Shadowrunners: Step-by-Step

Finished Image

I started with a gesture-type drawing from a sketchbook.

I didn't really have a plan except that I wanted to do something in the realms of Shadowrun's futuristic, gritty, magical, cyberpunk vein, and I knew too that I wanted to make each character on the page unique.
I started with taping tracing paper over this gesture drawing.

The middle figure is the first I drew. From how she shaped up it was easy to picture a table, then some plans, map, or schematics/blueprints on it, some weapons maybe on a rack in the background, and a light-bulb dangling over, to create an interesting light-source and also classically symbolize "idea!" and thus, adding to the picture's storytelling elements. The central figure also I drew having a breast injury, for something different, and also to make the viewer react when seeing it in his or her own way (insert feminist analysis here if you really want to). I just wanted her to look tough, the main thing, as someone would have to be to be smirking with an injury like that.
In the left figure the natural loose lines of the underlying gesture drawing looked like a cybernetic eye apparatus, so I went with that. I changed the position of her closest arm so that she could also be repairing or tweaking at her other arm.
For the last figure, I decided I wanted this picture just a little more monstrous and scary. I decided to make it that you couldn't see the third female's skin, but put in subtle details to make the viewer wonder or imagine for themself. Her hand's fingertips are slightly claw-like. An impression would be made from her clothing, something like motorcycle gear with tribal religious fetishes (eg. the skull on her shoulder has wires plugged into it). She could be dressed like this for a number of reasons: for aesthetic, luck, superstition, magical or shamanistic purposes, the skull of an enemy or loved one, or even just to be terrifying to enemies or observers (akin to masks of the past's samurais, or warpaint of other warriors giving an edge, etc).
The cracks of the rotten-looking boarded up window also creates a very  slight secondary light source.

I taped another piece of tracing paper over the first, and went over the pencil drawing again, making slight changes. Toned down the center figure's half-elf or half-orc like face in order to not be too cartoony in comparison to the rest of the picture, made her stolen riot police helmet have a visor and bigger lettering, made her injury look less harsh in order the shock not be blatant and vie for too much of the viewer's attention, made use of reference material of classified and home-made weapons to put into the background, changed the left figure's eye to be more suited to the style of the rest of the drawing, enlarged skull on right figure's shoulder to definitely be adult-sized, and rendered the background details loosely but with enough definition for confident inking. (One object on the floor is a TCRI canister, in tribute of Eastman & Laird.)

Re: Shading. I almost always find it easier to shade everything once it's all laid out and defined. I find that shading an arm here, a table there while going along can make the page not balance as predictably as when doing shading all at once.

Re: Shading, Contrast, and Level of Detail. In composition the viewer's eye will be drawn to the spaces of highest contrast and/or highest detail. For these reasons I tried to keep the background and floor loose, with subtle detail, suggestion of detail, and without stark contrasts.

For inking, I started out with my thinnest pen, for detail work and some shading/cross-hatching, and worked my way up to the brush pen, almost strictly for outlining the most important elements: the gang of dangerous women themselves.

I felt I needed to bring a couple things "forward" so used a correction/white-out pen to highlight some places on figures where light hits. I also used it to create the hint of a spider-web in a corner. However, white out pen is sometimes hard to control so touching up again with the ink was needed. I didn't want a bright spider web in the corner fighting for the viewer's eyes' attention for instance.

Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoy the picture.

As always, feedback is very welcome. (Trollers will be mentally spanked.)