The Muse - Steps

Steps for

Sketch lines. Traced the figure to save some time, though I usually follow the grid method to get the likeness right from the original picture. The reference image was [link] by *sempiterna-stock. Her left arm and hand was drawn by hand using mine as reference (advantages of being a slender guy ). Although not visible here, guidelines (rule of thirds, spiral composition) were used to place elements and edges on the canvas and convey the idea of flow, movement and balance.
Color sketch. Here the main light source was defined (I tried both top-left and top-right, but discarded the latter). Also helped me test early the contrast and balance between cold and warm colors and values.
Base skin rendering.
Base hair rendering.
Base dress and brush rendering. Although the sketch lines are not visible here, they were also used at this stage. Added some subtle hue variations to the dress color (yay impressionism! )
Skin and hair refinement. The skin tones were way too dark to be sun-lit. Also fixed some highlights in the hair, and did small tweaks to the anatomy (eyes, hand). Lips colors tweaked as well.
Refinement. Although they're barely noticeable, did some tweaks to the body, dress, hair... Specially relevant some enhancements to the eyes, lips, and dress detailing.
Refinement. The light on her face had some errors that were fixed during this step.
Sky rendering. Use of pitched perspective from below to give dimension to the clouds even being really far. Four layers of clouds: Cumulonimbus capillatus (back; its shape and vorticity is so high on purpose for the sake of flow/movement, although being physically wrong), Cumulus castellanus, and two layers of Cumulus humilis (front). Aerial perspective used at the low altitudes to help differentiate the clouds layers and give depth to the sky. Didn't use the aerial perspective at the high altitude to make the cumulonimbus more prominent. Later color tweaks to add subtle hue variations to the clouds' shadows.
Rendering of the far sea and coastline islands/rocks. Again, aerial perspective was used to give them depth. Although the big rocks are placed there for composition, the open sea is at the right-back. Waves are coming from the right!
Main/front wave rendering. Low, non-breaking wave coming from the right. Color variation because of the wave thickness, with some "glowing" parts at the crest (but not too much as it's not backlit). The wave movement lines are sweeping following the composition action/movement lines at the beginning stage to drive the eye motion.
Rendering of the front-side water and foam from the splash and the previous wave. First painted the underwater sand and bubbles using a desaturated (warmer) color. On top of it, gradually painted the foam masses and lines using a round brush with a medium size jitter. For the foam masses used high-opacity-and-flow brushes and shaded them to make them "thick". The foam "lines" instead were done with thick, highly translucent arcs and strokes first, and reduced the brush size and overpainted gradually to refine their accumulation on the water surface "crevices" (due to its turbulence). Also added some foam at the bottom of the dress (trivia: although not very successfully, my intention was to make it look like "dissolving" with the sea)
Brush "paint" rendering. At this stage the brush "paint" was done in two steps: Foam at the bottom (same procedure as before), and water at the top. For the water, I first drew some strokes on white/light blue using the same brush I used for the foam, to make it "jitter" and look like water blobs. Then I painted on a mask to "mask it out" the inner of the water (same strokes and same brush, but with a slightly thinner size). Over it, some refracted colors from the background and the figure, and highlights from the sun. Combined, both mark a strong eye-motion path. Also, the high definition and use of a "pointer device" catch the eye and brings it to the picture focus. Also added the figure shadow on the main wave.
Seagulls rendering. Again, to trace a path for the eye movement, according to the sketch lines at the beginning. Also, birds are great to give an idea of space, wind and depth. They're not defined and their values are toned down to reduce contrast, as they would catch the eye attention otherwise! I also did some very minor and subtle refinements to her face and hair that go unnoticeable at this resolution.
Final touches. Added some subtle random hue variation to the wave, and a very subtle orangeish glow coming from the top-left to strengthen a bit the light. Signature added.