The Value of Back Stories

As I briefly mentioned in another post, one of the techniques that help me with my work is developing a back story, history and/or environment for the subject that I'm creating. Once I have a sense of who or what the subject is, it becomes easier to develop the visual image.

For example, I was using a custom brush, just painting random shapes. Eventually, elements of a scene began to emerge from the shapes. As I began to refining the shapes, a back story began to suggest itself.

"No one knew how long the keep had been there. Legend was that it just rose out of the ground one day. It was said that a great and terrible wizard walked the halls of the keep and that he jealously guarded it's secrets and treasures. Many had climbed the spiral stair that wound around the gnarled column, eager to discover if the stories of great treasure were true. None returned."

The story doesn't have to be fully developed to be helpful.

Since this was just a doodle session, I kept the sketch loose and unrefined, to hold on to some of the original randomness.