Today we’re going to look at some different ways to use the same background. I have certain backgrounds that I return to use again and again.
Once you’ve taken the time and energy to create a background, it seems a shame to only use it once. Instead you can file it away and use it again.
Because you’ve already got some backgrounds to hand, it frees you up to concentrate on the characters and the gag, which is what most folks tend to want to do anyway.
I’ll show some how you manipulate the background in different ways so as to not show exactly the same thing again and again.
I got the idea to base this article around a cafe scene after being shown a really neat drawing of a Paris cafe that a participant came up with during Cartoon Hour.
Can you guess what movie this particular cafe features in?
Here’s what we’re going to cover:
Use the background again exactly as it is
Use a section
Add something behind the current background
Modify the background
Zoom in
You might be wondering why I didn’t include zoom out seeing as I listed zoom in. The thing with zooming out is that if you do so with a background you’ve drawn, you’ve got to draw more of the background to fill the scene. Feel free to do so if you want to give it a try, but I’ll keep it simple for this article.
Use the background again exactly as it is
Use a section
In this cartoon the woman is sitting in a different cafe on the other side of the street. The scene behindis viewed as if through a window.
Add something behind the current background
Here Zogon the Terrible has decided to go on a weekend break to Paris.
Modify the background
Here I’ve turned the cafe into a shop by changing some of the details.
Zoom in
With it being a cafe, an obvious choice would be to zoom in on a couple of diners. Instead I chose to focus on someone perusing the menu board.
Summary
Use the background again exactly as it is
Use a section
Add something behind the current background
Modify the background
Zoom in