Here’s the step-by-step progress record of “Batou in Chase on a Foldable Motorbike.”
Step 1
I started the line drawing in Painter. It was done with a customized cover pencil on a layer.
Step 2
I processed a digital photo of a wooden patch using Auto Cloning (this image was created with Painter 8, before the arrival of Auto Painting and Photo Painting) with a custom brush, and pasted it onto onto the canvas.
Step 3
I wanted to change Batou’s posture. First I collapsed the line drawing and coloring layers; then I separated his upper body from the rest, rotated it a little, and joined it back.
Step 3
I cloned the image and thereafter continued my work on the clone (with no layers).
Step 4
I added some details and shadows.
Step 5
More work on the trousers.
Step 6
Next I worked on the background. I painted in white dots to express foliage under sunlight in soft focus.
Step 7
More work on the background. I painted in grass in the foreground.
Step 8
I felt I needed more contrast. I duplicated the canvas and set the composite method of the new duplicated layer to Overlay. I turned down its visibility low and also used the layer mask to hide parts that didn’t need extra contrast.