I started with this photo from Pixabay, a source of copyright-free images. I liked the primitive feel of the sculpture, particularly the eyes and lips, but also the shape of the nose and face.

To create the texture, I painted over the image in the Metabrush app. The brush I used was Petro 13/13, and I used Metabrush's Shatter mode.

These are my brush settings in Metabrush. The Metabrush interface has change somewhat since I made these screenshots, but you can use these brush settings.

More of my Metabrush brush settings.

I used Adjust/Tonelab preset 4 for depth and clarity. Then I applied one of the presets under Style/Water at low opacity (try the different Water presets to see what you like) with the Texture and Distortion sliders set to zero, which adds some variation to the tone.

In Effect/Blend, I blended back the original at low to medium opacity, to try to get some more definition in the features and shape of the face.

I used Effect/Denoise preset 2 (for smoothing) and preset 4 (for de-aliasing: getting rid of jagged-looking edges that sometimes get created during the processing steps).

Here I applied one of the presets under Effect/Raise. I use Raise to get more definition in the brush pattern; it gives a bit of a 3D effect. I generally use either preset 1 or preset 2, and I adjust the intensity by using the Size slider as well as the Opacity slider so I don't overdo it. Then I cropped off some of the uninteresting material from the right side of the image. This puts much more focus on the face.

Again in Effect/Blend, I blended with the original at low opacity, to soften the image and bring back some of its original color. Then once more I used Effect/Blend to blend with the original, this time using an inverted brush mask to bring back only the eyes and lips, so they are not textured like the rest of the face..

I decided the foliage was too distracting, so I cropped a bit more off the right side of the image. I applied a bit more Effect/Raise, then I altered the color in Tone/Tint and Adjust/Colorlab. I think this color lends a bit more mystery. I also used Adjust/Shadows to darken the areas surrounding the face, using a brush mask to protect the face. Darkening the shadows to black got rid of a lot of the distracting green foliage, as well as giving more focus and depth to the face.

I spent a lot of time to get rid of the remaining green bits of foliage that were covering a portion of the face. To do this, I used several Tone adjustments, such as Sepia, B&W, and Tint, and using an inverted brush mask to apply these changes only to the green parts, striving to match the tone and color in the rest of the image. Then I used Effect/Denoise or Style/Simplify for smoothness.

Using an inverted brush mask, I painted in color over the eyes and lips in Tone/Tint. This color adds some pop to the face.

I felt the face still had too much detail in the texture, so I applied Style/Coherence, and then I applied another touch of Effect/Raise. There is always a struggle between smoothness and sharpness. I want things to look smooth with no distracting detail, yet I want sharp edges so the image doesn't look blurred or out of focus, for a thin black soft border all around the image.

For final touches, I used Tone/Duotone in the Multiply mode at low opacity. This has the effect of accentuating the shadows with a particular tone, which you can choose from the presets. It adds a bit of punch. Then I applied Preset/Border 3 with a small radius.