Browsing through DA, I've noticed that a large number of people who do digital art (and share either their WIPs or their methods via tutorials) paint everything in greyscale and only add color on top, on new layers, when they're done painting the whole piece in shades of grey. What's the deal with this?

For those of you who do digital paintings, how do you prefer to do it: Do you do this greyscale method or do you dig right in with the colors from the beginning? Do you do this for any particular reason or "just because?"

I'm sure it's because of my background and what media/methods I already had experience with, but I've been applying color from the beginning. I fill a whole area in with a middle color and then apply shadows and highlights.

NEWS
And by the way, I do have a bunch of artwork in the pipeline; I've just been working on several things at once instead of finishing one and posting that before starting on the next, like I used to do before my DA-break. There are some that are almost finished, but I'm keeping mum on them as much as possible because I don't want to jinx it I just hope you'll like them as much as I'm excited about them.

Also, The Gimp hates messy backgrounds like that in the Alexander painting [link] The brushes (no matter which I use) lag like crazy to the point where I have no control over where it's going. When I was working on that Alex, I thought it was because the working file size was too large, but I recently tried it on something with just two layers and it did the same. Puh.

HOUSEKEEPING
I also have to rename my favorite OC. Oh, God, I suck at naming stuff! But I have to rename him because I recently found out some stuff about a use of that name, that goes against my beliefs, so that's something else I have going on. I swear, I've read dozens of pages of translations of words into a bunch of languages I'd never heard of, and I still have nothing that makes me go "aha! THAT is the name!" I feel like I need to give him a name before I can draw him again. It feels weird. I miss him. He's sexy.

On the other hand, I think I finally have names for my ice and wind Elementals. XP and they're WOMEN! Ice will be Bruma, which means "frost" in  Aromanian, and with that, I have completed the last bit I needed for her character, since I already had her design, personality, and story decided on from, well, from before 5 years ago.

With wind, I have a couple of details that I still need to iron out, like pick between the 2 names I liked best and decide exactly where she looks like she's from (or decide I don't care if her name and appearance don't match), as well as her fashion. It's OK because she doesn't show up until later on anyway.

I've briefly described their universe in the Elementals folder of my gallery [link] you can read about the races and groups on the left margin there. In addition, I'm making character summary sheets for each; these include the character's bio and an index of all their drawings, in chronological order. You can find Alexander's and Quetzal's here:
Alexander - Bio and All Pics ALL PICTURES
Newest to oldest

BIOGRAPHY
Stats
Real Name: Alexandros, but no one outside of Heaven (and you!) knows that; altered his name to "Alexander" when he was assigned to Earth
Nickname: Alex, Xander, or X; "Chicken Wings" if you're [water elemental to be renamed].
Race: Angel
Age: Unknown
Height: 6'4"
Fav. Vacation Spot: The beach
Hobbies: Surfing, soccer, playing electric guitar
Rides: Jeep Wrangler in army green
Form
Single white male. Blonde wavy hair. Two white wings. Speaking of wings, he can conceal those at will (it's an angel thing, do not question the angel). He usually wears sporty clothes or white traditional gothic-style clothes except when he goes into full- Quetzal - Bio and All Pics ALL PICTURES
Newest to oldest

BIOGRAPHY
Stats
Nickname: K or Quezadilla by [water elemental]
Race: Elemental
Age: Approx. 2000 years old
Height: 5'8" in human form
Elements: Nature and Electricity
Distinctive Jewelry: Jade bead hung on a string around his neck
Fav. Vacation Spot: Some tropical island
Weakness: Hot summer nights under the rain
OriginOriginally the Elemental in charge of plants and animals, Quetzal was later given responsibility over rain and thunder, and, consequently, electricity by the former electricity Elemental, Ionos, upon the elder's death.
Quetzal hails from the rainforests of Central and South America.
Form
When not in human form, Quetzal can take the shape of the bird whose name h

Aaaand... I've started writing out the comics! Just... drawing them out is going to take a while


PS: WTF is this? I submitted this via the old "Write a Journal Entry" method and it didn't show up in my journal at all. o.O Had to delete that and am resubmitting now via Stash.