Just some basic starter information. I use GIMP as a drawing program, use airbrush for sketching, inkbrush for linework.
Step 1: I start with a mannequin, a ball for a head, a box for a torso, balls for joints and sylinders for arms and legs. It is a good practice to make sure they are around the same length and width, besides they also add some depth.
Now, I am not saying this is how you should do it. This is just how I do it.
Step 2: I make a new layer and use a thinner airbrush to add some body and clothing on top of the mannequin. Already now we can see that he is a bit of a wizardy type.
Step 3: Refining the sketch. Here I use a thinner airbrush about half the size I started with. This is where I start with adding some details to the drawing. Like fuzz in the beard, wrinkles in the clothing and crinkles in the staff.
Step 4: I make another layer in GIMP and draw on top of the sketch, but now I use the inkbrush at a small size. This allows for some nicer work.
Step 5: After the linework, I make a layer beneath it and fill in the flat coloring. Avoid using the bucket, but instead just be thourough with a pen or brush.
Step 6: I make another layer above, using this as an overlaying layer. I then use an airbrush at half density and then just fill as best I can depending on where I believe the light will hit. To get a better shadow density, I used a smudge tool in some spots to get the right distribution of light and shadow.
Step 7: After combining the layers of shade, lines and flat colors, I get something like this.
I did decide to add some lightning colors to the orb. This was used with an airbrush and just draw some erratic lines back and forth.
It should be noted that I made a copy of the linework where I used a smudge tool to get some lighter lines in the midst of it all.
Step 8: As a last piece of work, I added some layers in the background.
One layer for shadow which I placed directly beneath his robe.
Another layer for fire whereas I just colored black the places that would be burnt, uses a dark red/yellow color for fire, and more or less a black airbrush on low density for the shading of the grass.
And that is pretty much how I did it.
