a peek behind the curtain: illustration workflow GIF (Patreon)

a little process gif of an old piece showing my usual approach! some notes:

-establishing the shadows is what makes or breaks a piece. i won't claim to be a master, but making sure your light & shadow masses obey the laws of perspective (or are at least close enough to fool the viewer) is crucial.

-i make my lineart on the same layer as my undersketch, and just erase the lines i don't need. lol

-after i establish flats & shadows *under* the lineart, i switch to painting on top of the lineart to soften certain details and establish where my hard edges vs. soft form transitions are.

-know how much to blend your shadows! large smooth surfaces (like bellies) need a wide, gradually-blended form shadow, but know where to drop a hard, crisp cast shadow for contrast.