133 - Tutorial: Bilbo Baggins!

 

Mae govannen, mellon nín!

Welcome to another tutorial my friends. 

After all the Dwarves have been finished, it is time for the little star of our Company: Bilbo Baggins.

Up until now these are the already painted miniatures, i.e., the Dwarves:

Oin | Gloin | Fili | Kili | Bifur | Bofur | Bombur | Ori | Dori | Nori 
Dwalin | Balin | Thorin Oakenshield

As with Thorin, I managed to get two miniatures of Bilbo, so I painted both of them, one with the glowing sword Sting and the other with a walking stick. 

For the pose of Bilbo with the sword Sting I have tried something new to me - a glowing light -, and I'm fairly happy with the end result.

Who is Bilbo Baggins?

Assembled and unprimed miniatures
of Bilbo Baggins (both poses).

"Hobbit of the Shire. Born in the year 2890 of the Third Age, Bilbo was a bachelor Hobbit who lived in Bag End in the Shire.

In 2941, Bilbo was lured away by a Wizard and thirteen Dwarves on the famous quest of Thorin and Company that, in 2941, led to the slaying of Smaug the Dragon and the re-establishment of the Dwarf Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor.

With a modest portion of the Dragon gold he won on his adventure, Bilbo returned to the Shire for some sixty years. On his adventure, Bilbo acquired a mysterious ring which had the power to make its wearer invisible. However, it was later discovered that this was, in fact, the One Ring that belonged to the Lord of the Rings. 

In the year 3001, Bilbo held a huge birthday party, then vanished before the very eyes of the assembled host, leaving wealth, his home and the One Ring to his young cousin and adopted heir, Frodo Baggins. 

Artist: Lidia Postma

Bilbo then went to live a rather monkish life in Rivendell and for twenty years wrote poems, stories and Elf-lore, as well as his memoirs, entitled "There and Back Again" and his three-volume scholarly work, "Translations from the Elvish". 

After the War of the Ring, at the age of 131, Bilbo sailed with Frodo to the Undying Lands."

Source of description: David Day, Tolkien, the Illustrated Encyclopaedia.

 

How to Paint Bilbo Baggins?

I: As usual, I started by painting the miniature's skin. The steps are exactly just like I did with Ori;

II: Basecoat hair (don't forget the feet) and pants with a leathery mid-brown paint; 

III: Shade the hair and the pants with a brown wash;

IV: Highlight the hair (not the pants) with a light brown (I used an ochre tone).

V: Highlight the pants with a sand-brown tone;

VI: Basecoat the waistcoat with a bright-green tone;

VII: Shade the waistcoat with a black wash;

VIII: Carefully, basecoat the scarf over the waistcoat with a yellow-green tone paint (try to get a earthy light green).

IX: Highlight the waistcoat adding a hint of white to the previously used paint; highlight the scarf adding a hint of a light-brown colour to the previously used paint (this can be achieved with a sand toned brown);

X: Basecoat the jacket with a strong dark-red colour;

XI: Shade jacket with a brown wash;

XII: Highlight the jacket with a bright-red paint (focus on the edges and most prominent parts).

XIII: For the Bilbo with the walking stick, basecoat it with a bark-toned paint (a more desaturated brown);

XIV: Highlight the stick with a mid-brown. You can either draw a random pattern with fine lines or drybrush the stick;

XV: Basecoat Sting with a bright-silver colour (I mistakenly wrote shade, but it's a basecoat);

XVI: Basecoat the parts of the miniature where you perceive there's going to be light emanating from the sword (sword, hand, cloth and floor) with a very thinned-down white paint.

XVII: Finally, with a very thinned-down bright-blue paint mixed with a white paint, I worked the lights the way I wanted. I gradually added white to the blue colour working from the outwards to the centre. The lighter the colour, the centremost it should be (I've indeed painted the top of Sting with only white, blending it with the blue paint from the parts bellow.)

After all these steps, the miniature is ready to be varnished and to have its base finished.

Showcase

With the showcase we conclude our tutorial on how to paint Bilbo Baggins from the Escape from Goblin Town set!

There's only Gandalf and Radagast miniatures left to close the Escape from Goblin Town chapter!

I'm hoping this tutorial will be helpful to someone out there.

Until next time! Keep on Painting and Wargaming!

Also, don't forget to have fun doing it!

Namárië!