Night of the Living Bridal Gown: Process (Patreon)

2. Inking! I exported the linework for the veil as two separate layers to make them easier to overlay in the final image.

3. Color blocking! Even thought the whole dress is one color, I stored each individual tier of the dress as separate color layers so that I could use them to create selections when I'm shading. I pulled all of the colors from bridal studio photos.

4. Form shading! Those selections came in very handy here.

5. Additional form shading! I wanted to push the overall shape of the huge mound of skirts so, on two new layers, I added a very general shadow and highlight just to the skirts.

6. Cast shadow! I used a cast shadow in the same color as the one used for form shading where it touches the character or clothing. I used a second black shadow for casting on the floor.

7. Backlight! You've got to have some backlight/reflected light to get that subtle satiny look for the gown.

8. Shiny! Shiny spots on the eyes and mask. Shiny streaks for the hair.

9. Colored linework! Because of the extra form shadow layers, I needed to add that same shading to the colored linework to keep it from popping out too much.

10. Final details! Eyelashes, blush, the veil (solid semi-transparent white layers), a little sparkle for the ring, and a gradient for the backdrop.