How a N00b Squad Episode is made step by step!

To start off I use an iPad Pro, with the apps Procreate for the painting and Pixelmator for the post editing. Both are very versatile, and Procreate is able to pair with various stylus tools.
I have an iPencil but it died pretty much straight out of the box so I'm not dropping another 100.00 on a dud and just use my finger instead.

First we pick a background color that matches the sky that we wish to have and set a layer with our clouds directly over that. Then we paint our background. The background might be composed of two or three layers and we flatten them once we get them looking good enough.

Then we paint our buildings in a layer over the background and over them, our trees.

The reason that you want to keep items in separate layers as much as possible is so that corrections and improvements are easier without affecting surrounding content.

Now we can paint our pier in the foreground! The foreground is where we need to pay special attention to details and where we start using brushes with harder lines.
We also will put in light reflections and shadows: to heighten realism make sure you keep track of where your light sources are, and have your reflections and shadows be either warm or cool colors depending on the temperature and atmosphere you want to portray.

I use black and white for my characteristic line stylization but it is a bad idea to use pure black and white for highlights or shadows.
For highlights use either colors that reflect a sky color or a color from a surrounding material.
For shadows, it is best to use colors that either similar to or opposite of surrounding colors. Similar colors are best for light shadows, and opposite colors for deep shadows.

Finally to finish the stage our characters will act on, we put in foreground items: our boxes and barrels, then can start sketching out how we want our characters to appear.

We paint our characters into individual layers, and then are ready to rearrange them into our finished scene. But that is when I save the piece and transfer it over into Pixelmator where I will add the text and branding.

This particular background depicts the World of Warcraft town Ratchet in the Barrens zone.

If you want to see the final result where the story comes to life, then be sure to come back tomorrow, for Episode 4 part 3!
Thanks for following me and steem on!