Using a square of 2000 x 2000 px with a background color of L*a*b 50*0*0 I laid out the warrior using the burn and dodge tool.
step 2 of 5
Bringing in tonality using burn an dodge gives the character some dimension I can work on later smudging…
step 3 of 5
Here's the part of arms and hands. Later, shadow will cover most of the lower arm as the light is in the upper right. So now it's time to deal with some detail here…
step 4 of 5
Smudging around to make the picture even more 3d and to get rid of the sketching lines of step 1
step 5 of 5
Most of the drawing is complete by now. Still some details need to be addressed, like the sword's handle, some reflections, and highlights.