Digital Coloring Techniques
STEP 1: Start with a line drawing, sketch or gray-toned artwork.
STEP 2: Create a new MULTIPLY layer over your base artwork. This layer can be any color and will determine the overall color tone of the final work.
STEP 3: Working from dark to light begin painting in the color layers, always taking into account the position of your light source(s). For each major brightness change, create a new layer on top of all other layers.
STEP 4: When the main figure/object is at a reasonably modelled stage, pay some attention to the background, painting in rough elements.
STEP 5: Add highlight hits to the main figure/object. The location of highlight hits will help define the object and the style of highlights will help define the type of material portions of the object are made from. For example, the sharp specular points of reflection in the example image indicate that the object is made of metal. Wood and cloth highlights are rendered differently.
STEP 6: Add finishing details and take advantage of digital editing features by adjusting layer colors , opacity or brightness.
