Funny thing, I only realized that sand dollars started off as a living thing until I played Stardew valley.
And so it began with a sketch. It took me a little while to decide what brush to use since the digital art program i use got a whole bunch of new ones. This brush is called Scopus for some reason.
So the sand dollar was on top of a rock covered in stuff. So I tried to get the shape and shadow here. Along with some of the texture.
I added some highlights to get some of the bright spots on the rock/build up. Then started building up the sand dollars light/darks.
Started add some fuzz. Then I made the background a sort of middle grey since i find that makes it easier to see contrasts.
FUZZY
Added some grassy stuff to the background.
And then for final touches more fuzzy stuff, and of course my signature and the date.