Drawing Comics – More Backgrounds
In this previous post about drawing backgrounds, I wrote about their importance and how to apply them to your comics in order to add further detail to your stories. Without some kind of defining background (whether its a colour, abstract linework, or a beautifully rendered scene) your foreground characters will just appear like they are floating in dead space with no purpose. This quick tutorial will give you a few more advanced techniques for backgrounds, and how to keep a nice big library for use at a moments notice.
Establish your Settings
If your comic is set in the city, amass a folder filled with reference shots in the city. Skylines, high and low angle views, rooftops, sidewalks, interesting buildings, street scenes, traffic, etc. The more reference photos you have, the better. If your comic is set in the wilderness, you’ll want trees, mountains, lakes, rivers and all sorts of natural vegetation. Separate these files into folders based on location.
Make a Composite Image
You may find yourself seaming two or three photos together in order to get the right look for your scene. Using photo editing software like Photoshop allows you to alter your images in order to create the basic background you are looking for. Here’s some basic tips on how to do this:
Using the transform tools to warp, skew and twist your photos to fit can save you a lot of time trying to figure out what the structures would look like on an angle. Save time and use photo reference where necessary.
Render your Image
Once you’ve set up your photo reference, merge your layers together.
Reduce the opacity of that layer to 40-50% so you can see what you are drawing over.
Your work area should be somewhat transparent.
Now, proceed to trace out your background on a separate layer. Use a variety of different brushes for increasing line weight and creating depth.
I prefer to use a bright colour such as a lime green or a bright red. This shows me where I have traced – using flat black can lead to some problems if the photo below has a lot of dark patches (like the night scene in this example.)
Once your background has been traced out, use the black and white filter to convert your colored line to black.
The Black and White adjustment has a number of options to convert the color on your layer to black and white – choose ‘Maximum Black‘ in the settings.
Adjust the sliders in the dialog box until you have found a dark black that does not lose any of its edge fidelity (gets jagged or too blurry) and click OK. You have converted your background line art into solid black.
Creating the Library
With all of these background files for use in specific situations, you will have an easier time keeping a consistent look to your setting, as well as saving time. I most of your story takes place in a certain area, reusing and modifying the line work is much easier than redrawing it all by hand. This helpful set of shortcuts will make you comics process way more efficient.
Tune in next time for another how to draw comics tutorial from idrawdigital. Check back through some of the previous articles for tips on color, inking and pencils.
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Tags: backgrounds, comics, Drawing, how-to, tutorial, Webcomics, Workflow
April 1st, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Great tutorial, but you skimmed over the part that I was most interested in. Do you think you could dedicate a tutorial to using the perspective tool to make composite images like you did in the first step? I’d love to read that.
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
Sure thing. I’ll work on something a litle more detailed in that regard.