Step by step #3 - Making off of a little mermaid

Hi Steemers!

Today, I wanted to share with you the steps of the illustration I use here as avatar :-)
It's an illustration I've made last year for the CDC Challenge, on Facebook. The theme was "mermaid"

Of course I began with a rapid sketch. I wanted to be a little bit original, and I decided to give her ooctopus legs instead of a fish tail. I drew it with the help of a photo reference for her octopus side :-)
I wanted the drawind to be very frontal and symetric, like in a biology book.

Once I was satisfied with the line, it was time to color it! As usual, I first made a quick color overview, to give the global direction of the illustration

Then, I added more and more details ...

Still more details, finishing the hands,... And decided to modify the color balance, adding more yellow.

Still adjusting lights, levels and color balance, but the modifications are very low in these steps :-)

And here is the final result!!

I really hope you liked it, because this drawing is one of my favorites!! I had a lot of fun doing it :-)

If you enjoy my work, please don't forget to upvote, resteem, and follow. Thank you!

See you soon with a new painting!

Hélène