It's Raining Sissies - Process

1. I started with a very rough thumbnail.

2. Following the general concept, I do a new rough sketch, working out the final layout and proportions but not focusing on the details just yet. I drew all the characters at roughly the same size on different layers and then scaled them each differently to create depth.

3. Next, I do a more detailed sketch, working out the the bodies, hair, and clothing.

4. Inking. I use a variable-width inking brush for the characters 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 of 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 exported the inking for the lashes on a separate layer.

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. For the hair, I used color burn for richer shading and I used a variable-width soft airbrush to smudge detail into the shadows, picking up the shape of the hairs. This time, I'm trying to show the lace by actually shading it subtly in the form shading.

7. Cast shadows. I make a new brown blue 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 layer (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.

9. Shiny. I used a solid white layer for the primary shine and painted spots and streaks using a hard variable-width brush. After painting all the shine, I use the cast shadow layer to make a selection and delete the shine from anywhere covered by shadow. For the shine on the hair, I started with thin strokes with a variable-width 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.

10. For the blush, I add in a light red layer, airbrushing just on the same area as the skin for the cheeks and other cheeks. I use the same method to add color for the eyeshadow.

11. I added another partially transparent layer of white for the hosiery above the blush layer so that the skin color and a little bit of blush on the knees and ankles shows through.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. To create separation over distance, I added several hue/saturation layers, all set to colorize to the same hue as the sky and a little bit of lightening. Then I created masks in each layer to focus on different parts such the as all the hoop skirts, the legs, just the leg that's further back, and for each grouping of sissies. Many of these masks overlap with each other. By setting each layer to various degrees of transparency, it creates a cumulative effect so that there is a sense of depth to the skirts and also a sense of distance for the characters further away.

15. For the clouds, I used my simple cloud brush, which is just one little blob of cloud, that I sampled from a photo of clouds, with lots of angle jitter and scatter. I start by using the cloud brush to paint in the whole cloud shape using the darkest shade of the cloud. Then I lock the transparency of the layer (so that I can change the color of the pixels without affecting the shape) and switch to a medium color to paint the general form of the clouds. Then I switch to a brighter shade and add just a few brighter spots here and there.