Dolly Cyberpunk - Process (Patreon)

1. Thumbnail. I started with a very basic thumbnail sketch to try out the concept.

2. Rough sketch. I sketch out the final layout and poses. I used Clip Studio's 3D models and perspective rulers as references and roughed in the general shapes for the clothing and props. I used squashed spheres for the helmet and made my own simple shape for the pigtails.

3. Final sketch. I use separate layers in multiple folders for the various props and the character which makes it easier to plan, especially when so many of the parts overlap. If you look closely, you can see that I draw some parts that I know will be completely hidden behind others, particularly the basic body shape, to make sure it will all make sense together. Keeping them on separate layers also makes it easier to shift the positions of individual features when final details on foreground features might change the layout needs.

4. Inking. I scale the canvas up to four times the size and 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. Planning for the line coloring later, I try to use a different vector layer for each part that would be differently colored as linework such as one for the character's skin, one for everything that will have black linework, etc.

5. Color blocking. I set the folder containing all the different inked vector layers as the reference layer. Then I made new raster layers underneath and started filling in the flat colors. Sometimes I used a round pen, sometimes the color fill bucket, usually with the fill set to follow only the reference layer, stopping at the middle of a vector. I also applied a simple floral pattern to the center of the bodice.

6. Form shading. I treated the inside and outside of the helmet as separate lighting environments. I created desaturate blue (inside) and violet (outside) solid color layers (linear burn) and start painting in the basic form shading. In general, I start shading each section by color block, starting with the shading layered filled at 50%, then I use hard brushes at 75% to added some basic shade and highlight, then deepen it with 100% shade and highlight, adding detail with watercolor brushes and using blur and blending to soften the shading where needed. For the hair, I used color burn for richer shading and start with stronger hairs for a sense of texture, then use an airbrush to establish the overall form, then use watercolor brushes to add some extra detail.

7. Cast shadows. I make blue and violet solid color layer set to linear burn 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. Backlight. For the internal light of the helmet, I made a saturate blue layer, set to vivid light, then inverted a selection of the shading layer to airbrush the light into the unshaded parts. For the secondary lights outside, I used one color for each side, both set to vivid light. Then I paint with a soft airbrush or a watercolor brush (when I want it to be more textured) on opposite sides of shiny objects. The backlight is used only on the shiniest parts but the other lght is meant to be more in front so it goes on everything. When I combine it with the form shading, backlighting really makes the characters pop. I don't use any backlight on non-reflective objects. On the hair, I used the watercolor brush to streak in the shape of the hairs and then used an airbrush, selection-masked to the shading, to add softer backlight.

9. Shiny. For the glossiest parts, I used light watercolor brushes to paint reflections for both primary and reflected light sources, then I used a strong watercolor brush for the specular highlights (or a variable round hard brush when I want the highlight extra strong), using a thumb tool to smudge for detail. For the shine on the hair, I started with thin strokes with a soft watercolor brush, then use an airbrush to add a soft glow to groups of streaks, and finally use a soft round brush to erase a few streaks in the middle of each group. 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. For the natural blush, I add in a raster layer and airbrush red just on the skin for the cheeks and places where bone is near the surface of the skin. I used the same method for the make-up.

11. Colored linework. Since the linework is still all vectors in Clip Studio, I simply selected the vectors and changed their color to whatever colored linework I needed, sampling from each section and then shifting the color to be more saturate and dark, more or less depending on how hard or soft I want each thing to feel. The hardest things I keep black. Then I collapsed all of the linework into raster layers, locked the pixel transparency, and used an eraser to fix up any places where different color linework crossed over each other.

12. Eyelashes are done with a simple raster layer painted with a black variable-width pen. Then I lock the pixel transparency for that layer and use a soft pen to paint in blue streaks for texture and then soften the look with a few strokes of a blue soft airbrush.

13. For the helmet visor, I added a semi-transparent grey layer, set to linear burn, then added a mask and airbrushed out the center so it becomes darker where the surface of the visor is at more of an angle. I used a watercolor brush to add a few shiny streaks and airbrushed on some secondary lights. For the pixel face, I made a small grid pattern and mapped it onto a 3D sphere. Then I hand-painted a pixel pattern onto that grid. I set the pixel face layer to Add Glow at a medium transparency, strong enough to make it dominant but still transparent enough that you can see the real face below if you look closely.

14. For the chips and imperfections, I went over to Photoshop and made a simple color block layer with 0% fill and a bevel effect, then painted in some chips and scrapes. Then I exported that layer from Photoshop and applied it above the other shading in my image, set to overlay.

15. For the backdrop, I made a simple perspective layer (more pronounced than the actual perspective of the character), and used a watercolor brush to rough in some building shapes, did some green airbrushing inside blocky selections for the windows, and added a simple gradient for the sky. I made some text layer for neon lights then selections of those text layers, expanded and blurred the selection, and used Add Glow to fill the selection for neon glowing effects. I used my own raindrop brush to fill the scene with raindrops. Then I blurred the backdrop to create distance.

16. For the rain on the character, I made another rain layer with larger drops. I stamped in some water spalshes around the scene, using a brush I made for the Raincoat picture I did a while back. I also airbrush white onto the upper edges of various parts of the character for a wet shine effect.