"Bed and Breakfast" Process

I finally took some time to put together a process post for this image! Since this one was drawn more recently, I was able to go a little more in depth. This image was drawn at 6000 x 6000 px.

1) The thumbnail, drawn in Procreate on a 9.7 iPad. This was based on two separate patron requests, one for something bread-related and one for sleeping bears. Between the bread and the bears, I could already tell that this image was going to be way too beige, so I added some visual interest to the edges - a jar of jam/honey and a few sprigs of rosemary. (Initially I'd thought about adding a bread knife, but that felt... kind of threatening LOL)

2) The sketch, drawn in Paint Tool Sai using the airbrush. It's drawn on a new layer directly above the thumbnail so I can use it as a guide. I didn't like how strictly symmetrical the bears were, so I added another bear and adjusted their poses a little.

3) The lineart, which is pretty simple and self explanatory in this case! For a deeper look into my inking technique / tools, though, feel free to refer to my lineart post!

4-5) My color roughs. I knew I wanted it to be warm, so I went with beiges and yellows, but then decided that, while this was close to what I wanted, it felt a little too washed out. I didn't want the yellow of the jar's lid to compete with the yellow background, so I changed it to red, but then it lost its contrast against the jar itself, so I changed that to a lighter orange. I also darkened the bears, bread crust, and the wooden spoon in order to help them stand out a bit better.

6) On a new layer, I used Clip Studio's fill tool to flat the colors more cleanly. If you need additional info in these next few sections, my color post has more information on how I flat/color/texture my images!

7) Now I start shading and highlighting! I apply highlights to the jar using Clip Studio's tone scraping airbrush, making sure to add a bit of subtle reflective light to the left side, too, to help it feel more three dimensional. To add the checkered pattern to the lid of the jar, I create two new layers - I draw the vertical stripes on one and the horizontal stripes on the other, and then lower the opacity of both layers. When they overlap, they create this pattern.

8) I extend the color of the crust further along the edges of the bread, which I think feels a little more natural. Also, using tone scraping again, I brush two deeper, warmer colors onto the crust to give it a little texture and that oven-baked feel.

9) I add highlights to the bears using the G-pen, then add the muzzles, and then brush on a warm color with tone scraping for the blush. I also use tone scraping to add texture to the lighter parts of the bread - I add both a lighter texture and a darker one here to add a little dimension.

10) I add some final shading and texture, and then color the lines, making it a little more delicate. Here are the colors I used for the lines! (Line coloring is also covered in my lineart post)

11-12) To give it that vintage feel, I follow a process that I cover in my finishing touches post! There's a detailed explanation in the second section. Also, if you'd like to see things up close, I have a few 100% zoom examples in the gallery above!

And just as a side note: rather than making this a head-on image, I slanted everything diagonally for the sake of visual interest. Also, the bears readily stand out because they run counter to the majority of the image! Here's a quick draw-over that better displays what I mean:

And that's it! If you have any additional questions, feel free to leave them below!