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Description
Hello~
I thought I'd make a short step-by-step (also because I forget how I color myself all time haha)
If you have any questions, please comment!

final artwork:
www.deviantart.com/imseyeon/ar…

---
(1) Lineart:
My sketches are really messy, that's why my linearts aren't the cleanest either.
I try not to lose too much time drawing the lines, though, because I will paint over all messy parts in step 6.

(2) Base colors:
Add base colors on separate layers~ It doesn't have to be super clean, just remember to clean up in step 6.

(3) Shading:
I work with a lot of paint-and-then-erase. I also use a blurring tool to soften some shadows and an airbrush to add soft shadows. As for the colors, always change the hue (according to the atmosphere color you want to set) when you add a darker color. I like having an overall pink/purple look, so I changed the hair shades' hue from yellow (base) to orange (first shadow) to red-orange (second shadow). As for the cape, I went from teal (base) to blue/purple (shadow). It's fine if the color isn't perfect at first try; just play around with the color wheel until it looks decent.

(4) Line color and eye-refining:
I color the lineart according to base colors by adding the darkest shade on a sepearte layer clipped to the lineart and then I adjust the opacity until it looks decent. For the lines that are on the outside, I like to leave them slightly darker than lines on the inside. Here, I also add darker colors and lines (eye lashes, double lid, random lines) around the eyes to add more depth. I've also added "loose" hair to make it look more fluffy.

(5) Effects:
Add overlay layers with the atmosphere color you want to set. I like to use purple, pink and brown. I want especially the face, the lower parts of the hair and the upper parts of the clothes to glow, so I use my airbrush to add those colors there. I also added an overlay layer with light blue around the shoulders to create subtle ambident lighting.

(6) Clean up and color-refining:
I always save my canvas as a png file and work on everything merged together starting here. If you want to adjust your background color along with the artwork's colors then make sure to save your current progress with a white background so it gets changed while refining colors.
Then I paint over all empty spaces I had left (from base-colors and messy lining). I also use a water brush to soften a few lines in the face (nose, neck, eyes, lips).
Here is where the magic happens: Color-refining. First, I lower the brightness and raise both contrast and color-depth. I also adjust the hue slightly towards the atmosphere color I chose (here, it's pink/purple), raise saturation and lower luminescence. Repeat these color adjustings until it looks fine. Be bold but don't go overboard!

---
That's about it, I hope it helped!
(Hopefully, I can remember my own coloring steps from now on haha~~)

Description
Hello~
I thought I'd make a short step-by-step (also because I forget how I color myself all time haha)
If you have any questions, please comment!

final artwork:
www.deviantart.com/imseyeon/ar…

---
(1) Lineart:
My sketches are really messy, that's why my linearts aren't the cleanest either.
I try not to lose too much time drawing the lines, though, because I will paint over all messy parts in step 6.

(2) Base colors:
Add base colors on separate layers~ It doesn't have to be super clean, just remember to clean up in step 6.

(3) Shading:
I work with a lot of paint-and-then-erase. I also use a blurring tool to soften some shadows and an airbrush to add soft shadows. As for the colors, always change the hue (according to the atmosphere color you want to set) when you add a darker color. I like having an overall pink/purple look, so I changed the hair shades' hue from yellow (base) to orange (first shadow) to red-orange (second shadow). As for the cape, I went from teal (base) to blue/purple (shadow). It's fine if the color isn't perfect at first try; just play around with the color wheel until it looks decent.

(4) Line color and eye-refining:
I color the lineart according to base colors by adding the darkest shade on a sepearte layer clipped to the lineart and then I adjust the opacity until it looks decent. For the lines that are on the outside, I like to leave them slightly darker than lines on the inside. Here, I also add darker colors and lines (eye lashes, double lid, random lines) around the eyes to add more depth. I've also added "loose" hair to make it look more fluffy.

(5) Effects:
Add overlay layers with the atmosphere color you want to set. I like to use purple, pink and brown. I want especially the face, the lower parts of the hair and the upper parts of the clothes to glow, so I use my airbrush to add those colors there. I also added an overlay layer with light blue around the shoulders to create subtle ambident lighting.

(6) Clean up and color-refining:
I always save my canvas as a png file and work on everything merged together starting here. If you want to adjust your background color along with the artwork's colors then make sure to save your current progress with a white background so it gets changed while refining colors.
Then I paint over all empty spaces I had left (from base-colors and messy lining). I also use a water brush to soften a few lines in the face (nose, neck, eyes, lips).
Here is where the magic happens: Color-refining. First, I lower the brightness and raise both contrast and color-depth. I also adjust the hue slightly towards the atmosphere color I chose (here, it's pink/purple), raise saturation and lower luminescence. Repeat these color adjustings until it looks fine. Be bold but don't go overboard!

---
That's about it, I hope it helped!
(Hopefully, I can remember my own coloring steps from now on haha~~)