Comment on 2013 Halloween Contest by Chalaya
Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I guess I'd feel differently about it if I hadn't rushed. I see all the little flaws that wouldn't have been there if I had taken my time. It's just that backgrounds are so.....boring! I had to practically force myself not to rush when I was coloring your lineart. It's a simple background but that's a lot of space to cover when a pencil tip. I knew I wouldn't have gotten the look I was going for if I had started to rush and scribble. I used a standard size paper to print the lines on, and when you're working with small, slow circular strokes that's a lot of space. It took me over an hour. But I'm always so much happier when I do it that way because I feel like I didn't cheat myself. Anyway, I'll try not to be hard on myself for taking shortcuts now and then. As long as I do my best I'm usually pretty satisfied because there aren't any regrets. I'm glad I used the color I did for her suit as well. Black would have been so flat and with the already dark atmosphere, the red made her pop a bit. Overall I'm happy with her. 
Backgrounds are, to some degree, boring. I'm sure there are plenty of people who relish the chance to embellish the background but I'm not one of those people. For one thing, it takes a lot of creativity to envision something for the background of a piece and most of what I draw doesn't really inspire much in the way of a background. I'm always impressed with what you're able to do though because I see a lot of talent and creativity in the kinds of backgrounds you come up with.
I really wish I had more patience with backgrounds. I guess it takes practice as well. I'm sure there are some who really enjoy creating a scene. I like the end result, I just don't like doing the work, lol! But sometimes, I feel like my pieces would be incomplete without a background. Like the mermaid. I didn't just want her floating around in negative space. But doing that background was so tedious. I always find that I tend to loose motivation while doing a background. It seems like there is no end in sight. I need to start working on it first, when my drive is at it's best. Then I'll still have the subject to look forward too.
I know what you mean. You see the end result in your head and you think about how great it will be but the work that you must do to get there can be tedious and overwhelming. I think that's my feelings when it comes to backgrounds. I could put lots of effort into doing them but that requires a lot of time and practice. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm lazy when it comes to that kind of stuff. I have all kinds of other things I'd prefer to be doing rather than figuring out how to draw perspective and all that. After all, I don't consider myself to be a professional artist so I don't see it as being something at the top of my priority list.