This is not a information heavy tutorial... As said, it is just an 'Overview' of how I draw pictures in Adobe Photoshop 7.0 You might find it interesting on how the picture develops through the stages.

The pictures displayed are 50% of the actual image. In the gallery there is a larger (75%) of the Final product.

Take a look at the base sketch, and start of this picture.

I scanned it in and changed the brightness/ contrast and levels.

Also, before I started outlining (although not shown here, but will be in further tutorials) I changed the Hue/saturation to change the line colours, and make the black lines of (to be) my outlines to be easier seen. Less mistakes that way.

This is the outlines of my picture. I used the Brush tool with my Wacom tablet, for pressure sensitivity and nicer lines.

You may notice it isnt exactly the same as the sketch, as I have changed it as I thought it needed (or how my tablet agreed)

This lineart is on a transparent layer over a white layer over the sketch.

Under the lines layer, I created quite a few layers for each different colour (or multiple colours far away from each other EG. the ribbon and bottom of shoes can be on the same layer)

Keep in mind you can also shade things as you go, and not fill in all the colours until you get to it. (I used to do this)

Remember not to forget about small things, like ears!

Shading is a MAJOR stage. First, you have to pick a light source (this one is from the slightly top left) and a whole selection of shades of the colours you are colouring with.

Some colours you should create an extra layer for shading, like the dramatic shading on the skin, I wouldn't be sure if it would look good or not so make sure it is not permanent.

Some colours below I used:

I can't say I'm a pro with backgrounds, I always have trouble with them. Probably I should be doing it first, but I am so psyched to colour and make my picture beautiful, I forget about the background, so once again my pictures get a half-assed background.

Just made the picture bigger in the background... Duplicated the character to create a shadow... etc.