Sissy Seat - Process

1. I started with a rough thumbnail idea.

2. Next I drew up a general layout sketch, getting the character and motorcycle in better proportion.

3. Then I refined the character, getting the final shape for the body and drawing the face, hands, clothing, hair, and motorcycle in more 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 used my own chain brush the chains. I use lots of different layers for different parts, which makes it easier to overdraw and erase as needed. I also went ahead of 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 inking for the character, background, and lashes 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 wanted to fade between two colors for the shading so I created a raster layer with a vertical gradient going from dark brown at the top to dark brown blue at the bottom, set it to linear burn, and a mask and start painting in the basic form shading with a soft airbrush. For the hair, I used color burn for richer shading 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 dark blue 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.

8. Backlight. I used a desaturate solid color layer (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 added a second highlight on the top edges to match the sky for the shiniest parts, such as the chrome.

9. Shiny. I used a solid white layer for the primary shine and painted spots and streaks using a hard variable-width brush. 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 other cheeks. I use the same method to add color for the eyeshadow.

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 fishnet stockings, I drew a simple diamond grid pattern and used mesh distortion to match it to the general shape of each leg. Then I masked the result to leg and linework. Finally, I added a mask to the folder and airbrushed the center and highlights to make it more transparent in the center, giving it more sense of form.

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.

14. For the backdrop, I used simple block colors for the road and desert. I added a noise pattern to the road, distorted to match the perspective of the road. For the clouds, I used my simple cloud brush, which is just one little blob of cloud, that I sampled from a photo of clouds, with lots of angle jitter and scatter. I start by using the cloud brush to paint in the whole cloud shape using the darkest shade of the cloud. Then I lock the transparency of the layer (so that I can change the color of the pixels without affecting the shape) and switch to a brighter shade and add just a few brighter spots here and there.

15. Finally, I added some blur just to the top half of the ground by making a copy of the ground, blurring it heavily, then putting the unblurred version in front and using a gradient on a mask to blend between the two versions.