process - all the small things

step 1
the first thing i did was make a sketch and color it in as if it were a flat. (2 layers)

step 2
i colored the lineart to be close to the character's colors and cleaned up a little bit. after this, i merged the line art layer onto the color layer. (1 layer)

step 3
on a new clipped layer, i picked a dark blue and set the opacity to 50%. (2 layers)

step 4
use this brush with transparent ticked (the checkered box below the foreground/background colors) to "erase" and block out all areas where light hits. be as messy and sloppy as you want!


step 5
after the basic shading is done, i merge the layer and make another new clipped layer. this time, i pick a lighter purple to make the blue pop. this is also set to 50%. (2 layers)

step 6
merge the layers, and use the same brush to begin rendering with the character's original colors. use a larger size brush for areas with short fur/hair, such as the face, arms/legs, back, ears, etc. and to block out fur shapes. use a smaller brush size as you define more detail. (1 layer)

step 7
continue rendering. use the eye dropper tool to select nearby colors to help with blending try to cover up as much of the line art as you can, lock the layer if you want to! go over the line art and other markings as you go along, but don't forget to put them back like i did!(1 layer)

step 8
continue rendering until you're pleased; play with layer modes on new layers such as overlay to get nice color outcomes!

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this is my method of painting. it isn't the "right way" by any means! try this if you want, and if you do, show me! i'll display it here!
finished product:

other people trying this method: