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Description
Step 1: Draw a sketch. This is often the easiest and quickest part, assuming you don't have art block. If you're like me and have mastered freehand sketching, making basic line art should be a breeze.

Step 2: I'm going for an inked sketch style, so now it's time to add some crosshatching. I often take this to insane levels of minutia to achieve shading close to that of a pencil.

Step 3: Now it's time to add some flat color. Since we're in a digital age, it's never been easier to paint line art.

Step 4: Sure, some color makes the sketch pop out, but it's still a little bland. In this stage, a little shadow is needed to enhance the previously added color.

Step 5: With a basic level of shadow, the sketch is really beginning to shine. But wait, something's missing! Add a layer of light to compliment the shadows, giving the sketch a higher level of depth.

Step 6: This final step is mostly for last minute touch ups. All I did was tweak the opacity of the lines and crosshatching, add texture to her clothing and soften the overall image a bit so that everything blends well together.

It must be noted that I'm not much of a colorist (most of my experience is in grayscale art) and this process was devised for a balance of speed and quality. Overall, I spent approximately three and a half hours on this piece, which includes interruptions and lag caused by multitasking. If I had been better focused, it probably could have been completed within two hours or less. On most days I'm a busy person and don't like to spend much time on any one piece of art, which is why all of my deviations are rushed. If I can ever get the time to work on something seriously, I'd probably add at least three more passes of light and shadow as well as more clean up on the line art.

Description
Step 1: Draw a sketch. This is often the easiest and quickest part, assuming you don't have art block. If you're like me and have mastered freehand sketching, making basic line art should be a breeze.

Step 2: I'm going for an inked sketch style, so now it's time to add some crosshatching. I often take this to insane levels of minutia to achieve shading close to that of a pencil.

Step 3: Now it's time to add some flat color. Since we're in a digital age, it's never been easier to paint line art.

Step 4: Sure, some color makes the sketch pop out, but it's still a little bland. In this stage, a little shadow is needed to enhance the previously added color.

Step 5: With a basic level of shadow, the sketch is really beginning to shine. But wait, something's missing! Add a layer of light to compliment the shadows, giving the sketch a higher level of depth.

Step 6: This final step is mostly for last minute touch ups. All I did was tweak the opacity of the lines and crosshatching, add texture to her clothing and soften the overall image a bit so that everything blends well together.

It must be noted that I'm not much of a colorist (most of my experience is in grayscale art) and this process was devised for a balance of speed and quality. Overall, I spent approximately three and a half hours on this piece, which includes interruptions and lag caused by multitasking. If I had been better focused, it probably could have been completed within two hours or less. On most days I'm a busy person and don't like to spend much time on any one piece of art, which is why all of my deviations are rushed. If I can ever get the time to work on something seriously, I'd probably add at least three more passes of light and shadow as well as more clean up on the line art.