Smudge takes a while to get used to.
But for someone who barely does it, it looks pretty decent.
Now first thing is that this is monotone. I raised this point in your swordsman tag as well. Try to get some colour differentiation.
I don't think the pure black sides are too nice either but that's up to opinion.

As said this is rather plain. I find what looks nice with smudge is clipping masks or some nice soft brushing. Keep experimenting with smudge. You can get so many different looks with it.
KIU mate