Painting Backgrounds - Video Tutorials

The background behind your character can make the difference between a piece of character art and a work of art. The background tells the viewer a lot about what the character is doing.

For example, picture an image of Conan the Barbarian or another of your favorite warriors. If you created him standing in front of a desert sunset you may think he is in his homeland feeling clam and serene. Take the same image of him but picture him in front of frozen mountains and trees. Now you may picture him on some epic adventure. Finally, picture him in front of some kind of abstract background made of colored squares on pure black. You probably would not add a story to this scene. Instead you would be focused on his body.

One tip that may help you to create nice backgrounds (especially with mountains and rocks) is to not be so literal. Painting mountains is like finding shapes in clouds. When you look up at the clouds your mind is free to find familiar objects in random shapes. To create landscapes you start with random shapes made of a few shades or colors. Now let your mind have fun locating highlights, little hills, and dark areas. Nature is immensely varied just like our imaginations.

Another tip is to experiment with all of the textured brushes you may not have used. Feel free to use your blending tool to create blurry or blended edges and shapes.

Here are some videos that will help you create a variety of backgrounds for your characters. They take time to make but will showcase your skills as a colorist and a painter.

Tutorials -
Basic Sky – A great tutorial on making a skyline behind your character.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGxGRf…

Easy Mountains – A nice tutorial on how to paint a mountain range in the background.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOzEfB…

Forest Environment – Painting a forest scene for a comic panel.
www.howcast.com/videos/168457-…

Magma Falls – Digitally sketching and painting a volcanic environment.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9U9Bn…

Photoshop Abstract – Using Photoshop filters to create an abstract background.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGqpB…


Time-Lapse

Desert Mountains Landscape - www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm3OBM…
Seascape - www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgEe71…
Industrial Background - www.youtube.com/watch?v=danr8n…
City in the Distance - www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7LY4H…

When looking up background tutorials search for Landscape Tutorials, Concept Art Tutorials, and Environmental Tutorials.

If you find great videos on painting backgrounds or landscapes please leave the link in the comments for everyone!