Portrait of Gandalf on iPad

I painted this after seeing a photograph of Ian McKellen dressed as Gandalf in 'The Hobbit.' However, rather than attempt to copy it from the photograph I decided to turn him around. To see him in profile.

Stage 1

The intention was to reduce the general hues and tones to a minimum without making it look too schematic. Although I began him in silhouette using the watercolour brush on ArtRage, and only in black because I find it the easiest way to capture the outline of the figure.

Stage 2

With the Eraser I then cut into this to arrive at a more satisfactory outline. Then tried to capture something of a likeness to McKellen's features, with his beard. Not that it looks anything like him but that didn't particularly concern me.

Stage 3

At this stage I decided to change the colour of the background and add a few splashes of light pink to it, to lift out the figure.

 

Stage 4

As I went to full completion I decided to throw in a few zig zag lines in black. I don't know why, but it seemed to work for some unearthly reason.