I want to discuss the specific challenge of painting complex costume designs on characters, because costume painting combines material rendering with form description and the two don't always cooperate.

The material rendering problem: different fabrics behave differently in light. Silk reflects sharply. Matte cloth reflects softly. Leather has a narrow specular highlight. Metal armor has strong, hard-edged reflections. Each material has a signature light behavior.

The form description problem: the costume needs to describe the body underneath it even when the body is completely covered. The costume folds, gathers, and distorts based on the body form and gravity. Understanding the body under the costume is necessary for painting the costume correctly.

The visual hierarchy problem: a complex costume can compete with the face for attention. I solve this with deliberate value contrast — the face gets the most extreme value contrast in the piece, and the costume, however complex, is painted with slightly reduced value range.

The approach that works: block in the body form first, even if it will be completely covered by costume. Then paint the costume over the body form, following the body's volumes for fold placement. The face gets painted last and receives the finishing value pass.