1. First I began with a sketch. The band wanted a revival of their classic Alister Fiend character with a haloween theme. After thinking of a few different ideas I pitched this one. The concept was the character holding a pumpkin basket and a knife. Haloween with a darker more sinister twist!

2. After the band accepted the sketch I began to ink the work. I did the ink work in photoshop on 600 DPI.

3. Once the ink was finished I began to color. First thing I do when coloring any project is to set the base tones. Keeping color count in mind I played around with different colors and shades until I got the perfect combination.

4. Once I had all the base colors set I went in and added tints and shades. Usually I try to create at least 1 tint and 1 shade per color (color count permitting.)

 

For example, on the gray I had a Dark Gray and a Bright Gray/white. This creates more contrast in the image.

5. This may look as if a few steps were skipped but bare with me! After all tints/shades are set I go through with a low opacity (20%) and create another layer of tints/shades using same colors. This kind of blends the colors together. 

 

For extra depth I also go through and use a black colored texture brush to add more shading all around the image.

6. After all the coloring is finished I add some effects to the background to add more interest. Some splatter brushes mixed with some texture brushes at different opacities. 

7. And lastly I added the band logo and put it on a black background. Band loved and accepted the design!