Steem Cartoon Challenge : Wo-ol chan

Hi guys, this is my entry for @perennial's art contest ! In the contest, the theme given is "Fantasy". Check out the link below for more information. https://steemit.com/steem-cartoon/@perennial/steem-cartoon-introducing-wo-owl-announcing-our-1-challenge

So, this is Wo-ol chan. From the name given, she looks like none other than a normal Japanese high school girl. I would like to think that she is a girl who has the ability to travel within the electronics such as phones, computers, whichever gadgets granting internet access. I got this idea from an avatar named "Kizuna Ai" . She is an avatar that owns a youtube channel AIChannel. To put it short, I always like girls in sailor uniform. Thus, I made Wo-ol Chan the way. :)

Now, I will talk about my process and thoughts in brief .
I first started out with multiples sketches. Always do a few pose sketches and them compare them in the end. Select and finalize the one you choose. I decided on this sketch because the pose itself is dynamic and I intended to have her holding or manifesting some magical stuff on her hand.

Next, I started off with some basic colours. I used plain dark skin colour as base. "Base colour shown in image below". Then, always remember that our skin will absorb and reflect light around us. Thus, by adding some bluish hue on the skin will make the skin look more real in shadow. Always remember to paint in naunce. This can be done with a soft default photoshop brush (adjusting and lower its opacity to around 30%) and paint it gently.

As you notice that I already indicate a light source from the left. Since the base color if of darker value, a bright light source will make your character look more lively. You can do this by changing your brush setting to "Colour Dodge" mode and select a darker yellowish colour.

Then, I continue to refine her cloths. Its all about try and error, getting the right light and shadow. Painting the folds on her shirt. Most of the light source here are done by a default soft brush with Color Dodge mode. I also paint with "Multiply' mode when it comes to tackling the shadow and occlusion. Sometimes, I set my brush to "Overlay" mode to add some hue to the painting. At this point, I added some significant symbol of Wo-ol on her shirt and headpiece. I also create a Wo-ol magical stuff on her hand that she manifests. I like to put my thoughts into creating a fantasy character - Wo-ol Chan. So, I tried to incooperate the symbols into her clothings and accessories.

Now, we have come to the final part. The background. For the background, I tested out with different base colours and then finalize on a light blue. The white light source is done with a brush on Color Dodge setting too ! xD
Once you are done with your background, merge your character and the background together. Use a brush by changing the setting to "Softlight" to paint the edges of her arms, cloths and hair to show that the diffusion of light from behind.

I hope you like this piece and any questions please feel free to comment below. I will try to answer them ^^ . Thank you for reading !