Here is a step by step process of the work behind X-Men 17 cover.
The editors requested a cover showing this three characters: wolverine, Skully, and Thing in a fighting related pose. So I sent this three layouts to start off and got the first one approved.
Once I get the sketch approved, I start working on the digital sketch, I try to add more detail and make the scene more dynamic. This whole process is done on photoshop. Once the sketch is done I do a print out to do a trace over with the light table.
At this point I go with the final lines, doing more detail work on the characters and refining the whole drawing. Ideally I would like to add more depth and detail to this stage but since I´m tight schedule I leave those details for the painting process.
Once I scan the final pencils I start working the colors on photoshop. I start of by doing flat tones to make a basic foundation for the coloring process. At this point I know I want a warm feel for the final piece so its very important to lay down those tones.
I start laying shadows with multiply and start working some of the lighting in the background. I tend to go opposite on my shadow tones to make it more dynamic, meaning if I have warm basic tones I like cold tones for the shadows.
Then I start laying some of the lights on the characters by adding a layer on top of my shadow tones and base tones.
As a final stage I tend to go over the whole image and clean up any missing lines from the original drawing, do some color corrections and add a couple effects.
Follow me on twitter @jorge_molinam
Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jorge-Molina/170336213026821?ref=ts
Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jorge-Molina/170336213026821?ref=ts
