I NEED Better Backgrounds! - Experiment 

You could also try a brown background color, as a tree stump for example. Could look interesting.

Well played, Petko. You have invented anti-ASMR.

From an artists perspective I'd say the more variation in color the backgrounds have the better. But you seemed to have figured that out yourself when you added the green dry brushing in some areas. A very dark brown would probably look more natural than black because black is a cool color whereas the substrate you use is a very warm brown, so it doesn't really go together

Really want to thank you man. All my life I've been scared of spiders. Then about 3 or 4 years ago I found your channel. I watched all your videos, branched out to other tarantula and invert based channels. Now I own four baby Ts myself, and I have a new found love and appreciation for all things creepy crawly. In honor of that I named my new Psalmopoeus irminia "Petko". Thank you!

I think black for the base, with dark grey and a bit of green on top would be ideal. To be fair, they all look pretty appealing.

You can use a sandy color for the background too, especially for enclosures with a light substrate (e.g. sand). Desert rocks are often sand colored. Source: Living in a desert my whole life.

The 3rd one looks good. I guess you should use that for enclosures that will have sand substrate. The color goes well with sand. While the black backgrounds go well with dirt. Great video as always, Petko!

"This is not sand for the texture. This is sand for the sand."

A dark red-brown would be good for the substrate to kinda go for the woodsy feel. For sand, I'd use a more sandy brown or something just a bit darker than a khaki brown that way it can kinda blend up from the sand. You can also have that fade up into a lighter color by brushing either another lighter brown or maybe even a grey/offwhite near the top. Near the bottom I'd add a hint of red-brown to add variety. At least from an artistic perspective that's what I would do to give it variety that still emulated the environments.

Watching the balfouri try to squeeze into the non-existent tunnel was pretty dang funny 😁

Instead of painting brighter color on the BG with "dry brush", you can try applying thinned dark color to a bright background using a technique called "washing". Maybe you can use "glue-spray" to add some sand or substrate to the bottom of the BG for better blending in.

You should look into buying a hot wire foam cutter. It will really help you make more detail background.

They way you are making the backgrounds reminds me of sculpting battlefields for table top games such as Warhammer

Petko, bre, you have super interesting stones, cliffs and rocks in the world in Croatia, beautiful white stone and marble. Why not collect some for the enclosures? You can use them to break up the saturated brown bottom so it fits in nicer with that grey one with the green drybrushing.

i actually usually like to get a big piece of styrofoam and make one massive background with details and stuff, than cut it to 2 / 3 equal pieces and use it for 2 or 3 different terrarium that i place near each other, the background kinda makes it seem like its connected, like continuation and i really like it, but glad to see you experimenting with this type of backgrounds i really like the end results. also highlights are usually used on darker bases to bring out details, using light color highlights on light color background as you seen wouldnt work properly for this application, i like also glueing pieces of carved styrofoarm to backgrounds i make to add detail before painting, you can make branches or roots using this technique and a lot more cool stuff, try using some brown colors that works well with light green highlights on some black/dark colored background imo

I love how creative you are and appreciate the build videos! A painting tip, once you are done with the dry brushing, you can apply a “wash” (which is just watered down black or brown paint) that can help with shading in the recesses. Hope this helps!

I'd recommend checking out some of Serpa Designs terrarium builds, he goes over his background painting process in several videos and had some really nice realistic ones that are very aesthetically pleasing.

Yess new video! i just discovered your channel a few days ago and i am hooked. it's very inspiring and you have good knowledge and personality : >

Looks great! You are so creative! By the way, I could listen to you talk all day. Love your accent!

The variety is nice. More colors added to the backgrounds and different techniques would make them look more natural. Try doing a black background, then a wash of watered down darkened grey, topped with a dry painting of the light grey and then splatter tiny specks of yellow. Rocks are usually more colorful than you realize. Try looking at a rock you want to match, like granite, and see what colors it is and how the colors change as crevices will be darker and areas more exposed will be lighter. Matching the background color to the sand is sometimes a nice touch as sand around rocks has often come from the rocks breaking down, so they'd be the same color. You can even coat the foam with the sand you're using to make it match better. Australian Outback oranges & browns are also nice and would work well for this type of project. Making the foam into rocks isn't the only thing you could do. Some of my tanks came with foam backgrounds carved & painted into a bamboo forest, a mangrove swamp, and a cork sheet. Look up Exo-Terra backgrounds to get some ideas. I've also made some backgrounds out of actual rocks affixed to the back with silicone. The tank I got for my T. albopilosus came with a cracked glass, so I coated it with black silicone & plastic patches, then added more silicone and a bunch of sticks. More sticks sticking out of the substrate in front made it looked like a forest for my Goldilocks. Since T. vagans are sometimes called Black Velvet Tarantulas, I got a sheet of sticky-backed velvet paper in royal blue for his background and added a skull & some fake roses. It worked surprisingly well, though maybe not for a T that needed more humidity or in an area prone to mold. He seemed to like the feel of it. You could put all sorts of things on the back to have a lot of variety.

Awesome enclosers Petko!!👍👍👍 But I think next time, we can do without the Styrofoam cutting montages, 😵 (it's like nails on a chalkboard) 😂

I’m super excited to see you sell your enclosures! I absolutely love their design and of course I would love to support you more :)

Black ones with grey/beuge details are top for spiders with soil, but grey one with sand are amazing too 😍

maybe a cork bark background, or maybe try something that's got a hide built into the background

With the light grey backgrounds you could try dry brushing black in the cracks.

Black looks great! Even gray with more desert species. Just have fun experimenting! Thanks so much for sharing

I really like the black background with a mossy spot. The grey and no-basecolor backgrounds look great with sand. I wonder if you should collab with some artsy youtubers like for example Ace of Clay and/or Ben's Worx to help you nail the background or hiding spot. Imagine if someone made you a hyper realistic rock or a tree stump for your enclosure and you let them have their logo on it too. Ace of Clay basically is the master using clay and dry brushing techniques. Ben's Worx just made a hyper realistic diorama not too long ago, so I would go for him for ideas on backgrounds.

I like all them especially when they're mixed up to give a pop of color

The Dark Den looks AMAZING Petko! As always amazing content 👌

A tip from a miniatures painter, get a big fluffy make up brush for your dry brushing step. It makes the highlights look more natural

Napokon neki Hrvatski Pet RU-vidr, super videi samo tako

I like the whole sand one. I also like #5 background. Color matches depending on what you put on yhe bottom. Great work.

Love the variety!

I work at a saw mill. I have all kinds of awesome bark and tree knots at my finger tips free of charge. I get them dried drill the knots and what not out for hides then secure them in my enclosures. Every one looks different and all look great. Its addicting to do it. But everybody at work knows to out cool bark chunks in a pile for me to sift thru

I like the variety of backgrounds and your creative process.

How does this guy not have 1 million subs yet, like c'mon

Drybrushing for applying visibly brighter colours than the base colour, washing for applying darker colours than the base colour. Washing is even simpler and kind of the reverse of drybrushing. You thin down the colour until it is watery and runny and slosh it all over. Thanks to the high water content the pigments will move into the recesses when the paint dries. Combine both for even better effects! You could start with a dark/middle grey as the foundation, apply 1-2 brighter drybrushing steps, then wash with very thin dark brown/black. If you're still willing to improve: a few green spots for algae/moss. That was a good idea, just needs some practice to develop an eye for the places where it looks natural.

I feel like it's been a while since we've had a scorpion centric episode. Can we get some scorpions soon please?!

They all look so good. You are a real artist

Your backgrounds turned out BEAUTIFUL!!

The big walls of enclosures and black backgrounds look amazing. They're artistic. Great job, Petko! 😎👍

Another fine display! Well done. I have had terracotta coloured backgrounds in the past. Might be an option? Keep up the good work.

I don't like the gray ones by themselves but when you pair them with a black one so I think it actually looks better because there's variety

I think a darker green with a black background would be just beautiful ❤️ Or maybe with a brown blackgroud culd be interesting🤔

All of them came out really nice !!

Great tutorial, absolutely love your collection. You and exotics lair got me into keeping. I sub to soooo many keeper's channels tho. Tarantula Kat called you "Dork Den" in last week's vid and i thought it was so funny. You guys are awesome

I like #4 the best because the grey accents are complimented well by the bright webs. So maybe if you use the black and grey again, you can add some light grey stones in the enclosure to match with the background.

Seeing a Tarantula crawl upside down understuff is so surreal. I forget Tarantula's are "Spiders". We rarely see them in these situations because their mass compared to short height drops often kill them outright.

They all look great. Good to have some variety ☺️

I like the very first one. Black with yellow. Looks so nice. But maybe brown base with green highlights could be a nice combination. I will definitely try this technique to.

There are a lot of red rocks where I live - I think a darker reddish brown with the cream tan color would be great for enclosures with sand as substrate

Black backgroumd with grey highlights looks the best

I like the two dark enclosures and the one with the sand.

I like the black one best, but I think a cream, or brown base would be cool. Thanks Petko!

Love it bruh just keep it up!

It's the fourth for me. I'm doing a big foam background for my Kunashir Island Rat Snake (E. climacophora) and am using a brown "mocha" color

I think as a stand alone color, the black backgrounds look the best. But honestly, having them lined up next to each other, I really liked the contrast between the light and dark backgrounds. I thought it brought more visual interest. Thanks for all the good info!

That background looks fantastic Petko!

The forth back ground looks really good. I am going to try to make those for my six Ts.

amazing vid like always i really like the black background more

In my personal opinion; 3 & 4 were best of the selections. The brighter background worked well with the sand and black with cream works for soil.

Amazing project, keep going.

The gray one looks nice with the sand, but overall the black background enclosures are the best. Maybe for your next enclosures with sand the background could take on a color of like marble or granite, or something to make it look like Egyptian stones used in pyramids or ruins.

cool to see how effort turns into quality :D

They all look great I love the white against the sand!

the black one really looks good! if yoou want to get aa better moss effect try making a spot with a darker green first and then drybrush with the lighter one over it and (i thinnk someone said it already but still) you could also try a brown backround thats looking llike wood or something...i think it would look nice and i thinks it would be not that difficoult to make, you can just use a bit more of that plaster so it will add more texture! (also, i really love your videos. you made me lose my little phobia of spiders and now i can even handle them wiitout a problem

if you glue 3 or 4 pieces together you can carve more details or you could carve caves instead of pressing a hole in the substrate :)

I use adhesive aquarium background, they have rain forest, woodlands, Mexican with cactuses and more, just cut to size, I’m so happy with the look plus they go on outside 👍

Looks like your warhammer painting skills came in handy for the backgrounds

maybe have a look into paint washes, you could dilute some black with water and use it over the lighter backgrounds to add more definition to it

Try yellow with a sporadic green drybrush next time in your next sand enclosure. It should give an oasis or jungle beach type vibe. Dark green will show better. If you want an "evil" or volcanic vibe [like for devil or a light colored animal to spot it better], you could do the expanding foam thing again, only carving out the higher surfaces. base the whole thing red, apply a heavy black drybrush [making it almost black] and a very light grey drybrush on the raised flat surfaces. Follow this up with an orange and maybe yellow drybrush in the rounded "Valleys". This should give the appearance of cooling and cracking magma or burning coals.

So cool!!❤

i have never been close to death than when you started marking and cutting the styrofoam. i actually had to take my headphones off, lol. great video, though.

Depends on the color of the tarantula, if the T is black a lighter background would show it off more perhaps and vise-versus. There is a bunch of grey rock all around where I live so I like the grey too.

Black looks best but I like the variety and the light color looks very good with sand.

Do not touch the bulb with bare hands. This shortens the service life considerably.

I think the black backgrounds look very realistic! Fun watching you make them, seems you know how to do a lot of stuff! 🙂

my suggestion: add some black to the grey to make it a bit darker and use it as the base coat. Then drybrush black on the lowlights and the grey or cream for the highlights, then the green for a few mossy patches

Please do a video on how to make your enclosures they are awesome especially the swing open doors

Omg I almost died when you were cutting the Styrofoam!!!

ok did anyone else think to themselves "for the texture" when he put substrate on the sand hahaha cuz i did! also that its kinda funny how hes putting substrate on sand when normally its sand on the substrate.

Hey Petco! I love no.3 I would love Asian Forest Scorpion in that setting it might be weird but muuch love from South Africa!

Dude it looks amazing with all those enclosures greetings from Denmark

The predaceous ground beetle (the Anthia thoracica) is quite common where I'm from, South Africa, in the Karoo, so maybe adjusting enclosures to karoo conditions could be useful. I hope you get another one :)

I like the black with grey on top background the best!

I noticed woth your tests, that you didn't try to dry brush black onto the Grey background But 2, 3, and 4 are my favorites

You could try a wash (heavily watered paint) as well as dry brushing

I think black with grey dry-brushing and green highlights is the best, maybe a slightly richer green

Hi ! love your work :) the backgrounds I prefer are the ones with the dark base and a bit of green for the moss. For your sandy environments, if you don't mind buying tones of different paints, you could try to mimic sandstone. With a reddish/dark cream base, and lighther hilight.. could give a canyon look to the enclosure, or remind the colors of the pyramids stones for you egyptian beetles :). you also could try to add the washing method if you start with a not so dark base. which is the opposit of the dry brushing. (you add a lot of water to the darker paint, apply it, and remove the excess with a tissue. the goal is to mark the inside of the cracks in the surface. I saw this by watching video of people creating miniature environments or painting warhammers :') anyway, thank you for your videos they are awesome !

a tip with your brushes that i run into when i paint miniatures granted that's on a much smaller scale and not really for the same purpose but still it is that the acryllic paint messes them up over time so you may try to find an alternative but it looks great though and i would say for the best results for dry brushing use black as the base colour it works best in that regard

I'm curious if it's possible to use something like acetone, to melt interesting backgrounds. A quick swipe with a brush with a small amount might melt cool shapes. Would make a very quick job of it if it works.

*Yeeeessss!! I want my own Dark Den enclosure!!! WOOOHOOOOO!* 🎉

what you could axtually do with those lighter base color backrounds is a dark wash. there you thin up paint to make it real watery and aply it. and with y towel or something you remove a part of the watery paint so it just stays in the nooks and crevasses

Great ad always buddy 👍

Hey petko, i used to camo paint airsoft replica’s, where i used a technique wich was using different real plant leafs out of your garden & laying them on your background & then painting over it with spray paint. It looked super natural & for camo purposes it worked amazing. Might be an idea for backgrounds 🤟 Also, try dipping a sponge in moss green and dip it in the “cracks” of your background.

Your new enclosures look good, but I like #4 the most.

Great rehouse video

Hey Bob Ross ! You should have made one large piece then cut into four sections giving you a connection between the enclosures. Dope video 👍

I’m low-key happy centipede got the best looking enclosure 😄

I would try a brown background with green highlights and for sandy substrate i would try something between a sandstone and terracotta color.