You are the background in other people's pictures.

The prompt for Illustration Friday this week is yesterday ... as in, "Yesterday the world was full of color. Today, *looks out window* there's snow, snow, and more snow, and everything is white!" So, my picture for IF shows a world full of color and no snow, and there's also a story, not from yesterday, but from yesteryear! Though I did draw it yesterday.

Several years ago, I was walking down the street with a guy I knew, when we saw someone taking a picture. He told me that we were the background in that person's picture. I was thinking about this yesterday and sketched a bunny who inadvertently got caught in the background of a picture when he stopped to look at the butterfly landing on another bunny's head:

The two bunnies in the front are frozen in place with their hands at their sides so the butterfly doesn't move while their picture is being taken. Or at least that's how it would have gone when I was a kid. "Don't move! I'm trying to take your picture with the butterfly!"

If you've seen my other art, you have probably noticed that I usually use black outlines. This time I tried not to use them. It works, but I miss the outlines. I also used a different brush that has more texture. Here's a close up, where hopefully you can see some of the texture:

This is just a color sketch for fun. I don't think I'll be changing my style just yet. Also, the colors on the textured art aren't as bright when I save for the web, compared to the colors of my regular style ... or at least that's how it seems!

Here's the original sketch. It makes me want to do the image again in my usual style with black outlines and see which one I like better, but I'm not going to (at least not now).

The idea of being the background in other people's pictures has always stuck with me. I think about it whenever I'm in someone's shot (I have been known to make bunny ears - thus the bunnies in the picture, or smile really big, or even turn away). I think about it when I'm creating the background for a picture book spread too. Who is in my character's neighborhood? Do they live there? Are they friends or family? Or are they visitors from out of town? And I think about it once in a while when I'm creating characters. Everyone is the star of their own pictures, and we're all the background for someone else. I wonder if my character is in the background more often, or is the subject of the photos. Then I try to figure out who is taking the picture.

Have you ever thought about being the background in other people's pictures?

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