Steve ✦ Lowtwait Profile picture
Aug 3, 2020 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
I've designed so many grungy alleys in #BigCityGreens, it was time for something different.

Research brought me to this electrical mess strewn between buildings. I kept it up and out of the way of the ground level action of the characters.

How'd I draw this? A breakdown thread: Image
First, here's the storyboard panel which reused part of a different alley I had once drawn.

Since this is the location of the climax of the episode, I felt the alley needed more visual tension to support the story. Image
Let's get technical: perspective.

I chose a vanishing point near where the shady guy is looking.

By shifting the vanishing point to the left of center, we feel like the camera is more with that character.

Then I built the structure of the alley from there. Image
Then I do the meat of the designing, roughing out the scene.

Back to the visual tension:
The electrical mess literally above the characters' heads is a metaphor for all that's happened so far in the episode hanging over them.

It's the weight of the story, the stakes at play. Image
I design from the foreground going back in space.

This way, I can build whatever is distant around the more important foreground elements in order to avoid tangents and plan levels of detail. Image
Then I clean it up in in black line in the show style.

This is where I add more details and textures to really bring the place to life. Image
Lastly, I added the electrical lines, again making sure to avoid visual tangents.

A wooden box in the alley is part of the character action. It's on a separate layer so it can be placed correctly in relation to the characters. Image
Because I passed this on to someone else to color, I added some shading to clarify the silhouettes of the electrical mess.

It's important all that line work reads well.

This is the finished #BackgroundDesign: Image
And here's the final painted background brought to illustrious, dingy life by, I think, @spookybri.

Observe the atmospheric perspective (the way colors change as depth increases) in the electrical scaffolding. It's subtle, but impactful to the scene. Image

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More from @Lowtwait

Mar 15, 2022
Let's discuss pushing the boundaries of distortion and style for cinematic and emotional impact.

An environment design thread: Image
Spoiler alert. We have this #BigCityGreens episode called Big Trouble where Tilly "goes bad" and wrestles with her internal demons.

That emotional conflict is what this thread is about. Image
There's this shot in the storyboard (by @Hug_bees) where Tilly faces her guilt over some bad decisions.

The background is drawn in a distorted manner to reflect the turbulent emotional struggle within her.

How do I push that feeling in the final background design? Image
Read 13 tweets
Mar 9, 2022
Designing a TV animation background of a biker bar, and how to add snow.

A step-by-step thread: Image
Here I start with the storyboard panel. It's quite rough and basic, a simple box building with a funny name.

This allows for a lot of creative freedom but I like that it's somewhat plain and windowless. Image
I rough the design over the storyboard making most of my creative choices.

Thinking about lighting in color, I add the pole on the left for an off-screen light source.

The type I hand drew for a specific style.

The motorcycles I backed in because bikers often do that. Image
Read 14 tweets
Oct 13, 2020
From storyboard to background design.

Drawing a pirate ship dinner theater. Heck yeah!

A TV animation step-by-step thread: ImageImage
First, define perspective.

I lay some pre-made grids over the storyboard panel and adjust them with Photoshop's perspective tool. I eyeball it this time instead of using vanishing points.

The horizon line (dark blue) is near the top of the frame so we look down into the room. Image
Then using the storyboard as a guide, I rough in the architecture and major elements.

Though I used reference for the pirate ship, it's a theater stage, not a seafaring vessel, so I cheated a lot of the logistics of a ship.

That's fine. It's a cartoon. Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 1, 2020
Let's combine 2 drawing tricks I recently covered:

- Drawing half a scene for symmetrical design.
- Applying dynamic perspective in Photoshop.

Another step-by-step thread: Image
Since it's October, I chose this shot of a Halloween superstore from #BigCityGreens.

I drew a vertical line through the exact center of the canvas as a guide.

Placing my vanishing point low in the scene will create the perspective of looking upward. Image
Because this is a symmetrical scene, I only needed to draw half the rough up to my vertical centerline.

This is my first trick.

Even the pumpkin with its clever infinity symbol eyes are symmetrical. Image
Read 15 tweets
Sep 29, 2020
Let's study this masterful scene from Bambi to learn about framing characters using foreground elements.

What looks like random branches is carefully planned out to work for multiple character actions.

A breakdown thread: Image
The scene opens with Bambi's mother fully in frame behind some foliage.

A character's face is the most important feature audiences connect with.

So even in this brief action of a single step forward, her eyes and nose are visible, framed by branches. Image
Designing multiple "windows" between the branches (negative space) helps control the audience's focus.

As Mother stops and pulls back, her face now obscured, we are directed toward Bambi entering into his own window. Image
Read 13 tweets
Sep 28, 2020
My rule of thumb for #CharacterDesign is that you should be able to recognize your characters by their silhouettes.

This boils down to shape.

For human characters, hair is a defining facet of shape.

A step-by-step thread of how I use shape: Image
I start out with bald heads.

In this case, it's my own character. In the story, there's a reason for her to have several different hairstyles.

Her bald head is like a blank canvas, a template to draw upon. Image
I draw various simplified shapes, even if they're weird, like (B).

I decided she'll have wavy hair so that's my base. What can I do with that?

The character style here isn't too outrageous so I don't go crazy. Image
Read 9 tweets

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