What is Matte Painting? A Modern Guide

Matte painting has been around for over a century, evolving through many forms. It’s a key technique in films, TV shows, advertising, and video games, used to create realistic environments that would be too expensive - or impossible - to shoot in real life. Take Avatar’s Pandora, for instance. Finding a real-world location for that would be impossible and the film would have looked very different!

Matte paintings can play a major role in a scene or be used subtly, like changing a sky or removing unwanted elements. Over the years, the craft has blended traditional art techniques with modern digital tools.

The term "matte painting" has expanded over time. In this guide, we’ll break down what it really means today.

What is Matte Painting?

Matte painting is a technique used to create environments or backgrounds that are too costly, impractical, or impossible to build or film in real life. It allows filmmakers and artists to expand sets, build fantastical worlds, and enhance the overall atmosphere of a scene to better support storytelling.

Traditionally, matte paintings were created using paint or pastels on glass, but today the process is largely digital. When you hear terms like “DMP” or Digital Matte Painting, it refers to the use of modern digital tools and software rather than traditional, physical methods.

Matte paintings can vary in style and complexity, ranging from hyper-realistic to highly stylized, and may take the form of 2D, 2.5D images with parallax effects, or fully rendered 3D environments. These are designed to blend seamlessly with live-action footage or CGI, often becoming indistinguishable from real sets.

Once primarily used in the film and television industry, matte painting has since expanded into advertising, video games, and even architectural visualization. While realism was once the primary goal, the technique now embraces a wide range of visual styles depending on the project’s needs.

Matte painting can be used in subtle or extensive ways. It might be applied to enhance or replace a sky, extend a set, create wide landscape or city shots, or simply remove unwanted elements from a frame. In some productions, its use is minimal; in others, it defines the entire visual experience.

The Great Western Railway is a great example of how our team at Athena Productions seamlessly blended existing character footage and camera angles with our custom-painted backgrounds to create a distinctive 2.5D painterly look.

The History of Matte Painting

Matte painting has been around for over a century. The first known example dates back to 1907, when filmmaker Norman Dawn restored the crumbling ruins of California Missions for the film Missions of California. He painted the missing architecture onto a pane of glass and aligned it in front of the camera, blending the painted additions with the real environment.

Another iconic early use of matte painting appears in The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy follows the yellow brick road toward the Emerald City, a scene enhanced by a beautifully painted background.

In other early examples, painted glass panes were placed in front of the camera or used as set backdrops, seamlessly integrating with live actors, props, and physical sets.

The first known example dates back to 1907, when filmmaker Norman Dawn restored crumbling ruins for Missions of California.

As technology advanced, computers became central to the matte painting process. The first digital matte painting appeared in the Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) film, created by artist Chris Evans. It featured a stained-glass knight who leaped out of the window to life in a blend of traditional art and early computer graphics.

Today, software like Adobe Photoshop, Nuke, and 3D programs such as Blender and Maya have transformed the workflow. Artists now use techniques like photo bashing, 3D modeling, and digital compositing to create new worlds with far more speed and flexibility than traditional methods allowed.

More recently, virtual production has emerged as a major innovation. It combines real-time rendering, digital environments, and physical sets to create lifelike virtual locations by bridging the gap between traditional filmmaking and modern VFX.

The first digital matte painting appeared in the Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) film, created by artist Chris Evans.

Process of Matte Painting

As a matte painter, having a strong eye for detail is essential. Every decision you make should enhance the image and support the scene. Much like concept artists, matte painters need a solid grasp of fundamental art principles such as lighting, perspective, and color to ensure their work blends seamlessly into the live-action footage or surrounding CG elements. Because of these overlapping skills, the line between matte painting and concept art often becomes blurred.

Modern matte painting relies heavily on photo manipulation (also known as photo bashing) and 3D tools like Blender or Maya. These technologies allow artists to create realistic environments more efficiently than ever before.

Initial Steps

The first step for matte painters is to gather reference material such as photos, videos, 3D renders, and more to inspire and guide their work throughout the process. It’s a great way to define the end goal, and give boundaries and context to the work.

This stage involves close collaboration with the team to understand the visual goal, story context, and technical requirements of the scene. The artist will typically produce quick, rough compositional sketches if layout ideas and direction need more exploring before committing to detailed work. These early sketches also help identify the types of assets needed for photo bashing or 3D.

For more complex scenes, 3D may be used in the previsualization (previs) stage to plan camera angles and movement. This step informs the matte painting and helps ensure it will integrate smoothly with the live-action footage when the time comes.

Refining Further Using Digital Techniques

Once the composition is approved, the matte painter begins building the scene using a combination of photo manipulation, 3D modeling, and digital painting. The focus is on refining lighting, color, and atmospheric effects to match the initial goal established in the concept phase.

Throughout this process, reference materials and concept art remain vital to maintain consistency in lighting, perspective, and mood. Most matte painters work entirely digitally at this point, combining 2D and 3D tools to achieve realism.

3D software like Maya or Blender is used to incorporate models, simulate lighting and camera effects, and add realistic depth. For 2D elements, Photoshop remains the industry standard for photo manipulating and painting.

Bringing it all Together

In the final stage, the matte painting is integrated into the live-action footage using compositing software like Nuke. This step involves tasks such as 3D projection, pre-compositing, final grading, and creating parallax effects to simulate depth and match camera movement.

To ensure the matte painting blends naturally with the footage, the artist must carefully match lighting, color grading, and perspective. The goal is to make the painted environment feel like it was always part of the original shot.

Once composited and finalized, the completed scene is rendered for use in films, television, video games, or advertising.

Conclusion

Matte painting remains one of the most powerful tools in the world of visual storytelling. From its origins in early cinema using paint on glass to the cutting-edge digital workflows of today, it has continually adapted and evolved alongside the film and entertainment industries.

Whether subtly enhancing a scene or building an entire world from scratch, matte painting is all about creating believable environments that support the narrative and improve the viewer’s experience.

At its core, though, the craft still relies on the same artistic foundations: strong composition, a deep understanding of light and color, and a sharp eye for detail. No matter the tools or medium, these principles ensure that matte painting continues to play a vital role in how we bring imagination to life on screen.

At Athena Productions, our team specializes high-quality matte painting and concept art services that bring your vision to life. Our team combines artistic expertise with cutting-edge digital tools to deliver seamless, cinematic visuals tailored to your project’s needs. Get in touch today!