5 tips for a budding environmental artist

Impenetrable jungles, a small apple orchard, mountain ranges or a mysterious forest — environment design immerses the viewer in an atmosphere, conveys mood and tells a whole story in one second.

But how to draw a cool environment? Artist and curator of the course Design of the environment in 2D Alexandra Tarnavskaya shared useful tips for начинающие artists.

Consider what the picture is created for

And choose expressive tools that are most suitable for each case. For example, if you need to draw a habitat for cute characters, the artist will try to depict this through pleasant colors and soft shapes. If you need a setting for a dramatic dark time, then the environment will be in dark colors and with an abundance of sharp shapes.

On top of both images we see a tree house, but in Adventure time (first picture) the shadows are transparent and light, the shapes are simple and expressive. Strong stylization and simplification have been added to the geometry, pure, bright and slightly acidic colors have been used, the silhouette of the house is read from afar.

In Arcane (second picture) the environment is realistic — we see many picturesque strokes. Colors are muted, shadows are dark, and light is bright.

Remember about guides

Pay attention to how skillfully the overall movement of the characters is emphasized in the composition due to the guides, although these are different series of Love, Death and Robots with different stories and atmosphere.

It is very useful to analyze frames when watching animated works and thereby replenish your visual library of techniques. Also it is useful to make quick studies to remember them at the mechanical level of hand movements.

And also — about light

The same location can look completely different under different lighting and weather conditions. Here, according to the plot of Love, Death and Robots, the time of day changes, respectively, the light and the feeling of the location change:

Working with changing lighting can be seen already at the concept stage: artists draw the same location under different weather and time conditions — it turns out to be a convenient lighting map.

Example — Klaus, Clément Dartigues

We do this exercise in the course Design of the environment in 2D — we draw the same location in different lighting.

Consider the climatic zone of the location

Remember how plants look in the jungle — such vegetation will not be in the boreal zone. Even stones, depending on the climate of the location being depicted, change their character, color. For example, stones located near water differ from stones in the desert — we also analyze these nuances in detail in the course.

Examples — Jason Scheier

Check the composition in black and white

In the search for composition, you can make quick black and white miniatures. They will help you choose the best option for a composition balanced in contrast, not overload with details and clearly define the viewer's focus point.

Example — Gabriel Gomez

In the online course Design of the environment in 2D we study natural locations — first we draw separate assets (stones, bushes, trees), then gradually move on to environment sketches and whole locations with lighting.

Find out more about the course and get acquainted with its program on the course page. For any questions, including to clarify the nearest start date, write to our managers on Telegram.