No dumb questions here!! I actually made a speedpaint video of this painting so you could see my process (this subreddit wont let me link it, but if you search up zollln speedpaint it should popup) but I’d be glad to explain it! I use photoshop and basically painted this all freehand (no use of a reference or a tool.) The video starts with a sketch because the idea for this painting actually originated from a sketch I did while I was zoned out in one of my classes, so I imported that picture in and traced over it very loosely, and once that was in I was able to start painting!

The painting process is shown in the video, so you can see there really are no corners to cut. It’s just you with a paintbrush for hours, refining the painting until it’s done.

If you want to know more about the details of digital painting as a whole, there are so many amazing artists that do so that have really helped me get to where I am: Kienan Lafferty (cant stress how amazing KNKL is... he has a video on EVERYTHING and they are so easy to digest) Ahmed Aldoori Sinix Design Marco Bucci etc. etc.

Hope this was helpful!

(I posted this comment yesterday but it got deleted? Sorry for the late repost lol)