Stages of Photoshop Illustration

First the initial sketch using solid shapes (cylinders, spheres, cones, etc)

 Then a precise outline of the rough shape with a different color

Then a "select color" feature in Photoshop to pick-out only the red color (this still needs some practice)

Then some coloring and detail

Then some background

Then some filtering (adding a "solar flare")

Then some more filtering ("plastic wrap", "colored pencil", and more), and some final-touch editing for the finished look