I chose a different toolkit this time around; Digital drawing. This toolkit has a focus on creating backgrounds, which is a skill I’ve been long overdue on learning; I’ve always enjoyed looking at well drawn backgrounds, but I get stressed attempting to draw them as I don’t know where to start and the basics have always seemed kind of daunting. I hope to leave this toolkit with more courage, and a better understanding of things like composition and perspective.
For the first class, we looked at some basics, which included;
Leading lines; lines that draw an audience’s eyes to the focal point of the image. The rule of thirds; drawing a grid over artwork can help us to see where everything has been placed, and how much of a canvas has been dedicated to certain parts of the drawing. Generally, drawing things in the sections where the dots are in the top left image draws our eyes to them more. Colour- generally backgrounds will be 70 percent one shade (warm or cold) and 30 percent the other. Contrast is also important, with the orange on this image standing out on top of the more soft blue tones. Scale is also important; the house in this image being so big implies that it’s of importance.Repetition- can make a feature in a world feel more natural, as things are usually found in groups. The mountains here serve as an example. Also present in this picture is some contrast in the direction of lines, with the pole coming up off of the boat being horizontal and interrupting the mostly vertical composition; another tip we were told to look out for.We were challenged with choosing a piece of concept art and adding notes of the things we had learned. I chose a background from steven universe, a cartoon that i particularly like the backgrounds from. I applied the things I had learned to it. Although I was able to apply some of what I had learned, I was told that this background was a little chaotic and didn’t really apply the things we had learned about (it’s probably a still from an episode and not concept art), so I looked at some different artwork to further test my knowledge;
This is concept art for mario odyessy. Here you can clearly see;
contrast- the palette is mostly warm, but there is still contrast between green and red on the grass and in the trees.
scale- Mario is a lot smaller than the forest components, giving us an idea of the scale of everything. Judging by how it towers over a human, it can be assumed that the things in this location are rather large.
golden ratio & composition- the structure at the end of the cliff is directly on a grid line if you draw one over it, drawing our eyes to it. It’s also higher than Mario and closer to the sky, adding a sense of importance to it.
Repetition- the cube shaped structures on the right of the cliff are repeated, making them look like they belong.
leading lines- our eyes are guided toward the top of the cliff because of the curves on the white spheres and the curved line of the cliff, as well as the direction of the trees.
After these evaluations, we were challenged with creating a simple composition using geometric shapes, and applying some of what we had learned. Here is what mine looked like;
I decided to try creating a composition where this little green cube was in danger. By the time I created this, we had received some more tips; a lack of horizontal lines can make something feel threatening and dangerous, especially when paired with sharp edges. I tired playing around with scale and colour here; the red things are threatening, and the poor cube is tiny and defenceless against the larger and more intimidating shapes.
We were set a homework task to complete, testing how much we had learned in the class; to create six thumbnails of environments applying our new knowledge. I decided to use six locations from a story I’m working on, as I had been meaning to draw them anyway, and I took this as a good oppurtunity. To summarise the overall themes of these locations;
Elderveiss- a peaceful country surrounded with nature and greenery; home to a magical guild, and where the main characters start their journey.
Bailan- an icy country based on China, with influence from other east Asian countries. A beautiful and culturally rich land full of tourist attractions; an icy castle where the emperor lives.
Majinon- an old fashioned land where magic is prohibited. Very stony and outdated, not much nature; a statue of a goddess who the people worship.
Dravonous- a mountainous country inhabited by both dragons and humans; a more natural and primitive way of life is practiced here, not the safest place for people who aren’t used to it.
magic cave- a trap-filled cave that connects Elderveiss and Bailan. Usually out of limits, full of danger.
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My first drawing was of the peaceful land of Elderveiss. Here, I relied a lot on the grid, in order to make the guild the focal point of the image; I placed it high up and along the third points, implementing the rule of thirds. I tried playing around with scale by including trees and Luda, the main character of the story; The guild’s importance is exaggerated by it’s scale, towering over people and rivalling the height of trees. I tried using lighting to highlight the guild (although I feel like this approach may have been a little too head on), and I made the branches and floor lines point up toward the guild, working as leading lines. The drawings have to be tonal, but I’d imagine this location to feature a lot of natural and earthy shades of green and brown. I’m happy with this drawing, although I feel it could be improved through gaining a better understanding of perspective.
After the lesson, the feedback I got for this drawing was to focus more on perspective than line and smaller details; when studying something new, it’s best to start small and work on the basics before going into details. For future tasks I’ll try more loose and simple ways of drawing.
Next I drew Bailan, a snowy and beautiful nation based on east Asian countries, notably China. I tried having the temple in the back be the focus of this piece, but I feel it isn’t as noticeable as other things such as the buildings on the left. Still, my leading lines go up to this temple, with the floor, walls and buildings all pointing to it. I chose to play around with lighting too, having the sky be dark and the light mainly coming from the buildings and lamppost. I included the lamppost for some contrast in horizontal and vertical lines, and I tried featuring a lot of dark shades to contrast with the white snow. I added two children playing in the snow to the scene, as I felt this would add to the atmosphere; It makes the scene look happy and safe, which is what Bailan is like as a country in the story.
The feedback I got in the lesson here was about perspective; the image looks a little crowded because the perspective on the left is off. I was told that this would be an interesting composition if the buildings were corrected, So I’ll possibly go back and try to fix them.
My third drawing was of Majinon, a secluded and old fashioned country where magic is prohibited and the people worship a goddess. I feel that the perspective for my church was a bit off here, as it looks a bit out of place in the image. I tried having a lot of light in this one, as it’s meant to be a holy place of worship and I feel light fits this kind of a theme well. I like how the goddess statue turned out, and I feel the drawing is atmospheric and captures well what the country is like.
For this drawing’s feedback, I was advised to avoid having things touching the edge of the image, as they become distorted and the whole image starts to look squashed together; these are called ‘tangents’. My church and statue both touch the edges of the canvas, which makes the whole thing look a bit squashed.
Unfortunately I only managed to complete 4 drawings, and so this was my last one; Dravonous, a volcanic country where dragons and humans live together in harmony. I tired to avoid any vertical lines in this piece, as I wanted it to look as if the viewer was looking upward and didn’t see the floor. I tired having everything lead up toward the volcano, to draw the viewer’s eyes toward it. I worked with mostly dark colours, with a white mist covering the volcano for some contrast.
For this image, I was told that a better understanding of perspective would strengthen it; if the distortion was more dramatic and the perspective was stronger, you’d really get a sense of distance.
Overall, I’m happy with myself for attempting some background drawings after so much avoidance, despite their flaws. I was complimented on how imaginative my ideas were, and I feel that if I combine my imagination with improved practical skills, I can create some truly great artwork. The feedback I received was very useful, and I hope to improve on my next background drawing.
