This week i have worked on the background of group 19s assigned game ”Mermaid River”.
One thing i kept in mind from the very start was to make sure the colors didn’t take up too much attention and that the line art wasn’t too sharp since i want the focus to be aimed at the character, the enemies and other things related to the actual gameplay. I really had to be careful with that particular part because it’s not always easy to restrain yourself as an artist and actually keep away from the ”fun stuff”.
When choosing colors i began by gathering reference material. The game is set underwater in an exotic location so i goggled coral reefs and started sampling colors from there and turned those into a color palette. I then drew the lineart and filled it with things i would expect to find diving in Caribbean water, taking lots of inspiration from my gathered reference material. Coral reefs, sunken ships, sea weed etc. I made sure the line art was thick at the foreground, thinner further away. I made sure that the foreground of sand stood out from the rest of the picture, as that is the layer where the game itself is taking place.
I then colored the picture, carefully choosing nuances that would separate the foreground, middle ground and background. I Made sure to make the light come from above since we’re underwater. Certain details like the coral reefs got some extra saturation too express the colorful nature of them. I also colored the line art, to make it feel more as a part of the whole. It made the whole picture more harmonious for the eye to look at.
I still had some concern that the background would take up too much attention, so i added a gradient of blue over the whole picture, except the foreground where the game is taking place. I also used the blur tool in Photoshop to blur out the sharp line art to make sure that the eye will be directed at what’s actually important.
This was the end result of the week:
The picture still has to be cleaned up and I’m not entirely sure if the gradient overlay makes the picture a bit lifeless. I might also make the line art even thinner in order redirect the focus to what’s important. All that aside, the real challenge going forward will be making this background three times as big while keeping up with the schedule.
kaspergo 