This is merely a collection of detail shots and step-by-step examples from some of my previous works. This is not a "How-To" guide or instruction manual outlining my techniques, nor is it a "How-To-Use-Photoshop" tutorial. It is only a demonstration of my basic shading/painting process (with a few tips thrown in). I don't make comprehensive painting tutorials because I can't possibly show every single step I do in a painting--even I can't keep track! There are no set rules, methods, or formulas that I adhere to for every piece; I’m constantly studying, experimenting, and learning new things. I don’t know how I paint something, I just paint until it looks right for my taste. It’s a very long and involved and rather chaotic process, and only my brain knows for sure what I’m attempting until it’s finished.

The materials I use in my pencil and digital work:
Acid-free white printer paper
Graphite 0.5 mechanical pencil
Photoshop 5.5 (Old and outdated, but still one of the best.)
Wacom Graphire 2 tablet
Finally, patience. Lots of patience.

The basic overview for all my pencil/digital pieces:
When I've finished a pencil lineart that I wish to paint, I scan the sketch at 300dpi. *Tip: If you're going to paint digitally, work large! 300-600dpi is best.* I open the file in Photoshop 5.5 and erase any grainy specks the scanner saw fit to toss in. Then I select "Layers" from the toolbar at the top, and "Duplicate Layer". That gives me two copies of the original layer. I set the top layer to "Multiply", which removes the white and leaves only the black lines, then I delete the bottom layer. I create new layers underneath as needed when I paint, and the "guidelines" layer remains on top of everything so I can keep track of where I'm headed. Sometimes I keep the lines in finished work, but if I'm aiming for a more realistic look, I fade or delete them.
I paint primarily using the airbrush tool at different settings and sizes and brush types. Once I've decided on a setting, light source, and color theme for my work, I fill a bottom layer with solid color and work in shadows and highlights on overlying layers. When painting details, I focus on small sections at a time--since the size of the painting is huge and my monitor is not--and constantly zoom in or out as I go to keep the perspective and lighting consistent. *Tip: Always paint the background first! Figures come last. It's much easier to match color and lighting and achieve a more natural look that way.*

Moss is not hard to paint, just very tedious and time-consuming. I start by painting a mottled effect of varying greens (shown below), depending on the light source. Then, on a layer above (all details and highlights are painted on separate layers), I add in details with smaller, sharper brushes. Short strokes with the airbrush tool, usually 50% opacity, solid or feathered brushes, depending on the type of moss and how intense the highlights or shadows are.

Water is a little more difficult to paint than foliage, at least for me, as it catches and reflects light in different ways depending on movement. In this painting, the water was a bit choppy, so the highlights would catch mostly the top points of waves and ripples. I painted the sky first to define the color palette and intensity of the light, then chose the darkest color of cloud as the underyling solid color for the water. After that, it's only a matter on layering on the highlights and shadows for depth and detail.

Distant foliage is easy to paint, closer foliage is a little more tedious, but still the same idea--variations of long, short, blotchy and blurry patches of color. Sharper highlights are always added on separate layers. I like to vary the colors of the leaves by throwing in some browns or blues to make it look more busy and interesting. I use the smudge tool to drag the leaftips into points and soften the edges. For very thin branches I'll use the pen tool for sharpness. Grass is the same method, only more solid colors and individual grass blades rather than blotches. Painting a forest can sometimes end up with over 50 layers, depending on the amount of detail and lighting I'm trying to achieve.

Painting barren trees in a wintery scene is pretty straightforward. I choose a background color, then add a layer of varying shades above to make it look less flat, very low opacity. The process of painting a tree is actually rather simple. I start with solid strokes, then add highlights and shadows depending on the light source, and finally details. To make a forest, I simply keep painting trees on underlying and overlying layers for depth. *Tip: Distant trees should be more blurry and less defined than closer trees. It's also important to remember that trees follow the slope of the landscape underneath, and that not all trees grow straight.*