I often come across the opinion online that drawing backgrounds is an unattainably difficult skill, reserved only for the elite. This sentiment has sparked countless memes in art communities and inspired endless complaints in posts and comments from artists.
There was a time when I partially shared this opinion — I couldn’t draw backgrounds. But now I can. And perhaps it’s worth talking about this skill since it seems to many like some kind of sacred knowledge.
Disclaimer
I’m not going to talk about commercial art right now — commissions, concepts, references, or similar tasks. That’s a bit more straightforward. You get an assignment, you draw. If there’s no assignment, you draw what’s popular and in popular way.
It All Begins With an Idea
This is the first stage of any creative project. And exactly at this stage many people stumble or skip over it entirely. For now, let’s also skip over it, but only so we can come back later and understand just how important it is.
Alright, let’s say we want to draw something. What do we want? A character, of course. Most likely, it’s a girl, and she’s probably facing ¾ to the camera. Fine. Let’s even assume she’s drawn anatomically correctly or at least proportionally. Wonderful. But now we need a background. What kind? For now, our girl is «suspended in the air», like Shinji Ikari in the «world of true freedom» in the final episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. And just like him, we are free to draw whatever we want.
That’s where the problem lies — there are too many options, infinitely many. It’s overwhelming. So, just like in that episode, let’s limit our freedom.
How Can We Set Limits?
Let’s start by looking at the girl from all angles:
- Her Outfit: How is she dressed? Where might she be heading, looking so put together?
- Her Actions: What is she doing? Standing, sitting, lying down, bending over, holding something? Does she have any kind of support underneath or beside her?
- Her Past: What was she doing before she came into view of this imaginary camera? Was she running? If so, maybe she’s tired and resting now. If not, why?
- Her Emotions: Is she experiencing any particular emotions — or even multiple ones? Why? What happened to her? How is she expressing these emotions?
I understand that in your fictional world anyone can wear anything and go anywhere — it doesn’t have to follow logic, and it can be entirely magical. But don’t be surprised if your character looks like a sticker placed on a completely random background, or like a low budget cosplayer posing in front of grandma’s wallpaper. Try using logic and what you know about the world to think about the most suitable location. Don’t have any knowledge about the world? Aw… That’s sad…
Avoiding the «Poster» Approach
Unfortunately, you won’t get a good background if you treat your character like your little brother and the background like a Spider-Man poster you’re posing him in front of. Yes, you dressed him up nicely, styled his hair (or intentionally tousled it), and told him, «Stand in an interesting pose» (or «Just stand still and stop goofing around!«). The result? Just a kid in front of a poster. Or a girl in a ¾ pose against a gradient with random floating objects «for aesthetics«.
How can you create an interesting background if you can’t say anything about your character? And your character in most cases might be pretty limited in variation. Fine, maybe it’s not a girl or a boy — it’s a colorful dog instead. But what if I told you the background itself could be the character? You’d probably ask, «What? Why?» And I’d ask you in return, «What’s the idea behind it?» Yes, we’ve come full circle back to the idea.
The Idea
Answering the endless list of questions I mentioned earlier might seem exhausting. It’s so difficult to keep it all in mind and not forget anything! And you’re supposed to ask yourself these questions. That means you have to come up with them, too! But if you already have an idea, many of these questions are already answered. You’ll even have topics for additional questions. The background isn’t just a background, and the character isn’t just a character. They are all tools to convey your idea to the viewer.
Where Does an Idea Come From?
From the logic and knowledge of the world that I mentioned earlier. But wait — we’ve already established that we don’t have that knowledge. And that’s why it’s sad. That’s why it doesn’t work out. That’s why characters look so artificial, even when you use references. The problem appeared even before you started searching for references.
A character comes together with their environment. Make this thought the foundation of your approach when deciding what to draw. The character has a reason to be in that environment. Because that’s the idea. Because it’s necessary to convey the idea. And to have an idea, you, as an artist, need physical experiences — the experience of how the real world works. No, references and still lifes are not enough. Books are great, but they’re not a substitute for physical experience, though they’re a step closer. The best starting point is to dig into your mind, your knowledge, and your memories. Surely, you know something about the world. What do you find important? What would you like to share? What from your knowledge can help you share that?
Nothing to say? Nothing matters? Then it’s time to go out and live life, touch some grass, and gain experience. Then, come back to think and analyze again.
What To Do With the Idea?
Explaining in detail where each person gets their ideas from and how they bring them to life is challenging. It’s often deeply personal thoughts and feelings that magically transform into an image.
But let’s try to break down my thought process using one of my works as an example.
I’m lucky in that, sometimes, intriguing images simply appear in my mind when I’m in a good mood and allow myself to stop focusing on anything specific. The image of Yul (the character) as the «Sitting Demon» has haunted me for years, migrating from one artwork to another. I seem to be in a subconscious search for the best embodiment of this concept. This time, I envisioned him sitting in a more interesting pose than usual. It quickly became clear that he should be sitting like that on his combat spacesuit.
The balance of relaxation and tension in his posture conveys a tired yet triumphant look, which fits well with the armor-ship that helped secure a victory. Its massive size (so large it doesn’t even fit entirely in the frame) contrasts sharply with the character’s silhouette, emphasizing his somewhat exhausted appearance. I had prepared the spacesuit concept a long time ago in collaboration with a friend who specializes in astronautics.
Choosing the Location
Given these initial conditions, the choice of location is obvious — one doesn’t climb out of a soot-covered spacesuit with such a victorious demeanor unless it’s all over. The setting is a ship’s airlock. The spacesuit hangs there rather awkwardly, probably not yet fully secured in its place. The area has low gravity, which is why some of the attached cables are floating. From the wires connected to the suit, one can infer that the suit won’t be used again for a while.
Once we’ve made a location choice grounded in logic, the rules of composition come into play. We know what to draw, but now we need to figure out how to arrange it for maximum effect.
Three dark exits from the airlock and the darkness inside the spacesuit frame the character’s figure. The top edge of the suit, tilted toward the viewer, guides the eye into the composition and naturally directs it to the character. The far wall is nearly empty and almost entirely white, featuring only a partially erased, illegible inscription and a symbol in an unknown language. This ensures the dark silhouette of the character stands out against the light background of the wall. The white walls around the exits in the upper part of the composition are shaded to reduce their contrast, so they don’t draw unnecessary attention.
Both background elements — the spacesuit and the airlock are part of a small but significant story. They tell us about the character. But to achieve this, the artist must know what story they want to tell.
«Isn’t This Too Complicated? Can I Skip It?»
Yes, you can skip all of this. But didn’t you want to learn how to draw cool backgrounds?