Progress: Male Leo

Finished picture: [link]

I've been meaning to make a "How I Work" progress picture for a while, so here it is!

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Step 1, First Sketch: The original sketch was drawn on paper during Breathe Carolina's CD release party stickam chat, and I traced it onto the computer. It looked better on paper.

Step 2, Second Sketch: Most of the form and major components are all here. Sometimes this will be my last sketch.

Step 3, Small Details / Clothes: Here I added Leo's clothes and piercings. The blue lines are lightened so I can see the red lines better.

Step 4, Lineart: Two layers, hair and everything else. Sometimes I make 2-3 layers so I can color the minor details easier. While I'm working, I'll have more layers in case I cross lines, but they get flattened in the end.

Step 5, Base Paint: I always do this, but most people don't. I coat the whole thing in a dark saturated color, then make the lines invisible so I can see if any white spots are left over from the paint bucket. It saves me from trouble later on.

Step 6, Base Colors / Eyes: Flat colors. Layer masks are made if I can't decide what color a certain portion should be, so I don't ruin the other colors as I work with it. Those layer masks are squashed into the main color layer. I also do the eyes at this point because they're fun and easy.

Step 7, Shading: I shade everything in gray. Why? I stress over making it look good (but it won't, because gray sucks) and when I do change it over to the proper color, it looks worlds better. I use three layers of shading, one of them is a gradient.

Step 8, Highlights / Color Change: One layer of highlights, one layer of whites. I change the shading color in this stage too.

Step 9, Final Touches: A background is added, shading colors are tweaked if needed, and the lineart is colored. I also add my watermark in the corner.

And we're done! Spread over 3 days, this took around 5 hours from the sketch to the final.


Male Leo (c) Me