Cartoonists often underestimate the potential of their backgrounds, and you will see that many omit them completely. The background can be as important as the foreground in designing a cartoon. Subtle and not-so-subtle compositional elements in the background can help the reader to navigate the cartoon as well as shape the reader's emotional response.

Literal Background

One way of helping the reader navigate a cartoon is to use objects from a scene's background. Keep them subtle, by using either a lighter line or shading. Unless there are special circumstances, the background should never compete with the foreground for the reader's attention.

You can control composition by adding people into the background who aren't necessarily part of the narrative — incidental characters. A large group of people can act as one shape to direct the eye where you want it to go. In a more understated way, one of these incidental characters can help lead a reader's eye to a certain area. For example, an incidental character's gaze — his line of sight — could guide the reader to an important area in the design. Or an incidental character might use her body language to point the reader in the proper direction in one of the ways discussed earlier in this chapter.

A background need not be very detailed to be useful in a cartoon's composition. Sometimes, a simple element — a doorway or a baseboard along the bottom of a wall — can help move the reader's eye along. Doorways can be particularly useful for emotional composition — separating one character from a group, for example. In outdoor scenes, clouds, trees, and buildings are used the same way.

For a more detailed background, you may find yourself searching for photographic references. Anytime you have a camera handy, take a few photos you might be able to use someday to help you draw a cartoon. You can also do image searches on Internet search engines such as Google.

Some cartoonists scan photos in and use them as backgrounds in their cartoons. Ethically, this is not a problem as long as they use their own photographs. But although they are achieving a realistic background, their storytelling suffers from predetermined viewpoints and angles.

Use objects in the background to guide the reader's eyes. Notice how the shape of the tree and the clouds form a focused high-contrast area for the text.

Abstract Background

Depending on the nature of your cartoon, it may not be necessary to include a background in your drawing. You may be able to communicate a perfectly believable scene with foreground images.

Abstract backgrounds are often used in comic strips to underscore the mechanics of the gag: Setup, misdirection, and punch line.

A gray tone or muted color is best used in abstract background shapes. Using black is powerful — but dangerous. When you use a solid black shape in the background, you create a high-contrast area between the black shape and the white space left over. This is going to attract the reader's eye, and if there's nothing there for the reader, the attraction becomes a distraction. If there is white space above and below the black shape, the scene tends to flatten and you'll lose the depth you created with your use of perspective.