Five ways to improve your environments

Freelance illustrator Samuel Berry lays down the foundations of what youll need to create and improve your environments

Five ways to improve your environments

Today were going to go over five ways to make sure your environments get off on the right foot. Research, composition, visual language, value structure and color harmony all contribute to building a solid foundation for you to design a compelling environment. Keep in mind, these points are not exclusive to designing an environment but any sort of visual art.

Research, planning and more research

First things first; research. Research and reference is how you create something genuine rather than generic looking. There are a lot of ways to approach it. Everyone has their own method of gathering reference and researching. I approach it like I would write an essay: create an outline.

Brainstorming: Write or draw (thumb nails) every idea that comes to mind, every single idea. Your first idea is very often your most generic thought on the subject so you need to dig deep and explore the subject matter.

Researching: If some ideas interest you, read up about them and gather any sort relevant reference for later use. Wikipedia is a good place to start, just dont get lost.

Thumbnails: Once you know what story you want to tell you can start drawing thumbnails. This is where you apply most of what were going to talk about.

Researching x2: There is no shame in using reference to draw or paint something; it is a valuable learning tool. However, you shouldnt directly copy your reference or simply plop it down in your painting. Study the reference; learn everything you can from it to be able to create your own elements.

What thats left now is to fill in the blanks! So, lets see how we can do that.

Composition: Visual Balance

Use visual balance to guide the audiences eyes. There are a lot of topics when it comes pictorial composition and each one warrants its own article, but today were going to go over the basics of visual balance. Attributing each visual element and subject with its own weight is a good approach. Two variables determine an objects weight: size and complexity.

Size is obvious: the bigger it is the more weight it has.

Size and Placement

Complexity can make a smaller object weight as much as an object twice its size. For that reason and a bit of psychology, figures are extremely heavy (most of all, human figures) and command a lot of our attention.

Complexity vs. Simplicity

While we tend to find balanced images more pleasing, the opposite can also serve a purpose. It all depends on what youre trying to accomplish with your illustration. A well designed composition will ensure clarity of message.

Use visual language to build a message into your environments

Visual language refers to how shapes and lines communicate with your audience. A lot of it is psychological, because the human brain associates these shapes to ourselves. Shape communicates what the location is about and what the audience should be feeling; its the first step in telling a story.

A typical day, really

Combining different shapes creates more compelling stories

The same principles apply to shapes and you can combine them to create more complex messages and feelings. These shapes play a significant role in the pictorial composition of your illustration.

Create a value structure before even thinking of color.

Clarity in your illustration comes from good value structure. A value structure can be broken down into three parts: silhouette, local value, and light/shade.

Silhouette is the shape of an element. Local value is the inherent value of an object: a black ball will automatically be a darker value than a white ball. Light/shade is what happens when a light source is cast on an object.

Silhouette, Local Value, Light/Shade

With these things in mind, you can start grouping your values together. It allows you to organize your elements so that they read clearly and dont distract from each other.

Example of value grouping using an old painting of mine

By converting the image to grayscale and increasing the contrast we can easily see how value grouping organizes the structure of the image. Looking at it now, I realize I should have unified the values around and under the bridge. Doing so would have increased visual clarity and allow the audience to focus on the girl more easily.

All this seems like a lot to consider when just sketching thumbnails, but it will make your life much easier. If your values are good then you can (almost) pick any color and it will work. Speaking of which

Harmonize your colors

Like composition, color theory is a big and scary place, but it can be simple if were smart. There are two things you need to know about creating color harmony: unity and variety.

Color theory for dummies

The important thing to remember here is: color is relative. A cool light grey can look like warm white clouds next to a blue sky or a shade of green can look blue next to oranges and reds. There are no right or wrong choices, as long as it respects the context of your illustration and idea.

In the end, all of these points share a common theme: storytelling. Even if its just an environment, it should be able to stand alone as its own character. If you can manage to do that, then your environment will act as a proper stage for your story and your audience will be fully immersed in it. Remember, dont get discouraged if you have trouble, just take your time and apply these five principles. Itll all work out in the end.

Related Links

Follow Samuel Berry on Instagram
Check out Samuels tumblr to see his art principles in practice
Browse Samuels portfolio to see more of his fantastic drawings, sketches and more
Pick up a copy of Beyond Art Fundamentals for a comprehensive look into the essentials of art