When doing especially high quality works of art for the updates, a rather lengthy process is undergone.
When scanned into the computer for the first time, the art looks something like this: inked versions of sketches that turned out particularly well. Most updates are simply done in pen, though sometimes a pencil/ink approach is done.
This version is imported into a graphic editor, and the coloring process begins.
First a rough estimate of colors is used to define the various "layers" of the piece. In this case, there is a layer for skin, clothes, hair, the hat, the cave in the background, and the field and sky. More details will be applied soon, however this checks to make sure that every detail that will be in the final version has been "drawn". If inconsistencies are found, they are drawn on the computer version. Also note the edges aren't exactly followed closely. This is, of course, touched up for the final piece.
Sometimes color decisions are made, such as the cave. It went from a shade of brown to the green/blue, as seen below.
