Sketch

First start off sketching what you wish to paint. I usually sketch the characters first and then the background, but you can do it however you'd like.

Paint background

Next we lower the opacity of the sketch so that we can paint the beginning stages of the background. I use watercolor and oil brushes for the beginning stages.

I then add texture to the enviroment, in order to give it this nice look. I used crosshatching watercolor brushes for this part.

For the next section of painting backgrounds, I used a grass texture brush after I shrunk the particle size a bit. I did this a couple times, and each one with a slightly lighter color.

For the clouds I used a ink brush that has a nice cloudy effect on it, you can even use a cloud texture brush if you like.

Inking the sketch

After the background is done, next is inking the sketch. For me I was wanting a rough looking lineart so I used an ink brush. You can ink your piece however you like, messy or clean all lineart work is welcome.

Base coloring

After the inking is done, it's time to color in your lineart. Make sure to have a layer below your lineart so that when you color, it doesn't cover your linework.

Shading and lighting

For shading and lighting I clip a layer above the merged lineart and base colored layer (merge the lineart and base colors together, you can do that by selecting the layers and going to LAYERS>MERGE SELECTED)

 

Once the layers are merged and you have a new layer above it, clip the layer (which is in the layers panel) and start off by filling it with a medium dark tone. After that, change the layer mode to multiply ( this will help fit the characters into the background nicely) and lower the opacity until your satisfied.

 

Do this same step when you making the shadows on your character until you like how it is.

For lighting we'll do the same steps as we did with multiply layer mode, except of using multiply we'll be using the glow dodge mode. This mode makes the colors pop and fit nicely into the piece, just be sure to lower the opacity as well.

Final touches

For the final touches, we'll be coloring over the piece, so we won't be clipping any layers.

For a hazy glow effect, use the airbrush to paint around the character and the blend brush to blur it. Change that layer to ADD GLOW and lower the opacity until you like the result.

 

You can even use this method on jewlery and metal.

I even use a fog texture brush that I downloaded from the CLIP STUDIO ASSETS store, and the glowing orbs as well. With these two brushes I was able to blend the piece together.

And with add simple lighting I was done, also be sure to sign your work and put the year on your piece.

Youtube video