As you might see from my recent Submission, I've opted for a different method of image creation. Rather than work on colouring and lighting at the same time I've opted to separate them out in the initial stages. I expect a reasonable amount of pain later on as I combine the colour and lighting, but I also expect the result to be better.

It all started when I was reading an old tutorial by Henning Ludvigsen. He'd done the same and the result seemed to sell the method well, even if it wasn't the point of the tutorial.

The artist in me intrinsically fights against the idea of the two being dealt with separately, as in the real world the two are intrinsically linked. However, the mathematician and graphics programmer in me sees that despite their linkage, the two could (at least theoretically) be dealt with almost separately.

In the field of computer graphics, the intrinsic colour of an object is (through a series of equations) simply attenuated by the light falling upon it. Additional work can be done to ensure that the changes in light colour due to reflection and refraction from surfaces is dealt with properly, but the basic idea that light transport throughout a scene can be calculated separately with good results is a fact often used here in the games industry.

Therefore, my plan is this.

1. Initially paint the light transport around the scene without colour, aiming to build the mood of the scene through light only.

2. Paint the colour of the scene using tonally similar colours so as to avoid upsetting the established lighting values

3. Do a final pass over the combined scene to deal with any more complex lighting interactions. and add any final details.

so far I'm in the middle of stage 1.
I'll let you know how it goes.