sprinting

[marygold]

Readers of my comic be slightly aware? It's not really a spoiler but if you're one of those people who really don't want to be told what future images will depict... But you already knew that the MC is currently just dashing through forest, didn't you 😋

So I'm currently drawing a panel which is a kind of a close up of a character's face while he's running through a forest. I'm definitely going to include speed lines, but what else should the background be? The previous pages already had single color backgrounds for panels to do with motion so I don't want to be repetitive, but I'm worried drawing the actual background might hinder the sense of speed and direction in the panel.

Ahh... This is hard to explain. I don't really want to post pages because they are my most recent ones and might be spoilers. I'll post a link. If you're completely uninterested in my comic, then spoilers shouldn't bother you, go to the update right after "font change help" and the following pages are what I have so far in terms of the sprinting scene,

link If you have a full color example of a guy running with multiple panels, then that would be helpful too 😉

Thanks so much for the help guys! I know I've been asking a lot of stuff on the forums lately, can't even think for myself lol. I'm pathetic but I'm slowly learning!

[WakaXO]

You could try drawing the actual background and then blurring or smudging in one direction? Or put the speed lines over the background image with half opacity or as an overlay layer, that will blend the speed lines into the BG a bit. That's what I tend to do anyways 😆

[zetina]

Yeah doing stuff with the shapes of the background can add to the feeling of speed.
For example, the lines/texture/whatever of the trees can consist of lines kind of like speedlines. And/or the shapes can be morphed.

[sarrowsmith10]

Photoshop has a GREAT tool for this! It's under the blur section. Flatten your background to one layer, select the area you want blurred (like the panel), and go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur

You can push it to be more blurry, but basically it looks like my panel in the middle:

[marygold]

@sarrowsmith10 thanks for the tip! Although photoshop's hundreds of different buttons and functions always leave me clueless, I'll search for that feature on my painting apps!

[sarrowsmith10]

@marygold XD Sorry, I just sort of assume everyone has photoshop. haha. (you can get the basic version for free on Adobe's website for what its worth) Yah, just look for a motion blur function. Good luck.

[maxzaguishi]

in those moments I don't funds but effects

[jessicasurline]

Sometimes a different angle helps portray both background and speed. Here is an example I found a long time ago. I feel it makes good reference:

Although since you included a shot to indicate location already, it is also fine to have less detail for a background. Readers are pretty smart and can connect a scene's flow when given the proper clues.

[nananana]

Maybe a motion blur effect...?

[marygold]

@jessicasurline thanks! That panel is already finished and the page is ready for upload!
@ndominiq yep! Or at least I think I used it...? It's blurryish and kind of looks like it's moving, so it's a motion blur 😅