All the Bows - Process

1. In Manga Studio, I start with a very rough sketch with big fat pencils. The fat pencils force me to keep the sketch loose without getting too caught up in the details.

2. Final sketch. Now I go back and do a more detailed sketch, working out the the body, clothing, and hair.

3. Inking. I use a variable-width inking brush for the characters and a constant-width brush for hard things (the buckles) on vector layers. I use lots of different layers for different parts, which makes it easier to overdraw and erase as needed. For the crinoline, I made a bumpy-edge brush from my own linework a while back. 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 inks in three 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.

5. Form shading. I create a dark brown solid color layer (linear burn) and start painting in the basic form shading with a soft airbrush. Except for the hair, which gets its own dark brown layer but with linear burn blending for more richness. I also use a smudge tool on the hair and various creases in clothing and skin to create detail.

6. Backlight. A very desaturate pale pink solid color layer (screen). When I combined it with the form shading, backlighting really makes the characters pop. I used both a soft brush (for the shiniest parts like the buckle and lips) and a soft airbrush (for everything else). I don't use any backlight on non-reflective objects like the flowers and border. When it's done right, it should look like real lighting from a different angle. And again, smudge the edge of creases and hairs.

7. 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.

8. Put them together and it's looking good!

9. Shiny. I used a solid white layer at for basic shine on lips, nails, and shoes, and solid white set to overlay (which makes a richer shine) for the hair shine. Painting the hairshine, I use a variable width sharp brush, then go over it with an airbrush to give it a little glow. After painting all the shine, I use the cast shadow layer to make a selection and delete the shine from anywhere covered by shadow.

10. I'm trying something new with the eyes. I started with a solid blue circle for the iris with a solid black circle in the middle, each on its own layer. On the iris layer, I added layer effects for outer glow (size 7) and inner glow (size 24), both set to normal blend, using a darker shade of blue, to give the iris a soft outer edge. Then I add a bevel/emboss effect set to smooth with overlay for highlight and linear burn for the shadow, and I shift the light source to coming from below to simulate the way light reacts to the concave surface of the iris. The pupil layer gets a simple outer glow set to normal blend in black and the quality countour set to a high-arched curve, to give the iris a soft edge, which is good for giving the eyes an aroused feel. For texture, I added another layer of medium yellow, set to linear dodge, and scribble in some short streaks around the iris with a variable-width brush. Finally, I added a white shiny layer and paint in a few specular highlights.

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. Everything soft gets colored linework. Hard objects in the foreground stay black. The entire backdrop gets dark grey lines to help if fade back a little.

12. For the blush, I add in a light red layer, airbrushing just on the same area as the skin for the joints and face. I use the same technique for the eyeshadow. 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.

13. Finally, I made a simple repeating pattern for the backdrop, popped a simple frame around it, and I'm done!