Lovestream - Process

1. I start with a thumbnail to get the basic concept down on a canvas using a large pencil. This is a thumbnail so I'm not too worried about precise details, just more about getting ideas in place.

2. Next, a more formal sketch to work out the layout, pose, and proportions. I start getting some of the details roughed out and planning the perspective. I wound up flipping the layout because right-to-left movement feels more difficult than left-to-right movement, enhancing the feeling that character is trapped.

3. Final sketch. I scale the canvas up to four times the size and sketch the fine detail for the character and environment.

4. Inking. I 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. I also went ahead and inked the shape for the eyelashes because the brush stablization in Manga Studio makes it a lot easier than doing it in Photoshop later. I used my own custom brushes for the the chains and fur. I exported the linework for the negligee separately since I want to color them as a separate group so I can alter the transparency as a group. I exported the linework for the sex toys separately since I want to only include them in one alternate version of the final work.

5. 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 like to do all my color blocking by making a folder and then filling it with different solid color layers for each section of color, whch makes it easy to change a color later. This is a very fussy way to do it and it's probably much simpler to just fill a single raster layer with flat colors.

6. Form shading. I create a dark brown solid color layer (linear burn) and start painting in the basic form shading with a soft airbrush. I always start with shading at full and then use the airbush to paint away the shading, painting with light. For the hair, I used color burn for richer shading and start with a general, soft airbrush for the overall shape, then used a variable-width soft airbrush to smudge detail into the shadows, picking up the shape of the hairs.

7. Cast shadows. I make a new brown layer set to multiply 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. I used a desaturate solid color layers (screen blend mode) painted with a soft airbrush. When I combine it with the form shading, backlighting really makes the characters pop. I don't use any backlight on non-reflective objects. For some objects, I only use a backlight on shadowed side. For the most reflective objects, I add a forelight on the primary light side as well.

9. Shiny. I used a solid white layer for the primary shine and painted spots and streaks using a hard variable-width brush. For the latex, I also added a white layer, set to overlay, to add colorful glistening highlights and a softer highlight to one side of the specular highlight, using a smudge tool to streak the highlights along creases. For the shine on the hair, I started with thin strokes with a variable-width brush, then use a smude tool to add detail and softness to the tips, then use an airbrush to add a soft glow to groups of streaks, then use an airbrush to fade the tops and bottoms of streak groups, 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 hosiery, I added semi-transparent layers, above the blush layer but below the shading.

11. For the natural blush, I add in a light red layer, airbrushing just on the same area as the skin for the cheeks and places where bone is near the surface of the skin. I use the same approach for the make-up. To give the eyeshadow a glittery effect, I added a noise pattern, set to overlay, then added some random white spots for sparkle. To make the make-up blush a little more garish, I added some white countouring below the blush.

12. I added a greyscale noise pattern to the headboard padding, set to overlay, above the shading, to give it a velvet look. I also added a grungy texture to the wall, set to overlay, using distortion to match the perspective.

13. 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. I like to keep using black lines on the hardest objects to give it a contrast with softer objects.

14. For the negligee, I painted it using the same form shading technique I used for the rest of the picture but in a separate folder on top. Then I made a folder containing only the shading and color, not the linework, and set that folder to hard light so that you can see through it very clearly while still being able to see the color and shading of the negligee.

15. Eyelashes are done with a folder containing a solid grey layer and a solid black layer. Using the lashes I made earlier with a variable width brush, I add a few thin streaks on the grey layer mask to add depth to the lashes and soften the look with a few strokes of a soft airbrush. For the tears of loneliness, I used a white layer with the fill turned down just a little and add a layer effect with white inner glow set to 100%, a bevel effect set so that the highlight as on the bottom, and a subtle drop shadow. Then I use the mask to soften the edge where it touches the skin. After, I add a new white layer to paint in the shiny highlights.

16. Finally, I added some simple text and shapes for the label on the bed device and the door, using distortion to match the perspective, then another text layer with a colored rectangle behind it for the "LIVE" overlay.