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Background Tutorial — Description

Little shoutout to Alturdbutt who originally asked for one!

Steps explained:

1. Sketch your scenery roughly, this is where you decide where your objects will be placed. Keep in mind the foreground, midground, and background. Use your chosen reference to get a feel for where things should be placed

In the second sketch I have the foreground - mid - and background highlighted in sections

2. Keeping the sketch layer on top, begin blocking out your colors for any sky visible and your foreground/midground. Use your sketch roughly, and feel free to add things

3. Place the background. Usually, objects in the very back will appear lighter and this creates depth, of course this can depend on your individual piece and the mood you want to create

4. Get rid of the sketch layer

5. Start refining shapes. Things like grass, leaves, and other textures

6. The last step, adding necessary shading and lighting. This can really make or break a background, and a knowledge in color theory really helps here. Make sure everything looks cohesive!