In this article we will give you 5 resources to create great backgrounds. Don’t overlook any of them, they are all important.
In this post, you will also learn the important role played by perspective, light, shadow, in short, we give you very valuable material with unique content that you must continue reading!
IMPROVE YOUR BACKGROUNDS WITH THESE 5 KEYS
DEPTH IN YOUR DRAWINGS
Are your drawings flat, do you find it hard to place the characters, do you always see them from the same angle?
Here are some tips to give volume to your drawings, and thus, achieve those complex and incredible scenarios that you always wanted.
Depth is very important in an illustration, if you want your characters to be in a three-dimensional space that they can walk through, and be attractive to the eye, you should pay attention to these 5 resources to create great backgrounds that will make you achieve credible and realistic scenarios.
Horizon and vanishing point
The horizon is what separates the earth from the sky, it is a straight line (imaginary), because it is the farthest that reaches our sight, therefore, we will see the size of a small dot, whatever is there.
The vanishing point is where everything we see shrinks until it ends in a small dot. This point is usually located on the horizon, and as it gets closer to the viewer, it gets bigger.
For this reason, lines are drawn from this vanishing point, which will be the external limits of the figure they draw (a building, a road, a train track, a light pole, etc.). As they “come forward” they move apart.
When we look ahead, the horizon is at the height of our sight. If we look up, down, or there is a slope in the ground, the false horizon will appear, but we won’t go into that now.
What if we have more elements to escape? Here appear the possible vanishing points above the horizon.
The elements parallel to each other will escape to the same point, but if the angle varies, it goes to a new point. Each angle at which an element is located, will take us to a new vanishing point on the same horizon.
In this way we can place different elements of the same scene, so that they are always resting on the same floor, and give volume to three-dimensional figures.
In this first tip, we will notice that the elements get smaller as they move away from the viewer, although this responds to mathematical studies, we can take this principle as the basis of the depth on a stage.
If you are interested in learning more about perspective, please look for the note on the subject available on this page.
It is a broad, complex and fascinating subject.
Superposition
What is in front, covers what is behind, you will place an element (bigger as we saw in perspective, covering another one that is behind, this will give the idea of depth, that there is an element in front of another one.
Don’t be afraid to cover what you have drawn (even if it is the most beautiful door of all your life), this will give them great realism.
By distributing the elements side by side, the drawing flattens, we lose reference of what is in front and what is behind.
If we superimpose there is no longer any doubt about it. Remember that, when we draw, we show a representation of reality, and in reality, things overlap, someone put a sign in front of his business to advertise it, etc.
Placement on the plane
From the horizon line down, there is the floor (or the ground). The higher up an element is, the closer it is to the horizon, therefore, the farther away it is from the viewer. The lower it is, the closer it is to the viewer.
If you want to draw elements that are in front, you will place them as close as possible to the lower limit of the sheet, and if you want to place them as far away as possible, you will place them as close as possible to the horizon line.
and as their base is below, it gets closer to the viewer.
Volumetric shapes
Volumetric shapes, help to generate depth, since, you see parts that are closer, and others, that are farther away from the same element.
To create these shapes, you have to draw at least two sides of the same element, so what we have seen above in perspective will help you to generate them.
Let’s review, to draw volumetric shapes, you have to pay attention to the angles that generate them.
An example can be the corner of a house, which usually has an angle of 90 degrees, in this, one side is divided from the other, of the same element. Always bearing in mind that the angle you make at the base of a wall, will be replicated at the top of it.
It will be like the classic drawing of a cube, which you can modify at will, to generate increasingly complex three-dimensional shapes.
If, instead of looking at an object from the front, we look at it from the vertex, we will see two sides of it, but if we look at it a little higher, we will also see the top part.
By generating volumetric shapes, you will generate overlapping within the same element, that is, there will be parts of the object that cover others. This will strengthen the individual three-dimensional shape.
Always important: Light and shadow
The parts of an object that are illuminated are in front, and those that are in shadow are behind. This base helps us to generate volume, illuminating and darkening. It all depends on how you place the light.
What we paint in a darker color will tend to be interpreted as being behind something lighter, so if you want to give volume to simple shapes, try first to darken areas and lighten others.
You will be able to test this principle, and, from here, you will modify this, generating complex shapes, and illuminating them at will.
If you want to draw a cylindrical column, there will be a part that is gradually hidden from the light, while the shadow that is cast on this column will follow this cylindrical shape.
The latter, we call cast shadow, will help you to mark the direction and volume of the surface, where the shadow rests.
In this way, we can locate the floor, without the need to draw it and mark the different volumes of the surfaces.
Achieve a wonderful background
The use we make of these tips will make our drawings more complex. In this way we will be able to create credible and realistic scenarios.
The background is not only something that is behind your drawings, it is what sustains it, contextualizes it, gives it life.
Imagine a movie without a background, imagine yourself without a place to walk. The background is as important in illustration as it is in life.
CONCLUSION
To create great scenery you need to see it from the right perspective, remember, every object has light and shadow, that will bring the object closer or farther away.
Write down or memorize these 5 tips, because they will be really useful, although it may not seem like it, the background is something fundamental in any drawing. As we have mentioned during the article, with these tips you will improve your backgrounds without a doubt!
The use we make of these tips will make our drawings more complex. Achieving in such a way to create credible and realistic scenarios.
The background is not only something that is behind your drawings, it is what supports it, contextualizes it, gives it life. Imagine a movie without a background, imagine yourself without a place to walk. The background is as important in illustration as it is in life.
