Making of "Mystery..."

First up is to rough out the composition/plan out the scene.

Next up is however many passes I need to refine the anatomy of the characters involved and the composition of the scene.

Third up is final pass over the rough design. I double check one more time if the poses on the characters work as well as their expressions. Also check the background environment. I use several different colors for different pieces of the scene to help me stay organized in my thinking. This pass will be used to block in my flat color shapes.

Next is my block pass. (looks like  a rainbow mess, huh?) I section off the masses of the scene and the characters for easy selection later on for my FX pass. The colors of these masses matter very little since they will be thrown out/deleted before I save the final file.

Now, I can move onto the flat colors for the scene. Flat colors are the main colors used throughout the scene that don't take lighting or FX into account.

Last step is also the most intensive for skill and time needed to execute properly. This step is all about FX and getting the lighting done such that a time of day, location or mood can be felt for the scene. FX, at least for this scene, include fur/hair, eye details, mess and dirt on the walls as well as wall props and the specks in the capsule. The lighting covers everything else from the level of darkness behind the character to the soft orange lighting on the wall and ceiling as well as the effects of any light source on the character, chair, desk and capsule.

And of course the ever important signature is needed (see it right there in the bottom right corner?)
This piece took several days to complete....primarily because I only spent a few hours a day on it. Staggering out the different steps helps me to catch mistakes, bad lighting and allows me to make sure the mood is being set properly : )