Painting Guide: Gandalf

The instigator of this little party, Gandalf the Grey, has arrived and is ready to begin!  Despite him coming out a little dark, this is one of my favorite miniatures I painted from the starter box.

0.  Gandalf started with a Matt Black under coat (which was probably why he turned out so dark).
1.   Paint the flesh using Tanned Flesh.

1a. Wash the skin with Soft Tone.

1b. Highlight using Barbarian Flesh.

2.   Base coat the hair and beard in Monster Brown.

2a. Highlight the hair in Ash Grey.

2b. Add a second highlight Matt White.

3.   Paint the inner cloak and sword belt with Deep Blue.

3a. Highlight the above with Crystal Blue.

4.   Paint Gandalf’s scarf with Wolf Grey.

4a. Highlight the scarf with Ash Grey.

4b. Add a second highlight of Ash Grey and Matt White in a ratio of 1:1.

5.   Paint Gandalf’s over cloak in a mix of Uniform Grey and Matt Black in a ratio of 10:1. (In retrospect I should have done just the Uniform Grey).

5a. Wash with Strong Tone.

5b. Highlight with Uniform Grey.

5c. Add a second highlight Ash Grey.

6.   Paint the staff, belts, and shoes in Oak Brown.

6a. Highlight with Leather Brown.

7.   Paint Gandalf’s gloves in Monster Brown.

7a. Wash with Strong Tone.

8.   Paint Glamdring in Shining Silver.

Some last notes:  

A. The eyes were painted between the Flesh Tone Wash and the Barbarian Flesh Highlight.  The eyes are done with a 5/0 brush.  First paint a horizontal white line and then place a black dot in the center.

B. AP Soft Tone is a good wash for flesh and other light colored items.

C. AP Strong Tone is a good general brown wash similar to Citadel's Agrax Earth Shade. 

D. AP Dark Tone is a good black wash similar to Citadel's Nuln Oil.

I based the miniature with coral beach sand for the rocky/sandy caves of Goblin Town and added some Highland Tufts and Meadow Tufts from The Army Painter Battlefields range.  I then painted the edge of the base in Ash Grey. 

Think we are done with the free peoples?  Nope, a special bonus figure comes with the set, making a trip all the way from Rhosgobel on the western boarders of Mirkwood.

I must thank TALE OF TWO PAINTERS for the inspiration for these tutorials.  Unfortunately, I do not have step by step photos like they do as I found their site after I was a quarter of the way complete.  They painted the miniatures using Citadel paints.  I felt a guide using The Army Painter brand was warranted, especially as there is no readily available conversion chart for Citadel and AP brands like the other major miniature paint brands (Vallejo, P3, Reaper, etc.).  When I painted these miniatures I only had the 42 bottle 2015 Mega Paint Set II, so there was a lot of mixing of paints to get the right color.