Main Video

Intro

Well hello there, this is Tamil. Today I wanted to go over how to approach making environments that are abandoned. Anything that is old or has not been visited by people for a very long time. There are many different ways to create that feeling.

 

I am posting two videos in fact. One is how to draw a treasure chest. Adding small details that will make it feel old. It will have the most information. The rules are the same for landscapes too.

 

It might be weird to do a small prop to learn about abandoned environments, but I think that it forces you to focus on smaller things first, before jumping into a big painting. Makes it easier.

 

The second video is going to be just landscape speedpaint / timelapse. I will use the same principles that were used in the chest video. I did not want to make a very long video because of the timelapse, so I split it. Hope that makes sense.

Timelapse Painting

Let's Draw!

I decided to tackle a treasure chest because it has all the perfect materials that you might need for practice.

 

It has wood, metal...it's old!

 

 

A very standard chest. I really wanted to sketch start small, so that I can get creative with it later on. I was using a classic hard round brush that has nothing fancy to it.

Fill with basic colors for metal and wood. Easier to distinguish.

Starting to add small texture details to show that it is wood. Find good references for wood. Go out and take some pictures or just simply find them online. Very easy to do so.

 

You can also cheat a little and look up famous artists who drew wood before and see how they did it :>

It's a lot of fun figuring out how they painted it.

I also started adding some damage in pressure points. I think where the wood meets, will have a lot of corroding.

Let's start adding crusty parts. The wood will usually be covered in varnish or something similar. To be protected from water. With time it will start cracking. A simple way to show that use lasso tool to add cracks. The bottom will be rotting, which gives it a very dark red color. Other parts will start fading into grays.

Let's also start adding dents! Look at places that are too even and think about how the object will be damaged. Someone probably hit it with a shoe a couple of times. Did it drop on the floor a lot maybe? There is a lot of story you can tell by the way the object is damaged. This is the best part about making ancient props.

What if the people who made it did not have enough wood? They swapped some parts in the chest before selling. Maybe it faded due to age too. I used the Hue Saturation layer to change some of the boards' colors just a little bit.

 

I just used a simple mask to restrict the Hue change to specific areas. You can watch the video in case you want a hands-on demonstration.

Let's break the shape too! An old crate cannot be in good condition. Look at the box and see that every line is very straight. I added small dents on both sides to show that the crate was damaged a lot. I think the left side feels really realistic. Someone probably dropped a heavy cannon ball.

Old means spiders will take over :3

 

You can find PNG of spider web online or just paint it yourself. I had a lot of fun drawing it myself. As you can see on the left, I added a second layer of spider web to add more 3D effect to it. Do not forget that objects have depth to them.

Let's add some rust to the metal! It is relatively easy to do so. Just start adding dark red to parts where the damage will start. For example, where the wood and metal will meet. There will be a small space for air and water to get in, which is always not good for objects.

 

Another spot is where things connect. In here it will be the circular bolts that are on the front. They will move around as time goes on, which will cause damage too.

 

 

Let's add some plant life! Nature takes over the world eventually. Look up what type of plants grow in the area that you trying to paint. Moss will grow in more forestry areas. Mushrooms will also grow in more warm climates.

 

I am adding a strong flower growing on the left to add more to the story as well. I think it is always fun to see one small plant growing from concrete. Fighting for his life, but flourishing.

 

Everything else is just moss. Adding more texture to it in the future is the key.

Don't forget vines! They attach themselves to objects and are just simply fun to draw. You can keep adding to this until you cannot recognize the box at all.

 

These principles are not made just for the box. They can be applied to buildings and any other abandoned objects. Think about decays, plants, spider web, and damages over time. Lots of ideas you can bring to life. You can also add small things that will make it look more "happy" and florishing. Abandoned is not always a bad thing. That's why decided to do another artwork that will feel less gloomy compared to this chest.

Second Painting LET'S GO

The second painting is more landscape-focused. I made 3 thumbnails before starting to see what could work better.

I tried going for the abandoned building where a survivor might be trying to hide. Playing his old guitar with his pet cat. I really enjoyed this sketch, but I wanted to explore more.

The second sketch was more about a lake house that was abandoned and is in the middle of the forest swamp. I really enjoyed the idea, but felt like it needed more to it. Feels too simple in a way.

This is the sketch I went for in the end. Abandoned dragon lair. This sketch got me really excited. I added one character, who is about to explore the insides of it. Really mysterious :>

After finishing I decided to start cleaning up the line art. See if I can add more the the design. What can a dragon cave have saved around it?

Shield stuck in the ground. A big sword is also buried inside. A treasure chest. Broken steps and BIG Stripes on rocks. To show that the dragon must have visited this place and is not really welcoming. Different type of plants and trees helpes me to convey the story.

Simple color flats to start off with something. I just used the lasso tool for most of it. I did do a video / article on how to use fill tools as well in case you are not sure where to start. If you have a nice good line art, it is pretty simple.

I did have to check for the black and white values. It did not look that good, so for the rest of the painting I was just adjusting colors and trying my best to add more to it.

As you can see vines grow around objects. The environment feels old and not explored. I am going to be working more on it, but I think taking a break from your artwork is great to learn something new from time to time. Hope this was helpful.

Outro

I hope you learned something and let me know if you have any questions in the comments on the video. I try to answer them if I know what to say.

 

Thank you for reading and watching! Happy painting ;0

 

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