1. Choose and prepare a base. I used one from Apitchou. You may wish to make the rest of the doll first. That's entirely up to you.

2. Different starting palettes will yield different results at the end if your program supports layers. For now we'll try out the grey.

3. Draw and shade your top as usual.

4. (Photoshop/PSP only) I like to create a new layer for each color I want on the top. You can try it with just one new layer, but I find this easier.

5. Draw random blobs of color. I used 3 colors, but it may be easier to begin with 1, especially if your program doesn't support layers.

6. Zoom in and shade the blobs. Try to follow the shading you did on the top. Repeat as needed for each color.

7. (optional; Photoshop/PSP only) If you created layers for each color, merge them. You can stop here if you're happy with the top, or read on if not.

8. (optional; Photoshop/PSP only) If the top looks too blocky, drop the opacity and/or play with layer blend modes. Here, I used 75% opacity and overlay mode.

9. (optional; Photoshop/PSP only) If your top's too light, hide your merged blob layer temporarily and recolor your top to something darker. I used dark purple, but feel free to experiment with other colors. The layer blend settings remained the same.

 

 

 

10. (optional; Photoshop/PSP only) If, on the other hand, you want a lighter top, keep the main top grey and change the merged blob layer's blend mode. This is screen mode at 75% opacity.

 

 

 

My final result.