i thought i'd be the first to start off this forum with my first background painting, see it on my blog

http://sidmjam.blogspot.com/2008/07/background-painting.html

i was thinking of putting sheets of glass and painting trees on them for the closer background, so i didn't have to make endless amounts of trees to put on my set, would this work?

anyway, constructive criticism is appreciated, either on my blog or here. (the blue bit at the bottom is where the cardboard will be glued/clamped onto the set base)

Hey Sid - it looks nice. If your trying for 100% accuracy, the colors are all off. But most likely you can't make an exact copy with cans of spray paint. For a cartoonish looking film it's perfect.

no, i wasn't going for accuracy at all, it will not be in focus in the film (hopefully), so just needs to be basic

Looks neat. The glass idea sounds cool as well, but you may have trouble with reflections and glare. Try next time to use more of a perspective angle when painting it. Right now it looks like the clouds don't go into the distance, but rather are flatish.

yeah, i got that advice from the people at stopmotionanimation.com, so i am redoing it, i have done the new clouds, now i just need to do the land on the horizon

Very nice, I see that you painted straight on the cardboard, It might be a problem because if the cardboard bends there will be creases in your background you won't be able to get rid of. What I'd do would be to paint the scenery on a good quallity bristol and glue cardboard to the back to add some support to it.

What you could also do is paint it on a wooden pannel, plywood can do just fine for that, about 6-8 mm. thick, even a bit less, so long as it's not wiggley!          If you do that than you'd better give it a coat or two of acrylic paint, it's important to let it dry completeley before startind to paint just so you know :P acrylic paints dry quickly though so you won't have to wait long. The basic coats could also be the most prevailing collor in your scenery are a slightly darker tone to get a bit of a more depthy feeling. You can also choose not to coat the pannel as to let the wood texture come out from behind a bit, that can give you a nice effect if done properly. Since plywood is heavier than cardboard you'll have to fasten it tightly so it won't drop down, right on top of your animation worst case scenario.

Give it a try! hope I've been some help to you

Wow they are amazing paintings,,,,nice designs...