This is a breakdown of my process on this painting so far.
First I start with a sketch. I wanted to create a tall, inline composition for this one. Something that looked powerful and imposing, but with bright, rich colors.

I didn't really like the feature characters head position so I adjusted it from a downward stare, to a more imperious looking chin lift. I also made the foreground figure larger with a more reclined or off balance pose. 

The basic composition was working for me, but the perspective of the feature character was sort of all over the place. I searched around for some better reference but didn't find anything that suited my needs. Remembering that I am a 3D artist, I posed a simple 3D character and set up a low angle camera. That image, along with the figure reference that I gathered (I literally just googled stuff like 'wrestler low angle' and 'athlete leaning')












