Backgrounds: Yes or No?

[Abelman]

I'm just wondering how many people use backgrounds in their comics or if they prefer to just have white space.

How much more difficult is it for you to add backgrounds if you have them, and why don't you have them if you don't?

Just wondering.

[Mercury Hat]

Blank backgrounds = white space = bad.

People, by nature, are drawn to this white space and too much of it makes the comic look painfully empty. Even a table or a picture in the background is better than nothing.

[Esoterik]

Blank backgrounds = white space = bad.

People, by nature, are drawn to this white space and too much of it makes the comic look painfully empty. Even a table or a picture in the background is better than nothing.

What MH said.

[Hiye]

Backgrounds, in my opinion, are well worth the struggle. And I don't mean just a gradient or a solid colour fill as the background, but real objects with real detail, giving the impression of a real world behind your characters. They're basically the artistic version of a story's setting - without a setting, there can't be a good story, right? They may be difficult at first, if you're not used to them, but they make practically any comic look a thousand times better.

They're especially vital for manga-style webcomics, which is sorta what I'm trying to get at. There they are usually incredibly detailed, while the characters are simplified, which makes it much harder on lazier artists. But they forced me to learn perspective, so I'm not complaining.

Personally, I used to be lazy when it came to backgrounds. Then I realized how bland and empty all that white made my comic look, and therefore started adding them in gradually. My first ones were done entirely by computer in Corel, which was torture. Then, drawing them by hand and getting the perspective to work was yet a new kind of torture. So now I prefer to do all them by hand, with as much detail as I can possibly fit in them, which was torture at first, but now is actually becoming somewhat fun. So, I am all for backgrounds. They can do no harm.

[[geoduck]]

I would say that even a gradient is better than blank white space; I use them when I get lazy with my strip, and don't want to draw Yet Another Rock Wall. (The majority of the action in the strip is currently underground.)

And Hiye, it was the writer Robert Bloch who first came up with that "heart of a young boy" quip. King was just quoting him.

[William G]

Even the most lazy shojou manga artist in Japan uses backgrounds to establish setting.

[Mercury Hat]

Yes, but manga artists are even more lazy in that they have people to draw the backgrounds for them. Like, Rumiko Takahashi doesn't even do drawing anymore, I think she just draws character sheets and basic storyboards and lets her assistants do the rest.

We webcomic artists are but poor lowly do-it-yourself-ers ;__;

[Swirlyandpop]

I use blank backround because:
a) I'm lazy
b) I can't draw one and
c) It draws more attention to the dialogue.
Although you may not agree, I really don't have settings for some scenes. In those cases I gotta keep it blank, otherwise I throw in an important prop (TV, van, computer, etc...)

[Christwriter]

Backgrounds are good.

They take care of world-building for the writer
They provide a "stage" for your characters
They create an atmosphere
They let you show off your drawing/coloring capabilities.

CW

[Joel Fagin]

People, by nature, are drawn to this white space

That is, in fact, exactly wrong. The human eye is drawn to detail and movement, which is why documents need margins on either side - so there's a buffer of white space that does not distract the eye.

It's an evolutionary thing. Movement meant death or food. Detail meant something could be hiding.

Not that I disagree. Backgrounds are good and plain white is bad. It's a trade off, though. There're time constraints to take into account. Usually one panel with a background is sufficient to set the scene. Ozy and Millie uses that trick frequently and transparently.

A full colour strip or highly detailed art usually needs more backgrounds simply because it will look more realistic and not having the backgrounds will look odd.

- Joel Fagin

[Taiwanimation]

Backgrounds are great, draw them well, and you don't even need to bother drawing foregrounds anymore!

viewtopic.php?t=56920

[Mercury Hat]

Really, Joel? I thought that the eye was drawn to negative space but I guess I could be mistaken. The almighty Google told me that white or negative space guides the eye to the positive space so in this case it'd be the "movement" of the comic, eh?

But going by this line of thinking, more negative than positive space would make the image or comic look woefully empty, right?

[Joel Fagin]

Really, Joel? I thought that the eye was drawn to negative space but I guess I could be mistaken. The almighty Google told me that white or negative space guides the eye to the positive space so in this case it'd be the "movement" of the comic, eh?

The almighty Google sounds right to me. If I'm reading that correctly, it says that if you're looking at blank space, your eye will be drawn to the drawing. Uh... Pun unintended.

But going by this line of thinking, more negative than positive space would make the image or comic look woefully empty, right?

I'd say so, yes. I think it depends greatly on artistic style. I mentioned that realistic art tends to need background but conversely, PVP, which uses very 2D, almost cutout characters, doesn't seem to be affected.

I can only guess here, mind. I know how backgrounds of various types affect webpages and documents, but graphic design is pretty light on the requirements of comic art.

- Joel Fagin

[Akewataru]

Agreed.

Just worry about cluttered backgrounds. Make sure that the background tells where they are and tells you something about their location. Don't just have a floating tree in the background and then suddenly have robotic space aliens fly by aimlessly (unless that's part of your comic ).

Generally, you dont have to have a background in EVERY square (especially in manga formats). It's probably best to include backgrounds when you have HUGE white spaces with no purpose or if you're telling about their current location. =3

[William G]

There is a balance that can be found between cluttered backgrounds and empty white space.

I view backgrounds as being there to establish setting, and as such, they don't usually have to be too complex. Looking back at, say Tezuka's Atomu, there were many cases of the background being nothing more than four lines to indicate that a character was standing in a hallway.

Fairly simple amount of work, yet effective it doing what it's supposed to.

I guess the background thing really depends upon what sort of comic you're making. Garfield has spent about 400 years with nothing more than an edge of a table for a background. But looking at something like, say, Akira or Domu, having detailed backgrounds was important to have in the work because the settings were supposed to be "real" places so the unusal things happening in each comic seemed all that more unusual.

I took a look, and it seemed to me that the OP is making a gag strip. In that case, minimum backgrounds or even none at all, will suffice.

[McDuffies]

People, by nature, are drawn to this white space

That is, in fact, exactly wrong. The human eye is drawn to detail and movement, which is why documents need margins on either side - so there's a buffer of white space that does not distract the eye.

It's an evolutionary thing. Movement meant death or food. Detail meant something could be hiding.

Not that I disagree. Backgrounds are good and plain white is bad. It's a trade off, though. There're time constraints to take into account. Usually one panel with a background is sufficient to set the scene. Ozy and Millie uses that trick frequently and transparently.

A full colour strip or highly detailed art usually needs more backgrounds simply because it will look more realistic and not having the backgrounds will look odd.

- Joel Fagin

Yep. What's more, putting a background on every single panel overcrowds it. My reccomendation is keeping between 1/2 and 2/3 of panels background-free, filling the rest.

[Alschroeder]

I'm just wondering how many people use backgrounds in their comics or if they prefer to just have white space.

How much more difficult is it for you to add backgrounds if you have them, and why don't you have them if you don't?

Just wondering.

Backgrounds. Definitely.
Some people make a beautiful statement with their backgrounds---like Baldwin's BRUNO, and his fabulous one-panel comic and its beautiful backgrounds, usual photo-referenced.---Al

[Phalanx]

Background detail should be porportionate to how much attention you want to give it.

For example, if you wanted to establish the location, detailed background! if you want to focus on the characters, lighten or blur out the background... or reduce it to a few simplified lines.

[Yeahduff]

While you do the gag thing, you do it in kinduva weird world. I'd be interested to see what it's like. Even if it's just little touches in the background. What is a monster-filled suburb like, anyway? Show us.

[War]

I love backgrounds now. They never used to be a part of my comic, but these days I don't like a panel without them. I'm still new to them, but I'm getting better each time I use them. I used to draw one background seperately and reuse it, but nowadays I give each panel its own background (though I still kick myself when I realise I could have reused a background).
What I do tend to do is outline the characters in a thicker pen to make them stand out from the background. And occasionally blur the background. It gives the comic a more complete look.