For Santa - Process (Patreon)

1. I start with a thumbnail to get the basic concept down.

2. Next, a more formal sketch to work out the layout, pose, and proportions. I used a 3-point perspective ruler on this one to rough in the layout.

3. Final sketch. I sketch the characters in full detail. I adjusted my perspective here, focusing first on making sure the box lined up just right with the character, then using the same perspective ruler for the table top. However, I wanted the room and fireplace to be at a slightly different angle - the same viewpoint but slightly turned around the vertical axis but with two of the vanishing points in slightly different positions. To align this, I make a circle with a square in it, rotate the circle and square a little bit, then distorted the circle to match the perspective of the table. This gave me a square which had also been distorted to match the table but with a slight rotation relative to the box. From the sides of the square, I could extrapolate two new vanishing points, combined with the vertical vanishing point from the tabletop perspective.

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 used my own custom brushes for the fur and the jingle bells.

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. Patterns. It's easier to align textures before I start putting in the shading so I made repeating patterns for the wallpaper and wrapping paper, then aligned them with the surfaces using distortion. I also placed the writing on the panties and the stripes on the ribbons as part of the color layers.

7. Form shading. I create a dark brown solid color layer (linear burn) 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 used color burn for richer shading and start with a general, soft airbrush for the overall shape, then used a variable-width soft airbrush to smudge detail into the shadows, picking up the shape of the hairs.

8. 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. For the cast shadow of everything on the tabletop to the floor, I just made a copy of the shape, scaled it up a little, blurred it, then placed it on the lower levels, using skewing to bend the shadow where it touches the wall.

9. Backlight. I used a desaturate 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.

10. 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 latex, I also added a white layer, set to overlay, to add colorful glistening highlights. 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.

11. 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.

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 on the hardest objects to give it a contrast with softer objects.

13. The glass is a simple semi-transparent layer of white with some backlight and shine added.

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 sweat, 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%, a bevel effect set so that the highlight as on the bottom, and a subtle drop shadow. 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.

16. To make the lighting more dramatic, I added layer adjustments to darken and reduce saturation in everything below the tabletop.

17. To emphasize distance, I collapsed everything below the tabletop and added a very moderate amount of gaussian blur.