Birthday Princess - Process

1. First, a basic thumbnail just to work out the concept.

2. Second, a more formal layout sketch, getting better composition and using perspective rulers for the box.

3. Final sketch. I sketch the characters and props in full detail.

4. Inking. I use a variable-width inking brush for the character and a constant-width brush for hard things on vector layers. I use lots of different layers for different parts, which makes it easier to overdraw and erase as needed. I also went ahead and inked the shape for the eyelashes because the brush stablization in Manga Studio makes it a lot easier than doing it in Photoshop later. I exported the linework for the women, doll, box front, box back, and eyelashes on separate layers.

5. In Photoshop, I convert the imported lines to a folder with a mask and put a solid black layer in the folder. (CTRL-click RGB in the Channels tab, invert the selection, create a mask from the selection.) This will come in handy later when I color the linework. Then I create another folder and start creating the basic color blocking. I like to do all my color blocking by making a folder and then filling it with different solid color layers for each section of color, whch makes it easy to change a color later. This is a very fussy way to do it and it's probably much simpler to just fill a single raster layer with flat colors.

6. Form shading. I create a dark brown solid color layer (multiply so it will have more of the shading color) and start painting in the basic form shading with a soft airbrush. I always start with shading at full and then use the airbush to paint away the shading, painting with light. For the hair, I usually use color burn for richer shading but, since this scene uses much heavier shadows, I stuck with linear burn for the hair (but turned down a little) and I used a variable-width soft airbrush to smudge detail into the shadows, picking up the shape of the hairs.

7. Cast shadows. I make a new brown layer set to multiply and start painting in the cast shadows with soft brush, using a smaller brush in places where the object casting the shadow is closer to the thing the shadow is on. Because of the central placement of the light source (the candles), the shadows radiate outward with some even going above the objects.

8. Backlight. I used a desaturate pink solid color layers (screen blend mode) painted with a soft airbrush. When I combine it with the form shading, backlighting really makes the characters pop. I don't use any backlight on non-reflective objects. I also used a yellow forelight to add some glow to highlights nearest to the candles, creating a candlelit effect.

9. Shiny. I used a solid white layer, painted with a soft brush, for the primary reflective shine, a second colored layer for secondary reflective shine, and another white layer for a few spots of high specular shine. After painting all the shine, I use the cast shadow layer to make a selection and delete the shine from anywhere covered by shadow. For the shine on the hair, I started with thin strokes with a variable-width brush, then use a smude tool to add detail and softness to the tips, then use an airbrush to add a soft glow to groups of streaks, then use an airbrush to fade the tops and bottoms of streak groups, and finally use a soft round brush to erase a few streaks in the middle of each group.

10. For the blush, I add in a light red layer, airbrushing just on the same area as the skin for the cheeks and places where bone is near the surface of the skin. I use the same approach for the make-up.

11. Colored linework. Going back to the linework folder, I started adding new solid color layers, using the mask to paint the color of the linework. Since the new layers are inside a folder with a mask defining the linework, I don't have to be very precise when coloring the lines. I always add new color layers below the ones I already did so that I can be sloppy in the areas that are already covered by colored linework. I like to keep using black lines on the hardest objects to give it a contrast with softer objects.

12. For the candle flames, I used a soft brush and smudge tool to paint the flame shapes in orange. Then I locked the transparency of the layer and airbrushed in a yellow core, then a smaller white core inside of that.

12. For rain spatter, I made a simple scattering spatter brush, with little spiky splashes and blurry droplets, which I brushed along the top edges of things that will be in the rain. Then I used a soft eraser to partially fade out the spatter on the lower side. Then I went back to the linework and, using a soft round brush, changed the linework to white everywhere that there was rain spatter.

13. Eyelashes are done with a folder containing a solid grey layer and a solid black layer. Using the lashes I made earlier with a variable width brush, I add a few thin streaks on the grey layer mask to add depth to the lashes and soften the look with a few strokes of a soft airbrush. For the tears, I used a white layer with the fill turned down just a little and add a layer effect with white inner glow set to 100%. Then I use the mask to soften the edge where it touches the skin. After, I add a new white layer to paint in the shiny highlights.

14. To make the featureless walls feel more real, I added a simple grunge pattern, set to overlay, with opacity very low. I also used distortion to match the perspective of the wall.

15. For the plastic box cover, I added a simple semi-transparent solid white layer, then added a few soft white streaks for shine. I placed this above the linework for the doll so that it would be equally faded by the white of the plastic.