Yoinking This For Later.

Yoinking this for later.

got any tips for drawing backgrounds/environments? yours are just utterly stellar

hello and thankyou for the ask!! and for the kind words!!!

truth be told—i, myself, don't much know what i'm doing when it comes to. anything art related. my process involves a lot of flailing and nebulous feelings of what to do.

in addition, for me, my character art actually came after my work with scenery, so advice may be wonky as a result! this is simply what i have found for my own style.

for backgrounds of my style i have found:

focusing on shapes is good!! just like closer-up artworks, it's good to focus on silhouettes and general impressions. getting some nice shapes into the background, without adding much detail, can go a long way (this goes for objects, landscapes, lighting, what-have-you)

things that are in the background (or, generally, out of focus) tend to look lower in contrast. i will even fade some of mine into neutral colours so that the objects in the foreground/the objects of focus stand out more. values are important for separation!

it's helpful to keep in mind how different colours/lightings may affect one another (reflection and whatnot), too! all of my pieces tend to use quite limited palettes partly for this reason. colours from the background will find their ways onto your subject and vice-versa. that is not to say that background colours and subject colours cannot be different—contrast is good!! cohesion is also important, however.