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The Secrets Behind Sean Murphy’s Cinematic Backgrounds — Transcript

by Good Joe · 3,714 words · 565 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00I can see why the majority of artists
0:02don't enjoy drawing backgrounds. They
0:04can be tedious, repetitive, and lack
0:06that human connection we get from
0:07drawing characters. But why then when
0:09you look at superstar artist Sean
0:11[music] Gordon Murphy's work, do you
0:12feel none of those things? And instead
0:14you're left with the opposite, a sense
0:16of longing, attachment, and wonder. But
0:19how is that possible? Well, in this
0:21video, I'm going to dig into the secrets
0:22behind what makes Sean Murphy's
0:24backgrounds so cinematic and special,
0:26and how falling in love with drawing
0:27backgrounds is actually easy if you have
0:30the right approach. And throw the video
0:32a like if you enjoy comic art as much as
0:33I do and want to learn from the best in
0:35the biz. I don't want to always have to
0:37say this, but you don't have to be a
0:38super fan of Sean Murphy's work to be
0:40open-minded about the concepts we
0:42discuss in this video.
0:43>> [music]
0:43>> There's got to be a reason I'm not more
0:45successful. Damn it. Damn me.
0:48>> A lot of the time, the things you need
0:49are right in front of you. All you have
0:51to do is be open to giving them a shot.
0:58Say what you want about any other aspect
1:00of Sean Murphy's work, but you can't
1:02deny he draws scenes that end up looking
1:04gorgeously cinematic. And somehow at the
1:06same time it feels uniquely comics. This
1:09aspect of his art comes from two things,
1:11from camera angle and focal length.
1:13Camera angle is self-explanatory, the
1:15angle of the camera. They can be high
1:17angle, low angle, straight on, and so
1:19on. Focal length on the other hand
1:21doesn't come up in comic artist circles
1:23as much as you would think. Anyway, I'm
1:25going to give the simplest reductionist
1:27explanation here. Focal length is the
1:29fancy talk for how much you want to cram
1:32into your image. More stuff, more
1:34vanishing points, and more [music]
1:36distortion, that's a wide angle lens for
1:39big action and those really
1:40stereotypical wow images. And on the
1:43other hand, having less stuff, less
1:45depth, and less vanishing points, that's
1:48a long lens used typically for
1:50environmental visual interest and those
1:52cool close-ups.
1:53>> [music]
1:53>> This one has a feel that is more distant
1:55and unusual because it's far from what
1:57our eyes experience in daily life. It's
2:00this unusual and sometimes magical long
2:02lens approach that brings Sean scenes to
2:04cinematic life. With a long lens,
2:06especially the hyper long lens, [music]
2:08where you only use a forced one-point
2:10perspective, so much of the distance
2:12between things collapse. And contrary to
2:15what most artists believe, doing [music]
2:17a one-point perspective correctly, as
2:18Sean does, is much more challenging than
2:21a two-point or three-point perspective.
2:23And that's because you have fewer
2:24guidelines, which means it's harder to
2:26keep all the environment and the
2:27relationships measured and consistent.
2:29[music] If you're a fan of Scott
2:30Robertson or industrial design, you've
2:32already heard this warning. Generally,
2:34artists stick to a two-point perspective
2:36as their bread and butter, and then they
2:38kick it into high gear with a wider
2:40two-point or maybe dive into a
2:42three-point perspective. But,
2:44occasionally, they'll sprinkle in that
2:45one-point perspective for staging. And
2:47this is opposite to what Sean Murphy
2:49does. By far, [music] the majority of
2:51the shots are long lenses. And when he
2:53hits you hard with some action, he may
2:55throw in that two or three [music]
2:56point perspective to sell something, but
2:59for the most part, he sticks with the
3:00long lens. And this is where the
3:02cinematic nature comes from. And
3:04somehow, he still keeps it [music]
3:06feeling comic booky by also adding in a
3:08few high-angle long lens shots. And even
3:11if you learn what I just told you and
3:12actively use focal length and [music]
3:14keeping the angle in mind, your art
3:16still may look off or unnatural a little
3:19bit. And that's because there's a couple
3:21of big rules for backgrounds that every
3:23artist should know. And one of those
3:24things is scale. If you think about it,
3:26the bigger something is, the [music]
3:28more the fine details and small
3:30intricacies can be seen. So, rule number
3:33one is, if you want to draw something
3:34big, you're going to have to draw things
3:36that are small. Include all those little
3:38small details, and you'll make anything
3:40look huge. And to really sell the scale
3:43of something, all you have to do is do a
3:45repetition of a similar object receding
3:48into the distance and coming back to the
3:49foreground, and this will activate all
3:51that relative scale and turn your small
3:54details into relative detail. It's all
3:56good to aim for that cinematic long
3:58lens, but if your environment [music] is
4:00scarce with detail and all you can see
4:01is that horizon line,
4:03you really are not going to cue the
4:05audience to be intrigued. The way you
4:07solve for that is to follow [music] rule
4:08number two, which is break up the
4:10horizon. Just imagine all the stuff in
4:12your scene as cardboard cutouts. And
4:14that's because when you look through a
4:16long lens, everything compresses to
4:18something like a cardboard cutout, like
4:19the characters I mentioned before.
4:21>> [music]
4:21>> Anyway, start to overlap things in your
4:23scene like cardboard cutouts, and the
4:25visual cues will start [music] to work.
4:27Will Weston, who is a master at anatomy
4:29and a lot of things, shows this concept
4:31so well with one of his videos. And
4:34remember, without the second vanishing
4:35point, you'll have to use overlapping
4:38lines to show the depth.
4:43In a lot of ways, Sean Gordon Murphy
4:46forges his own path when making comic
4:47art. While his figures are nothing to
4:49roll your eyes at, it's his environments
4:51that steal the show and, in my opinion,
4:53deliver something far above most comic
4:56art standards. He's got a definitive
4:58vision of the world he's creating, and
5:00it's the environments that fills in all
5:02the gaps. As I started studying, I
5:04realized that it's this complete picture
5:06that drives the impact of his work,
5:08which makes me think that the key to
5:10falling in love with drawing awesome
5:11backgrounds that not only you enjoy
5:13making, but the viewer can't get enough
5:15of, is creating a human tether. As in,
5:18the direct line that connects us the
5:20viewers to the [music] objects in the
5:21scene. Sean Murphy does this in a couple
5:23specific ways. The first way, he says
5:26explicitly in a recent interview from
5:32>> [music]
5:32>> This is after he's asked why he includes
5:35so many stairs in his work. He says,
5:37quote, "Backgrounds are more interesting
5:40when you add [music] places for the
5:41characters to go, even if a character
5:44doesn't use the element." When I first
5:46read this, it made so much sense, but I
5:48didn't know why. Years later, now I see
5:50that adding [music] things like doors,
5:53walkways, and stairs don't just add
5:54details for the environmental interest,
5:56they're there to trigger the basis of
5:58our instincts within our brains. There's
6:00an idea called the affordance theory by
6:02J.J. Gibson, which states that the world
6:05is perceived not only in terms of shapes
6:07and the physical stuff, but the
6:09possibilities for action. This is why
6:11Shawn replies to an environmental
6:13question with a character answer. So,
6:15when [music] we see a doorway in a
6:17drawing, our brain isn't taking note
6:19that is a rectangle with hinges or
6:22whatever, [music] it's recognizing that
6:24I could go through there.
6:26And that is the real tether, the
6:27subconscious reason why you relate to an
6:29environment
6:30>> [music]
6:30>> in the first place. Now, if that's not
6:32enough to inspire some inventive
6:33environments, here's Murphy's second way
6:35he creates that tether. For anybody who
6:37dislikes drawing backgrounds, this one's
6:40going to change the game for you, I
6:41promise. Ever wonder why Shawn Murphy
6:43draws so many cars and highly detailed
6:45vehicles in his background, [music]
6:47even though they're many times just
6:49secondary elements for set dressing? He
6:51draws them so much and so well because
6:54he loves [music] them. Inside of art,
6:56outside of art, as vehicles, as toys, as
6:59a tool, as machines, he loves drawing
7:02vehicles. And even in his new book
7:04coming out is all about cars. It's
7:06called The Last Driver. So, check out
7:08the link in the description to support
7:09Shawn's new book. I know I'm stoked for
7:11it. I bring this up because one of the
7:13best ways for you to reconnect to
7:15creating environments is to straight-up
7:17include what you enjoy drawing most in
7:19your backgrounds. If you're having
7:20trouble, think of it this way. Think of
7:22the things you like to do, then think of
7:25the things or the objects that are
7:26associated with doing those things.
7:28>> [music]
7:28>> Going forward, you're going to add
7:30aspects of those in your backgrounds
7:32every chance you get. You'll now always
7:35have something to look forward to when
7:36you're drawing a background. And even if
7:38your answer is, "No, man, I I like
7:40drawing characters."
7:42Well, good, cuz add some characters in
7:44your backgrounds. It's It's that simple.
7:46And all these things can be gateways to
7:48activating your natural drive. So, you
7:50can always put in the extra work that
7:52create an engaging environment the
7:54audience is craving, making your art
7:55more personalized by expressing your
7:57interests. And leveraging your interest
7:59doesn't just help with making
8:01backgrounds more attractive to draw, it
8:03can boost your whole art journey if you
8:04know how to set it up. And it's a major
8:06part of what I'm offering called good
8:08start sessions. In these all a cart, no
8:11commitment one-on-one sessions with me,
8:13I design a personalized roadmap for you,
8:15specifically identifying the most
8:17sure-fire ways to see improvement in
8:18your art, and see that you're actually
8:20enjoy doing it. Click the link in the
8:22description, download the free know
8:24thyself worksheet to start the process,
8:27and begin to see real results.
8:29See you there.
8:34If you look at the wide range of artists
8:36that draw great backgrounds, you might
8:38plot them on a scale from one to use
8:40more loose rendering all the way to
8:42super analytically measured stuff. On
8:44one side, vibes is king, which will
8:47deliver a strong emotional mood. And on
8:49the other side, they rely heavily on
8:52technical accuracy and all-inspiring
8:54spectacle. And I would place Shawn
8:56Murphy somewhere between these two, but
8:58firmly in the vibes end of the spectrum.
9:01Wait. No, put him on the accuracy side
9:03of the spectrum.
9:04I think I'm having trouble here because
9:06I think Shawn manages to do both at the
9:08same time. But, how does he create the
9:10strong emotional moods while still
9:12delivering on the technical side of
9:14great backgrounds? Well, he does it in
9:16three big ways. But, before we do that,
9:19let's do our favorite thing and break
9:20down his style to see how his artistic
9:22choices end up looking in his [music]
9:24final art. If I had to describe his
9:26current style in its like final form, in
9:28short, oddly enough, it wouldn't sound
9:31so pretty on paper. I would have to say
9:32it's a mix of perfectly straight lines,
9:34simplistic perspectives, messy
9:37renderings, sketchy line making,
9:39flat, sometimes stiff-feeling figures,
9:41and yet in the end, it stands out as
9:44some of the most impressive art in
9:46comics. First, quite often you'll see
9:48that he handwrites [music]
9:50some of the graphics for things in the
9:52background, as well as subtitles for
9:54covers.
9:54>> [music]
9:55>> Next is a huge one. He describes it as
9:57controlled sketching. It's where you use
9:59lines that follow perspective, but have
10:01a rough, unfinished, organic feeling to
10:03them. And here's a nice pairing for that
10:05one. He uses a heavy dose of implied
10:08detail. Lines that only hint at what the
10:10subject could be, leaving the rest of
10:12the figuring out to the imagination of
10:14the viewer. Since Shawn works
10:16traditionally, he'll do a whiteout pass.
10:18And this is where he uses whiteout or
10:20white paint to clarify lines, add
10:22texture, and balance [music] the image
10:23in general. And you will likely see very
10:26tight drawings of hard surface objects,
10:28like those vehicles we talked about. And
10:30this shows off his knowledge of
10:32perspective and proportion.
10:33>> [music]
10:33>> He doesn't shy away from using heavy
10:35blacks, either.
10:36And when it comes to faces and
10:38characters, he does a few different
10:39things. One, he adds a whisker-like line
10:42for the shadows, and especially for more
10:44gruff characters. And also, he almost
10:46always depicts mouths wider than
10:49average.
10:49>> [music]
10:49>> And last, in general, his figures are
10:51drawn with a graphical flatness to them.
10:54And in the rendering, you'll notice
10:55something really unique here. He does
10:56>> [music]
10:57>> thumbprint smudge gradients. They add
10:59texture and blending, and oddly enough,
11:02it's some of the softest transitions of
11:03light to shadow in his work. While we're
11:06on the subject of texture, let's take
11:07note of the splatter he does here. Shawn
11:09loves texture when he can get away with
11:11it. And last but not least, he does this
11:13thing with hatching and speed lines,
11:15where he makes the inks so thin that
11:17when he lays it down with the quill or a
11:20nib or whatever, it creates a fine line
11:22that I can't help but describe as
11:23scratchy. So, now let's take a look at
11:25the study of an environmental Batman
11:27shot, where I started to discover these
11:29three big ways that Shawn gets away with
11:31having the best vibes and accuracy at
11:34the same time. First, I found that Shawn
11:36prioritizes vibes by bending the rules
11:38instead of staying accurate with
11:40perspective. Meaning, if he can get away
11:42with it, he does something artists call
11:44using [music] forced perspective. This
11:46is where an artist essentially ignores,
11:48bends, or breaks the rules of
11:49perspective to make a certain element
11:51work within an art piece. As I was
11:53recreating this, I started to have a
11:55hard time finding the correct position
11:57for a vanishing point in this one-point
11:59perspective. Because I noticed a couple
12:02different objects didn't really match up
12:04when they should have. If you don't
12:05know, a perspective relies on the
12:07horizon line and imaginary points on
12:09that horizon called vanishing points,
12:11from which we extrude guidelines and
12:14we're able to find exactly how an object
12:16would recede into the distance. Now,
12:17here in this Batman study, he's bending
12:19the rules a bit to keep the mood in the
12:21composition where he wants it. For
12:23example, one of these sets of stairs
12:25would be in a position for us to see the
12:27top side of the steps. And instead, he's
12:30chosen to ignore the technicalities here
12:31and show us of the environment in a way
12:33that he wants the viewer to see it. And
12:35where he wants it is a perspective
12:37that's straight on as possible, while
12:38giving just enough detail to give the
12:40environment a mysterious and interesting
12:42feeling. And as long as it's not too
12:44jarring, the viewer won't take notice
12:46and it's a win-win for accuracy and
12:48vibes by cheating perspective. Next, we
12:50touched on this before in the style
12:52breakdown, but we really didn't dive
12:53into it. Implied detail and controlled
12:55sketching are methods that Shawn uses to
12:57create both vibes and accuracy at the
12:59same time. And here's why. While it's
13:01possible to create environments that are
13:03emotional and are also accurately drawn,
13:06it's harder than it looks. But on the
13:08contrary, I can find endless examples of
13:10where the background becomes void of
13:11feeling if it's drawn with too much
13:13focus on accuracy. And here, we find one
13:16of the simplest ways for you to make the
13:17viewer connect [music] with the mood of
13:19the scene, and that's to avoid showing
13:21the objects in full detail. Like how
13:23Shawn has this statue over here.
13:25What the hell is that? I don't know.
13:27Could be an angel, a demon, a symbol.
13:29Because it's an unknown and a vague
13:32thing, you don't get hung up on it cuz
13:33it's a background object and instead,
13:35you just accept the feeling that comes
13:37along for the ride. And in this case, we
13:38get an uneasy feeling of this mysterious
13:41statue and the scattered light around
13:43it. Shawn, I think, calls this organized
13:45nonsense in one of his videos. Stuff
13:47that the viewer will count as real
13:48detail, but it's really not. But there's
13:50a catch. In order for you to actually
13:52implement this in your own work, you're
13:54going to have to practice this thing
13:56called controlled sketching. It means
13:57when you etch lines in a way that looks
14:00sketchy, gestural, and [music] messy
14:02even, but also at the same time matches
14:05the lighting, proportion of the object,
14:07and the perspective of the scene. And
14:09now this brings up something I want to
14:10harp on a little bit because, unlike
14:11much of the popular art advice out there
14:14that says, [music] "Don't use a ruler."
14:16Shawn here uses a ruler a ton for detail
14:19and for structural lines and a lot of
14:20things. My extra hot take is that I
14:22think certain artists just never got
14:24used to using it or it gave them bad
14:26results at some point. And then, from
14:28then on, they just kept counting this
14:30experience of using a ruler as a bad
14:32thing. And [music] it just doesn't make
14:34any sense. So, cool. I think it's time
14:35we elevate the ruler to master tool
14:38status that it deserves. Okay, tangent
14:40over. Controlled sketching, as Shawn
14:42describes it, it's almost like automatic
14:44drawing. You have to let go of what the
14:46lines are really creating and remain
14:48gestural even with the ruler in hand.
14:50>> [music]
14:50>> But at the same time, always be
14:52conscious of the art fundamentals. But
14:54the final way Shawn brings the best of
14:56both worlds together is by simply going
14:58the extra mile when it counts. And I
15:01call this authoritative detail.
15:03I'm stealing the idea from writing here,
15:05thanks to Chuck Palahniuk, but the
15:07concept is simple. It's that if you
15:09focus your attention on one area of your
15:11art and give it the detail and care it
15:13deserves way more than most people, it
15:16will demonstrate that you undeniably
15:17know the subject and it's doing even
15:19more than you realize. You're building a
15:22bond of trust and authority with the
15:24viewer. And if you get this to work, the
15:25viewer is going to let down some of
15:26their defensive guards, naturally, and
15:29just accept that you are the reliable
15:31storyteller. And it's one that says, "I
15:33may make mistakes. [music] I do have a
15:35vision. I know what I'm doing here. I
15:37have something unique to say."
15:40>> [music]
15:40>> The way to do that is by adding
15:42non-generic detail. Go beyond the normal
15:45and deliver something unique [music] to
15:47the experience of your story. People
15:49take notice of this kind of stuff and it
15:50goes a long way for the trust element.
15:52And next, try using lighting scenarios
15:54that look awesome in other stuff like
15:56films, comics, and photos. You're going
15:58to steal from those reference images and
16:00[music] then apply them to your work.
16:02Just having a cool lighting scenario
16:04does wonders for
16:06>> [music]
16:06>> the background. And lastly, this one's
16:07cool. Go the extra mile with knowing
16:10more about the 3D space [music] of your
16:11scenes. You can do that either by
16:13drawing maybe a top-down map of the
16:15scene of the environment. And Shawn does
16:17this with creating [music] 3D models of
16:19vehicles because he wants the vehicle to
16:21be reproduced in a very consistent way
16:24and he really wants you to believe that
16:25that's a thing in the world. And here, I
16:27think Shawn's demonstrated that it's
16:29totally possible to attain the vibes
16:31>> [music]
16:31>> and accuracy simultaneously. And now for
16:34the last study, I realized that this
16:36whole video wouldn't be complete if I
16:38didn't try to replicate the traditional
16:39nature of Shawn's approach.
16:41So, I broke out all the old nibs and
16:43[music] the brushes to recreate this
16:44Batman cover.
16:51Outside of the inventive composition,
16:52it's all about this perspective, the
16:54scale, the focal length, and the density
16:56of detail that sells this image. [music]
17:03I'm not an inker, so my skills with
17:04finessing these lines are way more
17:06limited, but I learned a lot with this
17:07one and it made me consider to do inking
17:10way [music] more.
17:17As I mentioned before, the controlled
17:18sketching approach is the secret
17:20powerhouse in his work. Noodling detail
17:22that looks like it belongs and not
17:23giving too much of a specific form takes
17:25a lot of practice.
17:31Clearly I'm not finishing the figures,
17:33but I enjoyed getting to do this
17:34motorcycle because it's also a shared
17:36interest of mine. It's because I have my
17:38own sci-fi motorcycle story called Star
17:40Circuit, one which you can start to read
17:42for free and purchase a copy of your own
17:45on my website.
17:46My biggest mistakes are not planning
17:48ahead for how the white, like the places
17:51where I didn't put ink, would align with
17:53the perspective. Because a lot of the
17:55times my perspective [music] was a
17:56little bit off because of this, and I
17:58think it's something that I'll be
17:59working on in the future.
18:19So if you made it this far in the video,
18:20I want to award you with a
18:22>> Good job.
18:23>> Many of you have suggested artists in
18:25the comments that I should go ahead and
18:26break down, and I love hearing from you,
18:28so keep them coming. I hope you're
18:30inspired to not just draw environments
18:31because you have to, but because with
18:34enough effort, you'll know that you're
18:35going to make something entirely
18:37different, a complete vision of your own
18:39making.
18:40And last thing, the good art tips emails
18:42are still going out to many hundreds of
18:43you, so be sure to sign up if you
18:45haven't already. Give me a follow on my
18:47socials.
18:49I'll see you next time.
18:51Be good, everybody.
18:53>> [music]
19:02[music]

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