Drawing comic book backgrounds is essential for any aspiring comic book artist, as it brings depth, context, and visual appeal to the story. In this video, Whyt Manga shares valuable tips and insights into the importance of backgrounds in comics. He emphasizes how well-executed backgrounds not only set the scene and help convey the action but also play a crucial role in world-building, reflecting the geography, culture, and significant landmarks of the story’s setting. By concentrating on the technical details in crafting accurate perspectives and the artistic side of infusing the narrative with life through detailed environments, this tutorial offers a comprehensive guide to mastering drawing comic book backgrounds.
How to Draw Backgrounds FROM SCRATCH | Fictional Cityscape
Whyt Manga
In this video on how to Drawing comic book backgrounds , Whyt Manga teaches how to draw a fantasy cityscape background using examples from his comics. He breaks down the lesson into understanding technical aspects like vanishing points and horizon lines for two-point perspective, which is crucial for sketching buildings accurately. The artist would like viewers to have a basic knowledge of perspective drawing and hints at a three-point perspective for more complex vertical lines.
He also talks about the importance of knowing your fantasy world’s geography, culture, and landmarks to create a believable cityscape, drawing architectural inspiration from various sources to enrich the city’s design. The tutorial covers key elements like designing roofs and windows and integrating natural features such as mountains and water, suggesting reference use for accuracy.
The artist walks viewers through the inking and toning process, adding final details like shading and lighting to complete the fantasy cityscape. This video teaches not just the technical skills needed for drawing detailed backgrounds but also to inspire creativity and consistency in design.
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HOW TO DRAW BACKGROUNDS, COMPOSE PANELS with Jim Lee!
By Jim Lee
Jim Lee offers valuable feedback on a portfolio submission featuring a fantasy cityscape in this live stream. He covers the critical role of perspective, highlighting the necessity for clear vanishing points and horizon lines to make architectural elements look realistic. Jim critiques using a two-point perspective in the submitted work, essential for accurately depicting buildings. Briefly, he mentions the potential of a three-point perspective for vertical structures. He suggests incorporating details about the world’s geography and culture to make the setting more authentic.
During his review, Jim points out the importance of consistent detailing in aspects like roofs and windows, recommending reference materials for precision. He also discusses integrating natural landscapes to enhance the cityscape’s appeal and wraps up with suggestions on inking and toning techniques for a refined final illustration.
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How to Draw Backgrounds (1-point Perspective)
By markcrilley
In this tutorial, Mark Crilley walks viewers through drawing a fantasy cityscape background, using examples from his graphic novel series “Brody’s Ghost.” He begins with the basics of one-point perspective, establishing a horizon line and a vanishing point to build a road and sloped embankments. Mark discusses the importance of understanding perspective to create believable environments. As he adds elements like a futuristic overpass supported by pillars, Mark explains how to ensure everything aligns accurately according to perspective rules.
The tutorial progresses with adding details to the cityscape, such as buildings and environmental features, using manual drawing techniques. Mark encourages artists to start simple with perspective drawing before attempting more complex scenes, acknowledging that creating detailed environments requires practice and patience. The video will give you foundational skills for drawing intricate backgrounds and enhancing storytelling in your art projects.
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Drawing a Comic Style Scene with a One Point Perspective ( Freehand Method )
By Robert Marzullo
In this video, Rob from Ram Studio Comics shares a time-lapse of creating a perspective drawing, part of a lesson for his upcoming course on one, two, and three-point perspective. He starts with a freehand method, discussing its benefits, especially in comic creation, such as maintaining an organic feel, speed, and a more creative look. Rob explains that while he usually relies on more structured methods, freehand drawing can add energy and a natural vibe to the work.
Throughout the video, he corrects perspective in a rough sketch, gradually refining it to create a detailed alley scene. Rob uses the shift-click feature in Clip Studio Paint for straight lines but emphasizes the importance of not over-relying on digital tools to keep the creative process fluid. He suggests using perspective grids as a practice tool, allowing artists to draw over them to improve their freehand skills while maintaining correct perspective. The video encourages artists to experiment with perspective, reminding them that digital tools offer the flexibility to make adjustments even at the inking stage.
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How to Draw A City In 2 Point Perspective – Sketchbook Pro – Narrated by Robert Marzullo
By Robert Marzullo
Rob Marzullo from Ram Studio Comics presents a detailed tutorial on drawing a city in two-point perspective, to create a view where we’re slightly looking down on the city. He begins by setting up the digital canvas in SketchBook Pro 7, though he notes that the techniques can be applied traditionally or in various digital art software. Rob discusses the importance of placing vanishing points far off the canvas to achieve a more realistic perspective. He explains how the position of the horizon line affects the viewer’s perception of height in the drawing.
Rob demonstrates the step-by-step process of building the cityscape, starting with basic shapes and gradually adding details like buildings of varying heights and architectural features. He talks about the importance of scale and variation to avoid uniformity in the city’s appearance. Additionally, Rob shares tips on refining the sketch with detailed elements, such as rooftops, windows, and textural variations, to bring the city to life.
He also touches on the potential of adding dynamic elements, like a character on a rooftop, to enhance storytelling within the cityscape drawing. This tutorial offers valuable insights for artists looking to improve their skills in drawing detailed, perspective-accurate cityscapes.
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You Hate Drawing Backgrounds… but you need them
By Whyt Manga
In this video on how to Drawing comic book backgrounds, Whyt Manga shares insights on drawing backgrounds, focusing on how they add technical value and enhance storytelling. He explains that backgrounds help indicate where a scene occurs and the interaction between characters and their environment—for example, showing a character standing on the ground or interacting with objects in their surroundings.
Whyt encourages viewers to practice backgrounds to improve one’s art, highlighting that well-executed backgrounds can make illustrations look significantly better. He also talks about the role of backgrounds in world-building, showing how they can reflect the geography, culture, and significant landmarks of a story’s setting. Drawing from his experience working on his “Apple Black” series, Whyt discusses creating a key location, the Black Bottom Island Guild, a sorcerer school. T
This tutorial highlights how backgrounds serve two main functions: they provide a clear context for where a scene takes place and deepen the story by adding detail and background to its world.
I hope you enjoyed these tutorials on drawing comic book backgrounds. Find more comic book art lessons from our site here.
