This is what should happen:
The war is over. The army triumphs victory. And we celebrate with her. This lesson will demonstrate how the illustration was created with the image of a warrior – a winner who is pacified and enjoys the end of the battle.
In this lesson, the author uses the tablet.
Let’s start !.
Step 1. Open a new document with dimensions of 1125 by 1500 pixels
Step 2. For the lesson we need a few brushes. I advise you to prepare them in advance. Look at my drawing and make the same brush settings as mine. Here is the first brush 
:
(click on image to enlarge)
We will use this brush for hair and small parts.
(click on image to enlarge)
And we will use this brush for all shiny, metal, gold and chrome parts on the armor of our hero:
(click on image to enlarge)
Step 3. Let’s start drawing. If you want to draw your warrior a little differently, you are welcome. My own warrior will be proudly magnified against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky. In addition, this background will give his image even more realistic.
Step 4. Actually, I don’t like to complicate things. Several layers, and in some cases even one, is sometimes quite sufficient. In our case, the most important thing is to accurately imagine the sequence of actions and keep in mind the final image.
Step 5. Do not stop, add more details to your picture.
Step 6. Now work light and shade. Remember that the texture of the skin is different than the texture of gold, hair, metal and other elements. Each material responds differently to light. If you really want to make the warrior as realistic as possible, try to study my picture properly and imagine which parts to lighten and which to darken. Remember one more simple rule: not every clarified part should be absolutely light, and not every darkened side should be absolutely black.
Step 7. Here, something like this should happen.
Note translator: if you draw is not very good, then you can just copy this sketch and start working on the lesson with him:
Step 8. Now we will add colors. Find the Swatches tab ((Swatches). Located between the Colors and Colors tabs. Make a screenshot of the default swatches. Copy them (Cmd/Ctrl + V) on a new layer and cut everything except the samples that you need.
Duplicate the layer. Reduce its opacity to 15-30%. Click Cmd/Ctrl + U, to open Hue/Saturation (color tone / saturation). Turn on the color option. Set the Tone option to your liking:
Now merge (Cmd/Ctrl + E) both layers. Place the resulting layer at the top and set up your samples like this:
Step 9. Change the blending mode to Multiply (multiplication).
Step 10. Take a soft brush and start adding colors to the background layer. Don’t pay much attention to the main character yet. Our task is to create a general atmosphere.
Step 11. Try to achieve such an almost perfect result.
Step 12. Now let’s do a warrior. Activate the layer it is on. Pressing Cmd/Ctrl + U, go to Hue/Saturation (Hue / Saturation). Play with the settings until you get a color scheme similar to the one on your background layer.
(click on image to enlarge)
Step 13. Drain (Cmd/Ctrl + E ) both layers. If you want, you can open a new layer on top of the merged layers and work on it. Then it can also be drained from the bottom layer. Work, paying attention to where the light source is, and correctly distributing light and shade on the whole image of the warrior. Focus on my drawing and my pointers:
Step 14. Now work on your armor. This is a bit tedious, of course, but be sure to take into account, the chainmail consists of a large number of metal pieces, individually work on each of them, make them different in shape and in size:
Just do not forget to properly distribute the chain of light and shade. See how I did it:
Step 15. Now let’s work on the hair. You will need light, dark shades and a shade of medium tones.
Given the direction of the wind, draw these emerging strands:
Look, I mix strands of dark shade with lighter ones. Do the same as mine.
Treat the beard in the same way, but do not forget that the hair on the beard is shorter and tougher.
Step 16. Now let’s face. For this, we will use the same three primary colors as before.
Pay special attention to the treatment of wrinkles. My picture shows in which directions the wrinkles run along the warrior’s face.
Step 17. Open a new layer. Now we will need to select all the metal parts. There are several ways to select: In this case, I prefer to use the mode QuickMask
(quick mask). Now activate the Bucket Tool (watering can), setting the main color to black. In white, circle the parts of the image that you want to highlight:
Return to standard mode (Standardmode). Look, every part that you painted in white is now highlighted.
Add a layer mask 
(Addlayermask)
Open the texture with rock (I took mine at cgtextures.com). Paste it on a new layer. Change the blending mode to Softlight (soft light), reduce transparency to 15-30%. Merge layers:
Step 18. Add some more details. Here you can dream up, you can add a couple of scars to the warrior or something else like that.
Step 19. Now, if you have worked on several layers, merge them together (Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + E). Create a correction layer Curves (curves) and play around a bit with the settings.
Conclusion
Duplicate this layer. Go to Filter > Blur > GaussianBlur (filter – blur – blur according to Gauss). Select settings from 3.0 to 4.5. Reduce transparency to 40-60%. Merge layers, That’s it, we’re done.
Here we have such a warrior. In principle, you can process any image you like. Good luck!
