I am doing all my drawing in sketchbook pro. I start off with a rough drawing to find the right pose. I work out the basic composition first before starting any detail.
I tighten up the drawing a little more defining the heavy detailed areas like the feet and those crazy feathers. I also alter the composition a little to accommodate the added feathers .
Now that all the lose ends are figured out I start inking. I try to use simple and expressive lines here. My main goal is to capture the energy of the original drawing.
When I am happy with the black and white drawing I will move it to Photoshop to start coloring. First I fill the main areas with flat color.
Then using mostly the burn and dodge tool I will add shadows and highlights to better define the form. I mask out a lot of areas and separate parts in many different layers.
Here I add the finishing touches on the character like super highlights, texture, a secondary light source and of course sparkles. These little things really bring the piece to life.
The background is a series of gradients, textures and photoshop brushes for a fancy effect. I add the drop shadow as well.
