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Here is my question
Hello it's been a while since I posted on here and this is my first question for the show. I was always wondering if you could get into more detail about backgrounds, whether they are abstract or an actual setting. How do you decide how to make it look, what colors to use, and how to make little details.




There are two ways to approach backgrounds - the first way is to emphasize the foreground, we'll assume this is a character. When you're going for this then background details aren't super important, you want to compose the background in such a way that the character becomes the central focus. Using my own art as an example - http://tinyurl.com/ztkt7tv - On this piece I used a dark frame to keep the viewer's eye in the image, I also used thorns on the border that point towards the character - there's also a light directly behind the character's head which means that the character is now the highest point of contrast, so that's where you want to look, the tree on the far right stands out much less for example because the contrast is a lot lower.
This isn't a particularly exciting background but it serves a purpose.
The second way to approach a background is to use it to tell a story, again I'll use my own work as an example - http://tinyurl.com/h2tjgjt - In this piece I've used a frame to draw attention to the centre like before, I've also created a point of contrast around the dragon but you'll notice that the character is holding a bag of gold which can be seen on the rock the dragon is guarding - this implies that the dragon is protecting the gold, the character has just stolen a bag and is creeping away while the dragon looks for her. There's also an abandoned sword directly below the dragon's head. This acts as an arrow that points towards the dragon (like the thorns in the previous piece) but it also indicates that the character in this piece isn't the first knight to try and steal some gold and whoever came before her wasn't quite so lucky.
This story is implied through the use of some bags and a sword - it's very simple in theory but you need to know what story you want to tell.
Art is about making conscious choices and decisions so if you don't know what you want to say with your art then you'll have a hard time thinking about details like this. If you have a story in mind then you need to think about how to tell that story.
Are you drawing an abandoned witch's cabin? Awesome! But how do you make it looks abandoned? Well cobwebs, a tipped over cauldron, books left open on the floor, cracks in the walls, a smashed window - all these indicate a state of disrepair, they add detail but they also help tell your story.
Come up with a story first, then add details that compliment the story you want to tell.