Office Party Mistletoe - Process (Patreon)

1. In Manga Studio, 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. I started with just the basic naked figures and a rough background to put them in. I used a perspective ruler to sketch the walls and desks.

2. Final sketch. Now I go back and do a more detailed sketch, working out all the faces, hairstyles, clothing, and other details.

3. Inking. I use a variable-width inking brush for the characters and a constant-width brush for hard things (the background and collar) on vector layers. I use lots of different layers for different parts, which makes it easier to overdraw and erase as needed. Since the chains are very straight, I'm using a pre-drawn chain that I made a while back. (I saved it from the background details in the Frankenstein picture. A chain is a chain so that's a big time-saver.)

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'm using lighter colors for the desks and other background elements to create better contrast with the foreground characters. Similarly, the colors for the men are a little bit lighter (but not as light as the desks).

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 color burn blending for more richness. After shading the fur, I go back and use a smudging brush to smudge up the shading on the fur to create a sense of little fur hairs.

6. Backlight. A bright pale blue solid color layer (linear dodge). I turned one of the form shading layers back on, temporarily disabling the mask (shift-click on the mask), to make it easier to see where I'm painting. It doesn't look like much by itself but, when it's combined with the form shading, it really makes the characters pop. I used both a soft brush and a soft airbrush. When it's done right, it should look like real lighting from a different angle. And, again, smudge the fur backlight.

7. Turning off the form shading, 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. Then I smudge the fur shade.

8. Combine them all and ta-dah! Looking good!

9. Shiny. Now add in the shinies. I used a solid white layer at for basic shine on lips and earring, another solid white for shine in the eyes, 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. Then I smudge it a little and use a thin eraser to cut out a few thin streaks.

10. Shiny leather. I'm using a method similar to the one I used for the reindeer here but a little simpler. I used the same backlight on both sides, going lighter on the left. Then I painted a thin streak of highlight in the backlight layer and some thin highlights in the first shiny layer. I smudge them up a little to follow the stretch lines in the material. Then I use a soft eraser on the highlights to fade them out in key places.

11. Background shading. The background mainly just gets very simple shading. I select a section of wall or desk and apply a light gradient to it. I keep it simple because I don't want the background to draw attention away from the characters.

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. Note that the background gets a much lighter grey for the linework, which really makes the foreground characters pop forward.

13. Character details. I add in a light red layer for blush, airbrushing just on in the same area as the skin. Blush goes on joints, palms, and face. Eyelashes are done with a folder containing a solid grey layer and a solid black layer. I use a variable width brush to paint in lashes on the folder mask. Then I paint in a few thin streaks on the grey layer mask to add depth to the lashes. For the sweatbead, I used a white layer with the fill turned down and add a layer effect with white inner glow set to 100%. Then I use a variable width brush in the mask to paint in the shape of the sweat. After, I add a new white layer to paint in the shiny highlights on the sweat. Finally, I put that layer inside a folder and a mask to the folder. Then I use a soft brush to erase the edges of the liquid where it touching the skin near the top. I exported the glasses separately from the rest of the linework. I place it up above everything else, color it in, ad add a semi-transparent white layer for the glass. Then I add a little highlight.

14. Carpet. Finally, I add a simple overlay texture to the carpet, using distort to match the shape. And there we have our boisterous office Christmas party!