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miafou
Mar '22

I've noticed that hand drawing the background/surrounding in every panel is way too time consuming and I don't really enjoy it either. I've seen many comic artists use 3D tools like SketchUp or Clip Studio Paint (even the Sims) to screenshot existing environments and edit them to fit as a background.
But the vast majority of existing 3D material is modern themed (classrooms, cities, appartments), so it doesn't fit into my medieval comic at all. I guess I could learn a 3D program and build my own backgrounds, but I don't know if that would be efficient or I end up spending even more time learning and building. Especially since my comic has a lot of location switches.
So I'm wondering how other medieval themed comic artists approach their backgrounds, when the resources are so modern focused? Curious to hear about your thoughts and tips!

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    Mar '22

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    Apr '22
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surenlicious
Mar '22

One thing that helped me a lot is look at buildings that are old (I like to use churches as a reference for this) and compare them to examples of fantasy concept art. This is how I usually begin to inspire myself and study the possibilities of what I can do.

I'm not per se a champ at drawing fantasy buildings, but I also enjoy the freedom we can take with them and still convey the fantasy bit. This is an example from one of the panels of my lore comic Songs of the Jade Kingdoms, where I yolo'ed the buildings but (hopefully!) can still convery what the kingdom in question looks like. :smiley:

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Scarlet_Cryptid
Mar '22

Same. Probably the extra-hard way, if you think about it. I don't have an 'undo' button.

I'm only trying to put out a standard comic page a week, though, so 'the hard way' works for me right now.

redfish
Mar '22

you can find the rare free medieval-ish 3d background model on csp. If you really were dedicated, there's actually quite a lot available on acon, but again you have to buy those pretty 3d sets.

miafou
Mar '22

Even with the paid models (CSP), I can’t really find something that fits my scenes. Maybe I’m too picky.

VibrantFoxRegular
Mar '22
1

i can't remember where i found the post but i remember an artist talking about the usefulness of photo-bashing where they would take photos or assets of a variety of elements from spires to buildings and other environmental elements and frankensteining them together to get the rough concept of what they wanted and then building them out via rough sketch over the top and going from there

if one of your concerns is consistency then one thing you could try is creating a very rough (and i mean minimal detail) map of the world or setting of your comic that way you have a vague point of reference for where things lie like major landmarks in the story or whatever other points of interest your characters will engage with. it's an approach i've tried and it's actually quite useful in helping to determine the scope or scale of your world when fleshing things out. personally my preferred point of reference for this too would be video game maps specifically with the kind of setting your looking to mimic; like the ones that i remember looking to were from games like unison league, alchemia story and zelda: breath of the wild since they had the span of terrains that i was looking to recreate for my own work and best of all covered not only all the oldish architecture vibes but also those landscapes like big forests or tall cliffs and waterfalls, open plains and so on. even sky: children of the light has been a point of reference in some regards for open spaces the point is just kind of having an idea of what you want to accomplish and then between actual places and even fictional ones taking what you need to actualize those ideas

you can also absolutely put to use 3d references but as mentioned the more detail or the larger the scope the more likely you'll have to pay and not some small amounts but in most cases it ends up being well worth the investment as you've got instant access to a full model rather than having to hazard guesses on where things go and risking having inconsistencies tho it'll depend on both how much you and your readers are paying attention to such details

just remembered another little secret/shortcut i learned from tiktok which is just draw shapes and blur. depending on the distance from the character(s) your drawing you can literally take some shapes make them look vaguely important or detailed enough to resemble something and then blur it just enough so that it's no indistinguishable but recognizable enough to resemble something

i kind of screwed around with that method myself when editing this meme thing, specifically in the first frame

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margodraws
Mar '22
1

Eh even though it's time consuming, I prefer to design everything and draw it all by hand. Not to say that I'll never use 3D props, just that if I do I'll probably have to model them myself so that they look just how I want them. Ah, the price of total control! :sweat_smile:

For me, it's important that the characters and BGs mesh together well, and my lineart style couldn't be achieved with 3D screenshots.

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I owe a lot to Clip Studio's perspective rulers.

Also, lots of 3D elements are popular and get (over)used in several comics. I don't read many webtoons, but even I've heard about That Castle That's In Everything:

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(thanks reddit)5

Geklelo
Mar '22

I usually go with the "low budget manga" style. I make a big shot of the whole place at the start and at key moments, then just blur the backgorund/make it of a color ressembling that of the part theyre in. That's for the start, if I want to mark another noticeable change in place or background, I draw it again detailed.
You can look up "Alive Again" in tapas to see what I'm talking about.

DualDragonsMaster of Yeet
Mar '22

Perhaps I should go translate my 3D modelling skills to blender and model castles and buildings to sell :smiling_imp:

I could already do that with my current 3D program but that is a non commercial license so they would have my head

mg78
Mar '22

i am not a medieval creator BUT i would strongly suggest u to draw by yourself what u need.
backgrounds are part of your story, if u avoid them (because u re afraid to spend too much time on it or u dont want to work them because of lazyness or whatever) u do not give to the reader any hint about your world... lowering the enterteiment. imho.

plus, if u use realistic background and your character style it s not at the same level... to me it's quite risky. i mean, the difference it could be so strong that could bother directly or indirectly, the reader.

jm2c.

miafou
Mar '22

Appreciate your input, however it's a matter of balance. Sure, it'd be perfect if I'd have the time and skill to draw it all by hand. But I'm working full time and am currently only producing 1 chapter every 3 months. At this rate, I won't get the project finished in this life of mine, plus people lose interest with such a long waiting time. I actually did draw all the backgrounds by hand for my first 3 chapters, which is how I found out that it might not be the best option for my situation.

I'm not too worried about style translation because I've seen it work well with filters in stylized mangas. But even tracing over a 3D model in my drawing style would be quicker than drawing it all from scratch.

Radio_chio
Mar '22

If you work in Clip Stufio, I’ve found this technique pretty helpful in figuring out more complex background stuff in certain places. I do more editing to my own stuff so it blends in more smoothly than is shown in the article, but it’s handy to get a quicker start sometimes.

margodraws
Mar '22
3

Well, the question was initially how do we do our backgrounds, so I gave my answer. But like I said, I do enjoy total artistic control!!! and while I also have a full-time job, I don't mind that my process is slow.

If you're using Clip Studio Paint, there are some 2D and 3D resources available for cheap that look promising. Caveat that I haven't used any of these; just going off looks alone:




ETA: those panorama ones seem pretty neat! I don't remember seeing them in the asset store before.