Fantasy Knights , Armour and Paint

I have been getting Imagine FX magazine for the past few months. And it’s not half bad. My attitude towards fantasy art was a little on the condescending side but I have been humbled. Having no patience and   typically given up after a quick sketch or thumbnail, I never got to grips with composing the overall image and as for painting and adding colour …. Well. The following are some of my efforts.

I scanned one image to Corel photo paint, changed the background colour and started adding dark and light areas with the burnishing tool. I had to do this 20+ times as I added colours etc. If   only I read the tutorial in the magazine in the first place.” always paint from dark to light”.

I was happy with the sketch but after adding the colour to this image I found it changed a lot. I don't like it. now.