I received a commission from a really good friend of mine to draw her friend's cat in a realistic style. I've been updating her as I go, so I figured that I would update everyone else as well, and give you a glimpse into how I create some of my work. ^^

This is mostly a step-by-step. You can use this as a learning tool, but by no means are you allowed to copy my work/try to reproduce this piece.

General lines added

Colors blocked out

Added some shading

After laying down all of the needed colors, I use a brush to combine the colors, similar to what a painter would do for traditional art. I create the brush strokes to look like fur by using short strokes. For longer fur, you use longer strokes. I slowly removed the general lineart I laid down, as it was just a reference to make sure I placed things correctly.

Some more refinement

Almost done! There are some things I still need to refine/fix.

Finished! It was approved by the commissioner. ^^

I'd love to hear thoughts on this piece, as well as what you think I could charge for it in GB and/or USD. Thanks!