How would one create a good looking panel without delving into the background bit too much?
I've seen it done before but i can't think of an example.
Anyone here an expert at that?
Jul '16Jul '16
Just have a gradient or a pale color in the bg. Professionals do it all the time. Or do it to show your character is thinking or has just discovered something grim. It's all in the colors you chose.
1 more question;
How would one go about making sure the reader knows ''where'' the character is with a simplified BG?
Im asking because im having some trouble making ''close-terrain'' backgrounds, like inside caves etc...
In my pages of Magic Advisor1 I usually have like one detailed background shot and after that just one color background that sort of matches the right color. Like this:
I don't think it is confusing where the characters are... At least I hope not LOL! ^^
No tis' not ^^
But my issue is, i can't draw detailed backgrounds that good, which is why i want to try purely simplistic backgrounds, but then the issue of location becomes a thing 
Like, how is the reader supposto know that the character is standing, for example, in a house when the background is just 1 colour
halp T-T
I've seen artists who can accomplish it without it being jarring. Have one or two detailed backgrounds in each page and then a gradient/solid color for the rest. By having those it sets the mood and location and you can even go one or two pages with a more simplistic background. If you're struggling with backgrounds looking for alternatives isn't gonna help, I think just working on them eventually will make it easier.
I agree with @indagold. Avoiding background work will just delay the necessary improvement you need to be a successful visual storyteller. The only real way to produce good pages is to get all of the bad pages out of you, improving along the way. Not every panel needs or should have a detailed background, but there's no getting away from the need to have your characters exist in some sort of environment. If you want to tell stories with pictures then embrace the challenge of becoming a solid background artist.
My comic's 'style' involves a bright color pallet and frequent 'designs' like with red triangles on yellow backgrounds, or purple stars on blue backgrounds, etc., so it's pretty easy for me to fit in backgrounds that are 'just color' or 'just pattern' along with the drawn out backgrounds.
I usually don't draw backgrounds on panels that either have close-up shots of the characters faces(like in the 1st reference bellow) or in panels where what the character is doing is supposed to be the focus.
I find that making these panels cute colors not only helps the page look cuter and brighter, but makes sure the reader won't be looking at the background instead of at the character's expression.
However, no cute colors can make up for a good detailed background every here and there. I agree with @apocryphagraphics that you shouldn't put off drawing backgrounds too much or you'll never improve at them, but also I think it's important stylistically to make sure your page doesn't look too cluttered. 
(also these 2 pages are unfinished so don't judge me too harshly on the noticeable mistakes in them >//o//<)
Do one establishing panel with a detailed background, which tells the readers where your character is, and then do more simplified backgrounds. Say you draw a detailed shot of the cave, and the next time your character shows up in a panel, you just do a gradient background with the same colours as the cave.
Aaaand the only way to really fix this is to, well, draw the stuff you're having trouble drawing. You're never going to get better at something by avoiding it. Keep on trying! =)
I usually make one panel with a background for an establishing shot. After that, I do backgrounds at my leisure...every other panel I will do minimalist background objects. You cant entirely go through an entire comic without doing backgrounds period, so if I were you I start working on trying to draw better, stronger backgrounds...it's the only way you're going to become a better comic artist.
Use rulers, learn how to use perspective if you're drawing more technical backgrounds...look at reference material like pictures to learn how to draw certain items that you may have in your backgrounds. If you're having trouble drawing caves, look at pictures of caves- study how rock looks and try to emulate that texture in your drawing.
I think it depends on what you're trying to convey. If you want to showcase the setting, then a background would be a good choice. If you want to show a characters expression then a gradient or patterned background might be a good choice. If you're looking for patterned backgrounds, medibang paint has a pretty large library of tones available.
Haha, I do that all the time xD mostly because... for many of my comics (mostly single-page gags), the exact setting isn't that important/relevant and could be anywhere, the joke/event being referenced is what counts
What I mostly do is draw some kind of pattern or at least a single color BG - anything's better than plain white, pretty much.
I do this CONSTANTLY in my comic Meat&Bone3, mostly because it speeds up my art and colouring process, but also because I find it reads faster and has a stronger stylistic impact. My biggest trick is not connecting edges in the BG, whether that's by letting the pattern (such as bricks) fade out on a wall, or having various background elements (furniture, trees, sky, crowds) have purposefully incomplete lines that seem to 'fade' into negative space. I also really like doing this because it gives panels a better flow for the eye, and I can use it to lead people towards speech balloons more purposefully.
So you can have gradients, solid colors, or patterns/textures (you can find tons of freebies on the internets) to establish the mood of the characters or the environment. But as was said, you will want some establishing shots of the environment. A good thing to keep in mind always is the positions of your characters relative to each other, even if they move. EDIT: this is important even if you minimalize your backgrounds in later panels.
As for backgrounds, if your art style has more realistic proportions, you may want to consider using free 3d stuff like sketchup. I've used it myself a bit in my comic but I think I'm going to make my backgrounds more painterly and by myself moving forward. I might still use it to make my own buildings that I will use very often and want to be able to get different angles of quickly and easily.
Unfortunately even with easy cheats like that, there is no one-size fits all situation and there will come many points where I'll have to draw everything myself the old fashioned way. Like @AnnaLandin said, there's no getting around the need to improve your skills to draw what you have in mind.
Great tips already over here. Just take them under consideration and remember that even if it's hard now, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Experiment and find the most fitting way for your comic. But don't let your characters live in white blank panels.
I used to hate drawing backgrounds, but now I like them! They are just as much a part of the story as the characters... Sometimes more so, as they establish the mood/setting better than any character can.
Keep practicing and study other comics and take note how they show backgrounds. Everyone here already mentioned the establishing panel. Take time with your comic and characters. You'll find it more fulfilling putting your characters in an actual world.
So fellers'!
I've decided to try the 1 shot of location, rest simple suggestion.
And the way i do these backgrounds is i cut a portion out of the detailed one and ''blur it out'', just so you can see by the colour schemes what's going on! 
It works pretty nicely! Thanks ^^
Here's where i tested it:
https://tapastic.com/episode/4161244
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