Love and Chocolates - Process (Patreon)

1. In Manga Studio, I draw 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 figure and a general shape of the clothing and background.

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

3. Inking. I use a variable-width inking brush for the characters and a constant-width brush for hard things (the quiver and arrow shafts) on vector layers. I use lots of different layers for different parts, which makes it easier to overdraw and erase as needed. I export the linework for the nighties on separate layers of their own since I plan to draw those as an overlay.

4. Color. 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 stick with a limited range of mostly light, pastel pink colors to give the scene a gentle, feminine feeling.

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. I also use a smudge tool on the hair and various creases in clothing and skin to create detail.

6. Backlight. A bright pale pink solid color layer (normal blend mode). 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 hair and brushes in the backlight.

7. For cast shadows, I make a new dark brown layer set to linear burn and start painting in the 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. I turned down the opacity of the cast shadow layer to keep the lighting gentle.

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 breastforms (to make them look more artificial) as well as strong, wobbly streaks of shine on the metalwork, 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.

10. 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.

11. The black peignoir. I work on the nightie in sections based on how they overlap each other so one for the forearm, one for the upper arm, one for the ruffle, and so on. For each section, I make a folder with a solid black layer. Then I make a solid white layer and use the mask to softly paint light onto it so that it looks like a solid white form with deep black shading. Then I set the folder to multiply so that the white areas disappear and the black areas are the most opaque. Then I lower with the opacity of the white layer to 50% and the opacity of the whole folder to 75%. Then I do it again for each section and finally, add a little backlight over all of it.

12. For the blue peignoir, I do much the same thing but with a light blue layer for the base, a darker blue for the shade, and I leave the folder blend mode on normal, just lowering the opacity.

13. Final details.I add in a light red layer for blush, airbrushing just on in the same area as the skin. Blush goes on joints 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. I'm trying a thicker, more feathery look for the lashes. Then I paint in a few thin streaks on the grey layer mask to add depth to the lashes. Then I add a simple gradient to the backdrop and I'm done!