So I figured out a trick for painting digital backgrounds that actually saved my hide

I've been doing digital art for maybe 4 years now, and backgrounds have always been my weak spot. I'd spend hours on a character and then just throw a gradient or some messy sky behind them because I got impatient. Last month I was working on a piece for a client who specifically wanted a detailed forest scene behind their OC, and I was totally stuck. I tried using brushes, I tried drawing every leaf, nothing looked right. Then I remembered seeing someone mention using a 3D program to block out the basic shapes and then paint over it. I downloaded Blender for the first time ever, spent maybe 20 minutes making a super rough tree and ground layout, took a screenshot, and painted over it in like an hour. It came out way better than anything I'd done before, and the client was thrilled. Has anyone else tried using 3D as a shortcut for environment stuff? I'm curious if there's an even simpler way to do it without learning the whole program.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kevin19d ago

Wait isn't that how basically every pro concept artist does environments nowadays? I thought painting over 3D blockouts was like the standard workflow, not really a shortcut...

sarah53119d ago

Push back on the idea that painting over 3D is somehow cheating or less artistic. The whole "shortcut" thing misses the point that concept art is about solving visual problems fast, not proving you can draw every brick from scratch. People act like using a 3D base makes the work less valid, but it's like saying a carpenter shouldn't use a power saw because hand saws are more authentic. The end result is what matters, not the method to get there. If the final piece communicates the idea and looks good, who cares if there's a Cubebase underneath.