How to design locations by thinking of depth in layers. It's a simple formula.

Foreground. Midground. Background.

Let's dive deeper.

A thread: pic.twitter.com/1htvZSkxB4

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) February 27, 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: pic.twitter.com/IWLchhSw3o

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) October 1, 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: pic.twitter.com/MTzpf8jn58

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 29, 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: pic.twitter.com/LKatozsYCi

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 28, 2020

How I drew this library with its curved, scalloped ceiling using 1-point perspective.

A TV animation background design step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/DgmFwl8n9T

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 25, 2020

How to draw natural symmetrical architecture.

Yes, it's as simple as you think.

A step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/1s2tiZlxcm

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 24, 2020

How to draw dynamic perspective with a simple Photoshop trick.

Plus tips on drawing buildings.

An environment design step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/tRviD8GoYS

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 15, 2020

Let's zoom in for a detail.

Some city worker didn't put the manhole cover back on straight, thus the painted line from the crosswalk is misaligned.

This, my friends, is how you add story to environments.

Always think about how places were affected by characters in the past. pic.twitter.com/Y6W4rhU1HA

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 10, 2020

More tips about using perspective to reimagine the impact of a scene in animation environment design.

A step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/XCFwiVwaDt

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 9, 2020

How to use a camera movement to reimagine a scene in animation background design.

A step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/yneYNuCX6t

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 1, 2020

How to improve composition in environment design.

Here we have the final shot and a storyboard panel. Let's look at how it went from one to the other.

A thread: pic.twitter.com/rsiJ3ehwAv

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 18, 2020

Let's look closely at another trailer park background from #BigCityGreens designed by me, painted by @spookybri.

A process thread: pic.twitter.com/T3VWN6tfLB

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 14, 2020

How to give story to a location through details.

Let's look closer at this background from #BigCityGreens.

A thread: pic.twitter.com/CBuVQHJ056

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 12, 2020

On the title card I designed for #BigCityGreens episode Greens' Acres, I took typestyle inspiration from the classic 1960s sitcom, Green Acres.

I slapped it on a tomato instead of a barn roof.#televisionlegacy pic.twitter.com/ykku4RVxAS

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 10, 2020

Lady's home. Tramp's home.

Lady lives in a grand Queen Anne style Victorian home.

Tramp lives under the railroad water tower.

A thread about contrast in design: pic.twitter.com/FNe6iIQhZ1

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 4, 2020

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: pic.twitter.com/ZQ5Jh2FbYo

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 3, 2020

Let's look at another angle of the "Ramp Museum" and break down the process.#BigCityGreens

A lil thread: pic.twitter.com/w1bXmHY10p

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) July 29, 2020

The balance between symmetry and asymmetry can make for a powerful composition.

This FEELS symmetrical, but there is little in it that actually is.

I designed left and right to balance each other out in a purposeful, harmonious manner.#BackgroundDesign #BigCityGreens pic.twitter.com/itAOA0Ttlo

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) July 24, 2020

I designed this modernist “Ramp Museum” for tonight’s #BigCityGreens episode, Gramma Driver.

I took inspiration from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany with its famous flying cars sculpture. pic.twitter.com/geekRt68ou

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) July 19, 2020

How TV animation background designs were made BEFORE computers.

Notes in the thread: pic.twitter.com/XptQzV1m4x

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 13, 2019

Design a location with character history in mind.

This gramma bathroom reflects decades of use.

Repairs are minimal at best.

Hints of resourcefulness.

Lack of purposeful style yet choices were made (seat cover, decorative shelf, tissue box).

What does all this say about her? pic.twitter.com/DgxRqMMLEM

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) March 4, 2020

Here's a tip for drawing a crescent moon in a starry sky.

I see this mistake often.#Science + #Art pic.twitter.com/pTu9Fb64aJ

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) February 18, 2020

Emotional compositions in Mulan when they discover the village burned by the Huns.

The shape language of the burned debris is uncomfortable and fierce contrasted against the solemness of the smooth snow.

This visualizes the internal anger and sadness of the characters. pic.twitter.com/p6ifqEqMpa

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) February 3, 2020

When designing a location, always ask yourself, what happened here before?

- Someone dropped a napkin.
- Birds hung out over the awning.
- Someone lost their cotton candy.

Those are inconsequential things to the main story, but they give the location a story of its own. pic.twitter.com/oK4Cey8m3B

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) January 31, 2020

When you get a chance to draw something different and wild, go all out.

Push your creative and technical boundaries.#BigCityGreens #BackgroundDesign #DreamSequence pic.twitter.com/hlIRm4HpP5

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) January 27, 2020

How to illustrate the invisible: air.

The living room becomes a frozen ice cave when the AC malfunctions.

The source of cold air is important to the story so I drew ice crystals around the AC.

This illustrates the airflow, a visualization of the invisible antagonist: cold air. pic.twitter.com/gbsBFejYS3

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) January 24, 2020

The amazing song sequence, Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog was inspired by African American painter, Aaron Douglas.

Here are some comparisons.
Left: Princess. Right: Douglas.

More in the thread. pic.twitter.com/bqCSolOFyA

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 25, 2019

It's not part of the episode's plot at all, but I drew where Cricket had previously sledded off the roof.

That, my friends, is how you add character story to background design.#BigCityGreens #Disney pic.twitter.com/Rb5zOKqwXJ

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) December 10, 2019

High Contrast (Maleficent) vs. Low Contrast (Environment)

High Saturation (Maleficent) vs. Low Saturation (Environment)

This is how you create distance with color. pic.twitter.com/G1eXFd1Kuw

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) October 3, 2019

In order to draw cartoon hands like this, you've got to know how to draw hands like that.

Learn the rules to break the rules. pic.twitter.com/hzrThMMQYg

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) September 6, 2019

Don't make this common staging mistake.

This will help in #comics, #animation, #kidlitart, and #illustration of all sorts. pic.twitter.com/ZQwsQ3h7Pi

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) August 27, 2019

How to go from storyboard to final background design for TV animation.

A step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/AQGuPXR8Uk

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) July 8, 2019

Do you want to get really good at drawing environments?

Then practice drawing objects.

Drawing entire locations is useful but it's like drawing a crowd of people to get better at character design.

Sometimes you have to work smaller. pic.twitter.com/14JFMAsQ5g

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) July 30, 2019

Designing a TV animation background of a biker bar, and how to add snow.

A step-by-step thread: pic.twitter.com/qdbLyxlPwt

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) March 9, 2022

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

An environment design thread: pic.twitter.com/Rf6pPSTR2B

— Steve ✦ Lowtwait (@Lowtwait) March 15, 2022