Sidney Pinup: Step by Step

Step 1: Collect the idea: This person wanted a pinup at a dock. My first though was, okay something fun and sexy! I was half right! This character represents this individuals desire to interact with the community in a non-sexual way to paraphrase. And they also wanted a low-angle upward shot, so my challenge here is to communicate this framing in a non-sexual way which is all in the character acting and body language. So no feet in the viewer's face, no squishing the booba together. This is a wholesome dragon who just wants to casually enjoy what's left of summer with the viewer in a "sit and watch the sunset" kind of way, and all the fun ideas should support that!
Step 2: Mood board- The mood board is a really important step in the process. When we think of the art we want in our heads, it's subject to our own personal icons of what those things are. That is, we see the simplified version of them. Artists have them too, though we've probably got more complicated versions of them, but relying on them and never using references results in us coming up with stale ideas. The mood board section of performing a commission gives us the opportunity not just for reference but to be inspired by the things we see! ... Hmmmm... I should make a Pinterest I think.
Step 3- Sometimes we come up with ideas different than what the commissioner wanted. This sunset is an example of that. The commissioner likes their colors and didn't want them to be washed out by the red and oranges of a setting sun.
Step 4- Space works better! And the pink adds that little kick of unexpected behavior that i think will make this spark nicely. And it's not just pink for pink's sake. This is part of their character's powers!
Step 5- BREATHING ROOM- This a framing principle that my old art teachers liked to emphasize a lot. Leaving a lot of space above can perform lots of things, through lack of things vying for your attention. I call it breathing room because it gives the image a feeling that I associate with breathing: contemplativeness, relaxation, meditation, etc.
Step 6- Value Structure- Simplifying things down to a simple round brush makes it very easy to think of this picture in terms of the shapes you're including in your picture. The shapes of your shadows should generally indicate the direction light sources are coming from, but within that there's a lot of play to not just worry about the technicals, but what shapes are most aesthetic. Since I'm a painter, I'm fine with just getting the general shape down rather than fussing with specific brushwork right now since it'll just get painted over later. Amazing though what this looks like when you set the image to multiply!
Step 7- Atmospheric Light- Lots of times there aren't just one light source to consider! In this case atmospheric light! You don't need it, but it adds flavor and flavor is what makes your work yours, just depends on whether or not you add that flavor! Obviously I made it a little more expressed in this work, but I like how it looks generally!
Step 8- Background- I never get tired of painting space. This one was fun because I don't think I've ever drawn a representation of the milkyway as seen from Earth! Capturing the space dust in front of the light of the center of the universe is actually surprisingly complex!
Step 9- Render the character- Here I make sure to keep the info that I communicated in the multiply layers in terms of light direction, but within that, there's lots of play! So I did!
Step 10- Uuuugh this kind of turned into a "draw the rest of the piece" kind of thing. Sorry! But it involved a lot of research on how to do water and figuring out how to balance out those water effects with keeping the face as the focal point!