Improving efficiency of drawing backgrounds

RootBound · Sat 09/12/2023 20:37:03

Hey all,

For those of you who do your own art (and especially those who use realistic or semi-realistic styles), I'm wondering what processes you all use to draw backgrounds. Do you start with a sketch, etc., what order do you draw things in, how do you decide on palettes, color, lighting and shadows... and so on.

I find as an artist without professional training (though I have read books on it lately), that it takes me a long time to finish a background, and I'm hoping some of the more seasoned artists here might have advice for speeding up the process.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Kastchey · Thu 14/12/2023 13:25:13

A while back, loominous was posting something that you might find helpful - a number of detailed tutorials with progress pictures.
This resulted in an activity called Background Workshop, where he and other seasoned artists would show their creative process:

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?msg=451551
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636515516/#msg636515516
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636517024/
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636516504/#msg636516504
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636516240/#msg636516240
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/critics-lounge/background-perspective/msg636510399/#msg636510399

In general, his posts are a treasure trove of insight into creating professional CG backgrounds.

RootBound · Thu 14/12/2023 19:10:43

Many thanks! I will read them.

EDIT: @Kastchey These are amazing! Thanks so much!

Snarky · Thu 14/12/2023 19:39:03

Ben304 has also written about art process and offered tips on his blog and over on Adventure Gamers (and sometimes in posts here and on Twitter), and particularly about the importance of finding a process that is efficient and repeatable, so that you can produce not just one background, but the dozen or sixty (or more) you need for a full game.

RootBound · Thu 14/12/2023 20:07:57

@Snarky awesome! This looks like just what I need.

newwaveburritos · Thu 14/12/2023 23:32:31

I'm happy to talk about my process although I think perhaps we end up in different places style wise. That is, I'm pretty much only a 320x200 EGA palette guy.

I do tend sketch it out beforehand. I've gotten into trouble plenty of times because I got a bit too excited and ahead of myself and didn't take some simple measurements to make sure that my characters would look correct on the background. I know that lots of people recommend super simple art like wireforms first and then fill it in later. I can see the wisdom in this but also it's not advice I tend to take, because I refuse to learn I guess!

Another lesson I have learned is that it's important to trust the process. About 40% of the way through I look at what I have done and remark about how terrible it looks and how it could never look good and I'll want to give up on it. But if I don't it will get over this hump and I'll have something I'm generally very pleased with.

One trick I have been using recently is using AI to do some of the sketching has helped speed up the process immensely. First I'll have an idea which I may or may not sketch out depending on the complexity. Then, I'll use the AI to put some of the components together and then dial it in another step. By the time I'm finished it won't look too much like the AI weirdness that I started with. I also do this a lot for characters as I find that using the AI to "pose" them is easier than trying to pose them any other way although I'll still an actual figure sometimes or a reference photo if I happen to find a good one. I'll also note that the AI seems to be much better at outdoor scenes than indoor ones. Anyway, once things are blocked out and I'm adding details this is where the lighting and shadow comes in. Lots of times I have a sprite or some part of the background that I think is finished but actually needs to be adjusted for lighting. So, the shape and nature of it doesn't change just some color values. I'll then go over in a new layer with a 2x2 custom brush that is a blue and transparent sort of checkerboard for additional dithered shadowing. I do a lot of dithering. I love dithering.

I have also hired cheap line artists on Fiverr to get something on paper but that's often more trouble than its worth. That is, starting from nothing is tough for me.

Anyway, these are just some tricks I have learned along the way. Hope something in here is helpful!

For reference, this is my reddit profile where you can see a lot of what I've done.
Here's my reddit profile where you can see some of the stuff I have done.

RootBound · Fri 15/12/2023 14:32:26

Quote from: newwaveburritos on Thu 14/12/2023 23:32:31For reference, this is my reddit profile where you can see a lot of what I've done.

Wow, some of that is incredible! The icy Dracula tomb just blew me away. If I'd seen that in 1996, it would have been my favorite game art ever--how do you mix so many colors without it just looking like noise? I also love the autumnal sunset and the jabby sword animation. The juxtaposition of sword with office secretary outfit is (chef's kiss).

newwaveburritos · Sun 17/12/2023 02:46:37

The jabby sword animation is an easy one to explain. I used the Quest for Glory II animations as a rather direct influence. Like, very direct.

Another tool I use that I forgot to mention is an Aseprite extension called the EGA-ifier. What it does is matches the colors in an image to the closest color in the 64 colors EGA represents and then replaces it with either that color or the dithered equivalent. Now, this does look like a lof noise if you use it directly but if you use it on something already a bit simplified or quantized in a different program like Paint.net it yield better results. It almost always needs some hand editing though but that's good because it makes the art look like it was done by a human being rather than a program. It works great for me because it does the two things that I want: EGA palette and dithering. I was trying to write the thing myself in LUA for Aseprite because I couldn't conceive that some maniac would have already written it but indeed some maniac already had. So, in this manner you can take photographic or illustrated references rather directly and then get them into it rather easily. The icy statues in Dracula began life as a photograph of the Art Deco bridge in Cleveland.

But I think one of the strengths of working with the same palette over and over again is that you get really used to what it can do and then work in that direction rather than trying to shift the palette to something it's not as good at. Like, uh, faces. $:-\$

But thanks and glad you liked it!!

Wesley · Thu 11/01/2024 09:10:58

I kinda follow the same process for all my artwork.

1 - sketching:
Don't pay too much attention to the quality of lines and getting everything right, this is the moment you experiment and work on the right composition, you don't want to rework things after spending hours on an artwork.

2 - Block colors and sketch refinement:
In this step, you start to put the base colors for the elements and improve the lines, shapes, etc of the drawing, do not work on details or final polishing yet.

3 - Shading:
During the shading, you add the shadows and highlights for every element, always keeping in mind where is the light coming from, cast shadows, ambient occlusion, light bouncing, etc. In this stage, you want to have everything the way you want it, because making adjustments later takes much more time than getting it right now.

4 - Work on the details:
Just scroll the artwork looking for things that may add an extra appeal to the eyes.

Some stuff I've made using these steps

Matti · Thu 11/01/2024 11:23:45

Great pixel art, Wesley!

RootBound · Thu 11/01/2024 13:40:14

Great work, @Wesley ! Thanks for your response!

ThreeOhFour · Sat 10/02/2024 13:46:39

For me a big part of it is identifying the bits that kill my motivation or that I find extra tough and then finding workarounds. This changes every month, of course, but when I'm working on a scene and I get up to the bit that just bums me out I try to find alternate ways of handling that step. Are there specific areas that you struggle with?

RootBound · Sat 10/02/2024 22:31:07

Quote from: ThreeOhFour on Sat 10/02/2024 13:46:39Are there specific areas that you struggle with?

Honestly, right now it's picking an art style. How detailed or minimalistic to be, how broad or limited a color palette to use, what resolution I want the screen to be... all these things have such a huge effect not only on the tone and atmosphere of the game but also on the speed at which I'll be able to draw them. I'm trying to find a balance between aesthetics, speed, and my skill level, and it's not simple. $:-\$

ThreeOhFour · Sun 11/02/2024 10:37:35

If you're trying to actually pick an art style, what I've always done is try to find a sort of goalpost. What do you wish your game looked like, what's your favourite style? Once you have decided that, try to analyse examples of that style and see what you actually like about it - the colour choices, the way they make shapes, the way they detail things, and see what you can lift from that to apply to your own work. When I do this I never come close to the style I'm trying to imitate, but I usually add a few tricks to my toolbox that I can rely on to make things happen faster, or to solve problems that would otherwise take me ages to solve. But if you don't actually have any specific elements that you're trying to achieve and you're just casting out for "I want to make drawing backgrounds easier" it's not that straightforward to provide any guidance.