In the fall of 2023, I made these paintings based on the background environments in “The Patrick Star Show”.
My sister Amanda is a storyboard artist on Nickelodeon’s “The Patrick Star Show”- and like the amazing sister she is, she took note of the show’s hand painted watercolor backgrounds and my own love for watercolor illustrations and thought that a background painter position would be perfect for me. She kept an eye out for open positions and put me in contact with one of the show’s Art Supervisors so I could provide some examples of my work. (While nothing has come of these test pieces yet, it was a great experience to try to match an existing style and create original scenes inspired by the show!)
My first step with this three part project was to study some existing examples of background paintings in “The Patrick Star Show”. I could see that the physical watercolor was very loose and lively, letting colors mix naturally for an atmospheric look. Then, the linework, paint speckles, and other shadow and lighting effects were added digitally. The linework is playful- defining the painted forms but never being too rigid, and the color is bold and unique to each form as well.
Interior Background Re- creation
The first painting I completed was a re-creation of the interior background of Patrick’s bedroom. My goal was to match it as closely as I could- both to show my ability to do so to the Art Supervisor, as well as to get a feel of the art style for the original pieces I would create. I started by drawing out the room design on paper; this was honestly the most difficult step for me. With a freehand drawing, I attempted to match the placement and design of each element in the background as closely as possible.
Next was the watercolor painting. Another difficulty in this project was coloring so many different elements in this loose style. This was connected to my main challenge with the piece too- trying to create an exact match while also maintaining the chaotic and fun feeling of the original background. At this point- with the scene still looking rather one dimensional- I moved from the physical painting to the digital finishing process.
I brought a scan of the painting into Photoshop, making sure that the colors were corrected to be just as bright and saturated as they were in reality. Then I got to bring the painting to life with the line work! Those colorful lines brought all the detail back into the piece and I got to illustrate all the fun little posters and drawings hanging on Patrick’s walls. I then used some key highlights and transparent shadows to give the scene some dimension.
Original Exterior Background
For the next stages of this project, I would create two original background paintings to display both my design skills and my ability to make original work in the show’s existing style. I brainstormed different options for both exterior and interior scenes and decided to make one of each.
For the exterior painting, I would make a new establishing shot of Bikini Bottom. This kind of shot is common in both “The Patrick Star Show” and “Spongebob Squarepants”- it felt true to the shows but also gave me the opportunity to include something new in the town to be the focus of the painting.
In both shows, many of the buildings and structures that make up Bikini Bottom are made from trash and discarded items that have fallen to the ocean floor. Taking that into consideration, I started looking for reference photos of some underwater trash for inspiration.
With one photo- a toilet sitting upright and open on the ocean floor, colored green with algae- I had my plan. I would turn this toilet into Bikini Bottom’s community pool, the centerpiece of the town’s humble “Swirly Park”, complete with a diving board and adjacent Spam slide.
Once I decided on a layout- one that would keep the pool as the focal point (fecal point - sorry) while also alluding to the rest of the town in the background- then I finalized the drawing on paper. My goal was to stay in the established language of “The Patrick Star Show” backgrounds, while also incorporating my own humor and story.
Then I followed the same process as described above with physical watercolor painting and digital lines and effects. This time, with my original composition, I felt like I was able to accomplish that chaotically crowded yet easygoing vibe that was harder to reach in the re-created piece. This painting shows a bright, colorful, and self deprecating world that I would love to jump into.
Original Interior Background
The last painting I created for this project was an interior scene that expanded on an existing show background. The existing image depicted the basement in Patrick’s house. It was a classic basement setting- showing the connection to the house, some storage overflow, as well as a hangout and extra workspace for the family. I wanted to take those hints at the lived-in space and expand on them while also shifting the perspective of the scene into a new composition.
Additionally, since this was my third painting in the show’s style, I wanted to play a bit with some fun and dynamic lighting coming from different sources. (For whatever reason I also immediately decided that a ‘Beer Girl’ style neon sign of Plankton would be one of those light sources. It seemed like the perfect type of tacky souvenir that would be loved but banished to the basement.)
Again, I followed the same process of physical drawing and watercolor and digital finishing. I spent more time on the watercolor stage for this piece, wanting to layer on darker and richer colors for this cozy basement scene. After adding the digital line work, I also stayed longer in the lighting effect stage pushing the highlights and shadows and then completely creating the Bucket Boy sign to place into the scene.
This painting was just as fun as the exterior design and I love how contrasting yet complementary they feel together- the open and cool overview next to the closed in and cozy basement. Regardless of if these test pieces lead to a background painter position, I greatly enjoyed creating work that both pulled from and expanded on my own design skills and illustrating process.
Written November 2024