"Don't think you need to draw every single window. Don't be stupid!" Traditional artists: *Cries on paper*

Eye opening video, only breakdowns I've been doing so far have been mental breakdowns so I'll take note of this going forward

Eathan: "don't panic-DON'T PANIC Me: *screams in confused terror*

Im an aspiring artist in high school, and I was told I couldn't get far, but with your videos I feel like I can finally achieve my dreams, even a little bit. Thank you!!!!

He cares so much about “my career” that I might end up with a portfolio even though I’m a web developer.

please do more educational stuff on background art

Dude, this is probably one of the most effective yt drawing lessons I've come across. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.

Notice that in very high aerial shots like the background for Invincible the horizon line becomes more curved the higher the PoV goes. You'll also notice in Invincible when they are over the surface of the Moon that curve becomes much tighter since it's a smaller celestial body.

i was just thinking about how terrible my backgrounds are and this descended from the heavens

"Ross Tran has a bunch of things going on in his head that you don't have going on in your head" I, yeah, I do agree.

Excellent advice. Thanks!

I am terrible at drawing backgrounds and this is exactly what I needed. None of the videos I've seen before, ever broke it down as much as you did. Thank you for this.

"Never always listen to ROSSDRAWS" It's like he is using a bot to generate clickbait titles.

ETHAN IS COMING! EVERYONE BRACE YOUR BABY BRAIN

This video for me was like asking directions to a local and getting a tour of the best places to be in town, the local gossip and where to find a map, whereas most of the time explanations feel more like being told that the place I'm going to is a left at the corner and a couple vague blocks down. I have recently taken an interest on improving my backgrounds and have been looking at as many learning videos as I can on the subject. I love your content and feel inspired to draw when I watch you, especially with videos like this. Gotta say that this has really helped and it gave me a bit of direction to start on.

An extra note on creating scenes like this, especially ambient backdrop scenes, is to consider weight of objects - or in other words, how much physical space do they occupy relative to what the focus is on. At 16:41 for example, we see the major rooftop structure on the left takes up more or less half of the image space - which ends up commanding a lot of focus even though its relevance for the scene itself is actually minimal considering within the context of this image, it is just another building just like all the others. So a general rule of thumb is, that if any single object/area takes up proportionally much more screen space than all other objects present, then that large object should ideally hold unique value to the scene you're creating. What I would do in a case like this, would be to perhaps turn the rooftop into a roof-bar area with people and atmosphere, so that the focus is on that building being a specific location that helps emphasize the general vibe of the city more so than all the other buildings do. It could also emphasize that this building in particular perhaps is a special location within the game or the story, and something that stands out from all the other high-rise buildings. But in a case like this, where the caped hero is put in to lock our focus, the building on the left just ends up drowning the image and kind of suffocates the important center of attention by robbing its space. Ideally, with this scene construction in mind, the main focus would naturally be the caped hero. Secondly, the caped hero is focused in a direction, and whatever his gaze is focused on should naturally hold the second priority too - so it would make sense to position the character on the left side of the image, rather than the right side - so that we are able to see more of what his gaze overlooks, and allows us to see more of what he sees. This is a helpful tool when placing in characters in your scene, to always consider how they're standing and where their gaze is pointing at - and then draw whatever is in their vision into focus so the viewer naturally feels more associative with the character in focus. Otherwise, that character quickly turns into a sort of bystander instead, which may not always be what you want to portray. Practical rule to keep in mind for this: If your character is looking to the right, then they should be positioned on the left side of the image - and vice versa. Of course exceptions exist, this is just a base rule that is easy to follow.

I really like how Ethan teaches you not just to draw but to open your mind to learn new or continuously improved from other artists' method.

Ethan is just a really aggressive cinnamon roll

i really enjoy how down to earth your teaching style is. i actually learn best from a more ""aggressive"" approach- it makes me realize i have a lot to learn and makes me want to work hard! i appreciate that you teach from the perspective of someone wanting to enter an artistic career (i want to be a concept artist). your videos teach me a lot of things that help me feel more prepared to enter into the world of professional art.

An understanding of perspective was hands-down the most important art concept I ever learned. It has served as a great foundation in my meandering career of over 40 years, working as a graphic artist, illustrator, designer and art director. My introduction was a little book my Dad gave me when I was 9 back in the '60s. "Learn to Draw" and old school Jon Gnagy book with a simple lesson on drawing a covered bridge, and another on railroad tracks and telephone poles receding in one point perspective. That basic understanding fixed in my mind got me started. Later on I learned 2 and 3 point perspective and applied it to drawing everything from cars to buildings to technical concepts. Absolutely invaluable.

He flexes so casually about working on Invincible and I respect him for it.

I gained a new appreciation for background artist. Its strange, I feel like most people ignore how beautiful these backgrounds are because we are so use to looking at them in every animation and tend to forget how much work goes into each one.

“Don’t be stupid…” best advice ever. Haha

I know I’d really seeing more about background design, I’ve been really struggling to find people discussing how to practice backgrounds and build your skills in that department. this was super helpful as always!

Ethan is probably the only artist who actually gave me improving tips. He doesn't give us a way to draw, he gives us a way to learn. I think, from the moment I've started drawing, I had never heard of how important taking reference and breaking down professional art really was. Turns out, as soon as I start doing it regularly, I improve exponentially. I hope Ethan keeps videos like these up, give us more artists to reference from as well, I mean, a professional probably knows better on who to learn from than I do.

Therapist: There is no such thing as calm Ethan. Calm Ethan:

Incredibly useful stuff here. I’ve been grinding on character design and anatomy to the point of nausea. My goal for this year is to finally learn some background concepts and I feel like this one 18 minute video has already given me a perfect place to start. Thankful is an understatement.

This was great. Been trying to improve on my backgrounds for a long time. I dig the way you teach the stuffs, got me thinking hard. Would appreciate more content on this subject.

give me an alt title and thumbnail idea!

when rossdraws said “close your eyes and imagine it” I just started laughing hysterically if I knew how to make a nice looking scene in my mind and was able to draw it out I wouldn’t be here lolll

This has been my weakness for years. No matter how far I get, if I can't learn perspective, I shall forever be a beginner. With your inspiration, I bit the bullet and got Photoshop for the perspective grid tool, and now I'm practicing this. I hope to find you again wherever you from here so I can tell you how it goes!

Thank you for mentioning how the industry sees artists work. This is something that is missing from EVERY SINGLE KZfaq ARTISTS VIDEOS. Can we have more please? It is so important for artists wanting to do professional industry work beyond simple commissions peices.

Ethan's content : 100% educational 100% *BREAK DOWN*

This was crazy useful

Damn, this is awesome. Thanks for breaking down the thought process! I think that's one of the aspects of creating art that is easiest to miss. I started painting digitally around 14 years ago, and practiced a lot in the beginning. After 3-4 years got kind of good, but became too comfortable in what I knew. Even though I was able to get a foot into the games industry and have been working as an artist here for the past 5 years I feel I have stagnated. I simply stopped being curious about what makes the art I admire really good, and stopped analysing how to create it. Thank you for the reminder. This inspires me to finding my way back to the early days of being curious and growing creatively.

Great breakdown. Perspective grids are absolutely crucial to nailing foreground, middle ground, and backgrounds that tell a story.

remember kids, if you ever get caught in a sticky situation, don't picnic.

Ethan: "Do you want me to do more characters, more backgrounds, more artist tear-downs?" Me: "Yes."

This is my first time here, and this was amazing. I would love to see more tutorials, especially in the area of character design!

Wow: really brilliant teaching. Learnt more about perspectives doing these exercises than in any art class

The “You don’t have excuses” and “You can learn everything from he internet” really motivated me, thank you Ethan

"You gotta understand the meat of the cake" -Egyptian Monk

ethan, i just want to let you know videos like this are serious life changers for me. i didn’t know anything when building my portfolio for school, but i watched your videos and it helped me exponentially. I got into every school i applied to and i completely owe it to you for that. thank you so much you’re an absolutely sick dude.

Best perspective video tutorial I've seen someone do. I love how "to the point" this is! I'm loving the no dilly- dally!

I've learned a lot from this!

I'm 34, have a kid on the way, and I'm trying to learn how to draw so I can illustrate books and make comics with my kid in a few years. I've spent A LOT of time on your channel over the last few weeks, and I'll probably spend a lot more on it from here. You're an excellent teacher and I appreciate your approach. Just wanted to say thanks for running this channel, it means a lot that you offer so much, even though you're clearly a busy dude with a ton of experience :)

So I'm nowhere near a professional artist but I'm getting good enough to the point of wanting to make interesting fantasy concept backgrounds for my illustrations and characters and this video has been very helpful to make me aware of things like shape language and lines and how to tackle the detail in this kind of art, when looking at incredible finished pieces it's a bit difficult to figure out how to break them down so thanks for the video. I love your humor, your delivery and your clear advice

Please do more of this. I love straight to the point no bs just as you did in this video.

This is extremely helpful! I'd love to see more stuff like this! =D

Ross: "don't draw every single strand of hair" Ethan: "don't draw every single window" Idk why, I just found the similarities amusing 😆😆

That was really helpful! I would like to see more character design for sure!! Thankyou 💙

This is GOLD. One of the best Backgrounds/perspective tutes I've seen, in terms of knowledge and practical application and techniques. Thanks an absolute tonne for this.

Ethan is not only an artist, he's the type of artist that can knock you in the head and still bring you up. His insults are actually inspiring. I laugh in disgust everytime. Makes me more conscious and snap back to being disciplined.

How to draw a background 1. Go on google earth 2. Find Ethans house DONE

This is just insane. I've been looking for months for an in depth tutorial, and never got it right until I saw this video. Thanks man!

I honestly find myself learning way more from you and fixing the problems I have with watching other you tubers. You simply explain things that they don’t cover because it’s easily forgotten about by professionals

"Envision the scene" Ross I have Aphantasia. I literally cannot see images in my head. Its a void.

Ethan: Always draw with straight lines Rick and Morty: Never draw with straight lines

everytime I draw city backgrounds, or anything that has to do with architectural stuff in it, I always go back to this video, it's REALLY REALLY helpful

Really appreciate how informative your videos always are. You add a lot of entertainment value, but everything is so helpful.

Ya know I think ethan is the most threateningly helpful dramatic art guy you'll probably ever see

I love the way ethan teaches. I have always had difficulty finding teachers that make me understand things in such a step by step way and these videos help me understand things in a unique way that just makes so much sense

This is amazing. I was lost on Tran's grid templates, and got bored with them quick. Thanks for showing this. I'm gonna hop on this portfolio piece.

I love this! Would love to see these instructional videos more often! I have been working on a children's book and I am only 14. I just got into art about 2 ½ years ago so I am not that good. But I always want to understand the structure and the anatomy for my work. Keep up the good work!

This makes me want to draw more backgrounds... This is dangerous.

“and never ALWAYS listen to RossDraws!” The title made me cackle.

this was amazing! Please do more of such educational stuff! You do it great, good to understand and enjoyable at the same time!

Dude, you have no idea how this is helpful ! You mentioned some tricks that I’ve seen on many concept artists’ artworks and wondering how they did it. Thanks a lot, I feel more motivated !

I love it when artists instead of just explaining a piece, they explain the thought process behind it, how did the artist go from point A to B, and that's what you do, I SUCK at background design, but my biggest problem is my laziness, yeah more often than not if I want a detailed background like a city I might end up spending more time with that than the characters that are in it, so I tend to avoid backgrounds or just draw really simple ones, I CAN'T KEEP DOING THAT XD

I think Ethan has a style of teaching and approach best suited to me; he’s explaining in a way that just immediately clicks for me more than other teachers. He’s saying loads of things that took me a while to realise on my own, and I would have liked to have heard it years ago xD

Love when I find videos like this with some amazing advice... and it all feels like it's only for one program, so I got to figure out how to do it with the program I have - _photoshop is too expensive rn_ - which is... discouraging, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do~ I should know by now that materials and programs don't matter when learning.

that was nuts, i've always struggled with those complex backgrounds and the way , the process how to draw those fast enough. And remaking if needed. Have to admit did not thought about form language, and line types at all, which definitely makes a difference, thanks you.

I absolutely hate it when people say to just Invision or imagine the thing you want to draw. I have aphantasia, so I can't picture things at all, so I need steps, and break downs, and reference. Not imagined visuals.

Now this is a great one, we see most of the artist talk about character design, breaking human bodies, but not so much artists talk about what is one of the most important things, BGs !, specialy in a very clear, helpful and educated way of explaining, thank you so much

My New Years resolution for 2022 is more/better backgrounds for my projects, this is massively helpful! Also seeing someone referencing the style of MFZK is god tier, i trust you completely now

I'm a self tought artist been playing around for years but wow dude only the 2nd video of yours has me hitting subscribe never to old to learn new things even though I keep wishing I could have had access to your material mid 80s in my teens. Can't wait to start checking out the rest of your material, keep up the great work mate

Ethan Becker is best art teacher on youtube "CHANGE MY MIND"

seriously, as a guy with aphantasia "close your eyes and envision the scene" is the worst advice you can get lol

Thank you so much. Very very helpful. I wrote this into my learning plan. I like a mix of education and fun in videos. Like this one or Marc Brunet's. I watch a variety of art teachers because I want different perspectives. Ross doesn't always go into enough detail for me. This video you did was perfect.

i loved this video! I am not currently an artist but I have been entertaining learning and exploring my creativity on blender and ran into your channel. This breakdown really lit my brain up and excited me to try and apply these lessons to something really soon. I can't believe how interesting this was and how much goes into a nice and satisfying piece of work.

Do more educational stuff, also more stuff that you did back in 2019 were you kinda give life advice

How I make background in 2 easy steps: 1. Draw a sketch 2. Completely give up and leave my character in the void

This just taught me the difference between a one perspective drawing through three perspective and answered all of my questions on how the horizon lines can be drawn at any angle you choose. Thank you so much!

I love your educational videos! I am taking a perspective class and I learned from this! I can see my grade going up through your advice! I would love to see you talk about understanding/plotting shadows in perspective, cause they're hella confusing!!

dude i've hated doing backgrounds specifically cities. my brain goes into overdrive trying to fit whats in my head into the perspective i need. that google maps tip is a lifesaver! now i need to learn how to simplify robots and other geometric objects like guns.

I love the way you explain your thought process when creating a piece! It’s intricate but also easily digestible! I’ve always had problems with Ross’s explanations because I have asphantasia so the whole “just imagine it” always made me feel bad at art. Learning how to break down other art pieces to create my own has really helped me a lot. Thank you so much Ethan 💞

This is so packed with useful information. I am looking into developing my backgrounds and it seems a lot less intimidating knowing where to start practicing.

New fan alert! I just found this video and obv I'm gonna memorize all this... and them comb through all your other stuff. This just.. blew my artsy socks off ! Def gonna be looking out for more of your videos... I'd like the educational ones plz... about background design with a 'sprinkle' of character design a dash of perspective training and yes served with a side of artist destruction :D

Imagine finding out that Ethan was training by analyzing where you live

it’s great how Ethan actually shows you how to do the process and gives references for understanding, some art channels just do a step by step without much guidance nor detail, thanks a lot Ethan :)

This type of video is PERFECT. Just discovered your channel and immediately subscribed because the content is exactly what I’m looking for. I’d love to see how you think about switching styles and how you learned how to do that because I struggle with it.

This is by far the best BG tutorial i've seen, please do more stuff like this, you are a great teacher :)

Ethan be like: YOU ARE BAD but here's 701 reasons why you're also great

Honestly really love these videos, its got that perfect balance of honest criticism to kick you out of complacency and make you want to improve your art, whilst also giving you accessible tools to do that well... super valuable, thanks EB

Thank you for the video! I enjoy the technical aspects of your videos. The perspective grid is intimidating, but very valuable and I want to tackle it. Please keep teaching tools and techniques like these. :)

This was really helpful!! Thank you. Educational for sure. I love your portfolio reviews as well.

FINALLY A BACKGROUND TUTORIAL BY ETHAN

I WAS LITERALLY DREAMING , HOPING, WISHING FOR ETHAN TO DO A VIDEO ON ENVIRONMENTS THIS WHOLE WEEK. AND ETHAN DADDY HAS ANSWERED MY CALLING

This is GENIUS!!!! Thank you so much for this. I've been trying to find content to watch that has more advanced things to learn about and this did it. I've never wanted to make a city scape but now I'm very excited to make one

The most important thing you helped me with is to regain my confidence and I can't thank u enough :') I'm EXCITED to draw and fail and try again and again. I'd love to see more educational stuff from u! I like that ur straight to the point but never boring