The final step after the hard shadows, and what a step! I wanted to translate how powerful & dangerous Cyke's beam is and I find the way with coloring, adding strong lights + red fx from the weapon.
The colors also clarify he's wearing his suit, not without showing some skin, hehe! Gotta say I'm really pleased with how it turned out: keeping it as a homage to the glorious X-Men days of my teenage years & adding my own twist. Yep, starting with the pose & idea, ha! :-D