I started by painting a few to test the idea.

Once I realized I wanted to do a full series of ideas, I listed out characters I’d love to do a take on.

Then I’d sketch out thumbnails on the grid, focusing on clear graphic shapes and interesting compositions.

I tried to limit the sketches to around 5-10min.

After that, it became an assembly line of masking out the shapes, introducing texture, then rendering it graphically.

This project helped me hone a process and not fall into the trap of noodling for too long.