As I mentioned in the previous article, a lot of the background content is simple vector based colors and gradients. But sometimes more elaborate background artwork is needed in the 4komas.
Case in point, the urinals from Friday 4Koma 第62話:
As with the character artwork, the initial sketches are created in Adobe Photoshop using a Cintiq 12WX.
![Background Information: Step 1 (sketch)](https://d3qrpkw3npo2dg.cloudfront.net/goodies/uploads/urinal-sketch.png)
After the sketches are finished, each section is colored in contrasting flat colors to that of its adjacent neighbors. This makes it easier to select individual sections later on for coloring and shading.
![Background Information: Step 2 (flat colors)](https://d3qrpkw3npo2dg.cloudfront.net/goodies/uploads/urinal-flats.png)
Then, each selection is individually colored and shaded.
![Background Information: Step 3 (Colored Flats)](https://d3qrpkw3npo2dg.cloudfront.net/goodies/uploads/urinal-colored_flats.png)
And finally, a sections are blended together to remove hard edges and are given any final touch ups.
![Background Information: Step 4 (Final Touches)](https://d3qrpkw3npo2dg.cloudfront.net/goodies/uploads/urinal-final.png)
It may seem like a lot of effort for something that will never appear more two and a half centimeters tall, but sometimes it's those little extra details that count the most.