Art: Exterior Background Layout of a House

In almost all of my work, backgrounds are minimal to non-existent. I think it’s because I’ve always found them intimidating to draw. I’m hoping to gain more confidence in that area, and I wanted to share the process work on a recent background I created this afternoon.

I started with a photo found on the ‘net that I used as a starting point for my drawing.

In Corel Painter, I blocked out the linework by sketching it while looking at the reference image. After a reasonable facsimile was drawn, I took the design into Photoshop. Below you can see the original sketch on the left. In the middle I added a Distort transformation. On the right I exaggerated the perspective to give a more stylized look.

Once I was satisfied with the basic structure, I used the polygon lasso tool in Photoshop to block out the major parts of the house. I first start with the overall form, then move towards detail.

Here is the final version I came up with.

I tried a few color tests to provide a different mood to the environment. The middle image was the result of adjusting the overall tint color. The image on the right was the result of combining a color tint with desaturation; giving the house a more ominous look.

As I said, I’m not really too well versed with drawing backgrounds. But it wasn’t as intimidating to work on, once I broke the steps down. (Actually, it was kinda fun!) Drawing backgrounds *is* more time-consuming, though. This piece took me 2 hours to create. As always, I look forward to your feedback.

-Krishna

Krishna August 5, 2010 background environment art, concept art, home