Down Here - Tutorial

Step 1:

A quick draft. Getting the general placement and structure right is important. If you screw up here, it's gonna be hell to correct it later. 

Step 2:

Adding some basic light and colors. This is mostly for the sake of memory. In some cases, it's a good idea to jot down your initial vision. I wanted to stick to the original color scheme I had come up with.

Step 3:

Time to get some structure into the mix. I quickly added some general lines and references. This was all done on separate layers. It's all there to give a quick impression of the textures and materials. 

Step 4:

A whole lot of black. In this specific image, the black in incredibly dominating. I had to basically fill it up completely and then strip away the parts I wanted to brighten. I lose a lot of guide lines doing this, but I always keep them on a different layer for quick reference. 

Step 5:

Fixing the light. At this stage, I attempt to fix the light and the shadows. I had already added quite a lot of shadows, but not the ones cast by the creature. In this step, I shoved the light even further into the background. I also added more shadow on the wall to the right, where the creature is basically blocking the entire doorway. The general shadows were also increased, for the sake of some more subtle lighting later.

Step 6:

Finish. This is mostly small stuff, but it all weighs in on the final product. The light slipping through the creatures bones has been enhanced and the light reflected on the stone surfaces has also been brushed up and polished.

Though some of it seems detailed, it is actually fairly simple lines, as in the example below.