Flourish and Blotts Painting Planing

I was asked how I would plan out a digital painting with lots of characters like this one:

I would not have every character as a separate layer. I would group them and most likely condense them for file size issues. An example would be I would work on Arthur and Ginny together and Ron separately but I would most likely drop them to one layer together. This would be a huge file like more then a Gig so I would start to have some computer slow down problems if I let it get too crazy.

I tried to break down how I would most likely tackle this one (after color studies). 

Each outlined character would be a separate layer or layers

1.Background 

2.Gilderoy and the Photographer

3.Percy, the Grangers and Mrs Weasley

4.Lucius and Mr. Weasley (on separate layers)

5.Ginny and Malfoy

6.Ron and Harry and Hermione

7. Then Fred and George and the rest of the Witches

After that it would be touch-ups on everything and lighting effects.

I might jump around a bit between characters if I need a break. I would make sure my layers are organized. I like to slightly adjust the figures positions and/or limbs and it becomes a nightmare if the character is on 6 separate layers all over the place.

I do still like this sketch but I am not yet ready to paint it. I think the drawing still needs to be pushed more. :)