01. Thumbnails

I start off with a series of small very rough sketches.

02. Initial Sketch

Once I choose a thumbnail I work up an initial sketch using reference. In this case I photographed a live model to get a better sense of the lighting and pose.

03. Blue Line

I scan the initial sketch in to the computer. Using Photoshop I colorize the sketch blue and lighten it so that it is just barely visible then I print it out. This will serve as guidelines for the final line art.

04. Line Art

Drawing directly over the blue line print I clean up and refine the sketch. Since this piece is going to be completely painted over I don't add too much detail.Once this is complete I scan it back into the computer and delete the blue channel in Photoshop which gets rid of the blue line and leaves the pencil line intact.

05. Shadows and Highlights

In Photoshop I create a new layer and set it to Multiply which allows me to paint while keeping the line art visible. Working In grayscale I lay down a flat mid tone gray over the figure then begin to roughly paint the shadows and highlights using a Wacom tablet. I do this only for the larger figure as it is easier to work at this stage in values rather than color. I primarily use the Soft Round Airbrush brush setting and change the opacity up and down to gradually blend shades together.

06. Rough Painting

Having roughly painted the figure, the heart and background on separate layers I delete the line layer and change the shadow and highlight layer of the figure from Multiply to Normal. At this point I make adjustments to composition if necessary.

07. Background

Having made some adjustments to the composition. I begin to paint the background in full color and add detail.

08a. Color

I create a new layer and paint in areas of flat color on the figure.

08b. Color

I then change the layer from Normal to Color which colorizes the grayscale image.

09. Adjustments

I begin to add details and final elements of the piece as well as making adjustments to the figure.

10. Finishing Touches

At this point I go through and all finishing touches. Adding subtle highlights, refining lines and adding details.