I experimented drawing separate character illustrations to combine them into a group poster. I drew 9 separate drawings but only 6 of them fit into the combined image, the painting above.
If you are interested, I wrote a progress journal for this experiment in my blog.
During painting, I painted individual illustrations separately. I ultimately went for cell shading look to make it easier to keep consistency among different illustrations.
Recently, I revisited the painting to sell as a print. I improved the composition by adding graphic elements and framing black areas. Subtler changes include redder skin color, additional rim lights, softer edges, and additional shading.