tiptoes

Hi, I’m Braveking Ham Sungchul.

This might be a bit sudden 😊 but I wanted to share a glimpse of my work process today.

Please don’t take this as a formal tutorial—it's more of a casual record of how I worked through one particular piece.Think of it as, “Oh, so that’s one way to approach it,” rather than a guide to follow step-by-step.

My workflow tends to be spontaneous rather than structured. I often make adjustments as I go, so not all of my drawings follow the same exact process. 😄

Feel free to take away only what’s helpful to you—there’s no need to follow everything exactly.

When it comes to drawing, I believe the best method is the one that feels most natural to you.From there, making small tweaks and evolving your own habits is how you develop a unique personal style.

Now then—let me walk you through the process!

A-1: Starting with the Initial Idea

This is the very first stage—just jumping in and drawing based on a rough concept in my head.

Sometimes I start by sketching the full body and then layer the character design on top.Other times, I begin with the face and work my way down.Occasionally, I even start by sketching the outfit right away.There’s no fixed method—it really depends on the moment.

Whatever the approach, the beauty of digital art is that you can easily correct any awkward anatomy or off proportions along the way. That’s the magic of working digitally! 😊

The key is to go with the flow—draw when the “spark” hits, when things feel like they’re clicking.(Some call it the “drawing god” moment 😄)

For this sketch, I initially imagined a female fighter character.The mask was actually taken from a variation sketch of another character in the same theme, and I built a new outfit around it.

I try not to overthink anatomy at this point. The focus is on the concept and overall flow.(Of course, understanding basic anatomy is essential—so consistent practice is always important, even if you're planning to tweak things later. 😊)

A-2: Adjusting the Pose and Simplifying the Outfit

As the idea began to shift, I decided to change the character’s pose to better match the new intention.I also simplified the outfit to keep things clearer and more focused.

This kind of adjustment is totally normal during the sketching stage—it's all part of refining the direction as the concept evolves.

A-3: Refining the Linework & Starting Color in Clip Studio Paint

From this point on, I switched over to Clip Studio Paint to clean up the lines and start coloring.

Compared to Photoshop, Clip Studio feels a bit lighter and makes it easier to set up brushes that feel more intuitive for coloring—so I decided to give it a try and ended up purchasing it.

(To be honest, I was a bit confused at first—each program uses different terms and shortcut keys, which took some getting used to. But once I adjusted the settings to my preferences and got familiar with the interface, the workflow started to feel smoother and faster.)

A-4: Laying Down Overall Shadows

At this stage, I added the overall shading using a Multiply layer.

Sometimes I shade each color area separately after laying down the base colors. But in this case, I applied the shadows across the entire figure from the start to quickly establish the mood and lighting.

Rather than rendering each part in detail, I focused on treating the whole character as a single form—just roughing in the overall light and shadow to get a sense of depth and volume.

A-5: Applying Base Colors

Here, I added the base color tones.

Since I already had a Multiply layer for shadows on top, I adjusted the saturation and brightness of each color accordingly—making sure they wouldn’t get too dark or muddy once the shading was overlaid.

This stage actually takes the most time—not because of the painting itself, but because I spend a lot of time experimenting with different color combinations for each part of the design.

I often take breaks, come back with fresh eyes, and make adjustments until the overall color balance feels just right.

A-6: Blending and Refining the Details

At this point, the overall layers have come together, and I begin focusing on refining the rough shading.

I soften the harsh shadow edges that were blocked in earlier and start adding more definition to key areas.

You can either create a new layer for this rendering stage or simply merge the shadow and base color layers and paint directly on top—it’s all about what feels more comfortable for your workflow.

A-7: Adding a Background Element

Initially, I planned to focus solely on the female character.But once the main figure was complete, the composition felt a bit too empty—so I decided to add some background elements for balance and context.

For this part, I switched back and forth between Photoshop and Clip Studio, since one of my favorite brushes is in Photoshop.Using both tools allowed me to work more comfortably and get the textures and strokes I wanted.

A-8: Keeping the Background Loose

To avoid drawing attention away from the main focus—the character—I kept the background colors and rendering intentionally rough and subdued.

The goal here was to support the composition without distracting from the central figure. A simplified background helps maintain visual focus where it matters most.

A-9: Wrapping Up the Final Image

The final result ended up feeling a bit lighter than what I initially envisioned—but sometimes that’s part of the process. So I wrapped it up at a point that felt just right. 😊

Thanks for following along!See you next time—Bye bye~ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔノ