New Year's Kiss - Process

1. I started with a rough sketch to work out the pose, proportions, and the rough design for the clothing.

2. For the final sketch, I worked out all the details of the clothing, hair, and props.

3. 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 brushes for the fur. 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 characters and eyelashes on separate layers.

4. 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.

5. Form shading. I create a dark blue solid color layer (linear burn) 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. For the fur, I blob in very rough, sketchy, soft shading with lots of variation in brighter parts, then use a smudge tool to create all the individual tufts, always drawn towards the outer edge, always working starting from the outer edge first so that tufts in the middle come last.

6. Cast shadows. I make a new dark 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.

7. 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 forelight for the shiniest objects.

8. 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. For the shine on the latex, I added a glow layer effect using a falloff with a wavy, rising path to create a second soft halo around the main shine.

9. I added a semi-transparent white layer for the glass and added some strong white streaks for shine. Then I stamped little white bubbles onto the champagne and set the bubble layer to overlay.

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. I added semi-transparent layers for the color of the hosiery on a layer above the blush but below the shading.

12. 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 (or very close to black) on the hardest objects to give it a contrast with softer objects.

13. Laces. I drew some grey doughnut circles onto a new layer for the grommets, then applied a bevel and outer glow (black, multiply). Then I did the same thing with a simple round brush on a new layer for the laces, using folder masks to hide the laces where the go behind other objects.

14. 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.

15. For the drool, 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. I also added a little extra shine to the surfaces of the tongues to make them look extra wet.

16. for the backdrop, I added a gradient layer using multiple colors I sampled from a photo of a city skyline at night.

17. I drew in some fireworks, following these two tutorials: http://fav.me/d33pw9x by the-searching-one and http://fav.me/d3kye8s by nyra350.

18. Finally, I added some text with a stroke, gradient overlay, and drop shadow.