Traditional Disney background art, inspired by nature and fine art, traces its origins to Claude Lorrain’s stage-like landscapes. This connection—linking background art to classical landscape painting—was something I held onto throughout my time in the department, even as I searched for deeper artistic grounding. During downtime, I painted portraits of my colleagues, joined a scrappy “secret society” of like-minded artists who admired Disney’s old standards, and did my best to keep fine art in our conversations.

Walt Disney himself worked closely with leading artists of his time to create a unique design for each film—a tradition that continues today. Background art sets the mood and atmosphere of a scene, with its quality often reflecting the production’s budget.

Below are examples of backgrounds I created using traditional paints and brushes. On each film, a dedicated team of painters (typically around 10-12) worked to produce 100-150 paintings, totaling approximately 1,000 backgrounds across the project. To learn more, Hans Bacher’s Dreamworlds delves into the creative process behind our work.

Lilo & Stitch, 2003, watercolors

In requesting watercolors as the medium for Lilo & Stitch’s background art, Director Chris Sanders broke with Disney's long-standing tradition of acrylics or gouache. The crew spent a year “ramping up,” experimenting with various brands of paints, color performance, and techniques. This process included a workshop led by watercolor artist Thomas Schaller, whose expertise shaped our approach to applying the paint. Ultimately, Chris’s vision shaped the film’s unique style, and I found the work on the film to be especially rewarding.

I appreciate John Singer Sargent’s advice on painting with watercolors, “Make the best of an emergency”.

John Henry, 2000, scratchboard and acrylics

For John Henry, we drew our inspiration from Harlem Renaissance artists. Two distinct techniques were developed for the backgrounds: one paid homage to the patterns of Gee’s Bend quilts, while the other took cues from scratchboard artist Brian Pinkney, who generously shared his personal process with the crew.

Brother Bear, 2003, acrylics

One of our background artists, Xiangyuan Jie, became Brother Bear's production designer, leading the film’s lush, painterly style inspired by his own hand.

Directors Aaron Blaise and Bob Walker, a former layout artist, adjusted the movie’s aspect ratio to convey a sense of “big country.”

The film’s rugged environments were inspired by Alaskan wilderness. As part of our research and development process, the background crew was offered an exciting outdoor excursion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, guided by landscape painter, Scott Christensen. Additionally, artist Len Chmiel, led a color-focused oil painting workshop at the Coronado Springs Resort.