Visual Research: backgrounds.

 In this post, I will be sharing what I learnt while doing research on background visuals for character when drawing.

There are different ways of drawing backgrounds to make character stand out from the rest and the first method is to use the blur effect. In this case, the background is blurred which makes the character the only figure that is sharp in the whole illustration. This usually makes the eye to focus on the figure that is sharp, which is my character.

I tried this out myself on a random character that I had at my disposal and it is indeed a fast and easy method that I will definitely apply through out my whole animation, not because of it's simplicity, but due to the fact that I do not have enough time to put that much details in the background.

All I had to do was to simply use a blur tool on the city ruins in the background using a blur tool in photoshop, to get rid of the sharpness of the structures, in order for my character to stand out.

There's also some cases where the character is in a background that has to be included in the illustration, meaning that the details in the background are crucial for the storytelling. In this case blurring the fore ground can be an option.

Another method that can be used to create backgrounds is to do the Opposite effect. This involves the use of contrasting colours which is obtained by arranging the colour in different ways from dark to light or light to dark.

The light and dark contrast have strong tones. This attracts the viewer's eyes where usually the colours are contrasted. This method helps me create strong outlines for my characters, also making them the centre of attention.

This method can also be seen in some of my storyboard panels while adding details. Since I was not planning to add a lot of details while making the storyboards, this method made it easier to give the panels a lot of depth, and light value, to help the viewer know where to look, and the kind of environment the character is in.

Lastly, another method I looked at, was the Centre of interest method. This method involves placing the characters in the centre and drawing the background around them. The centre of interest can be many different objects including animals, or objects.

I was quite familiar with this method, which also makes it the method I use the most while drawing illustrations of my characters. It can also be seen in some of my character designs for my animation project, such as the one below.

In this illustration, I tried adding 2 centre of interests, one being the character, and two being his weapon.

To do this, I drew him in a specific pose with his sword drawn out pointing towards the viewer, in a foreshortening perspective. This allowed me to display 2 things I want the viewers to focus on.

REFERENCE:

Fuko (2022). BACKGROUNDS THAT MAKE YOUR CHARACTER STAND OUT by Cyfuko - Make better art. [online] CLIP STUDIO TIPS. Available at: https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/7170#:~:text=Light%20and%20dark%20are%20considered [Accessed 21 May 2024].