sorry for lag in process- but now I try to draw initial shadow shapes- I got this process from Matt Khor's  rendering tutorial- using masking layers created by shapes in the flatting process- I try to identify how shadow will work with the different areas- this is the side i need to keep working and discovering- I put the light source behind the character and above- so shadows are in lower right of forms...

quik sketch- flats away

okay I am going step by step with this piece for instruction for me and others.. Once the line work is done even roughly we can go to the flat color stage... the point of this stage is to define certain color areas for further rendering- or least that's my story- with some pieces- this may be the next to the last step- if cel shading is appropriate- for a more gradient shading- more steps are needed- so I have colored misty's suit, hair and skin-tone at the flats stage- from here I can go one of several directions-

quiky sketch- WIP

I wanted to do a color piece so I mocked up this sketch- hopefully the next few posts will step through this piece of  a fan piece of Misty Knight-this prelim sketch was done in sketchbook pro- I usually sketch loose on first layer- reduce opacity on layer and then create  finer details on next layer up. I will do this several times till I get defined usable clean line... my next step will be to bring image into photoshop- stay tuned