Painting an elf druid

Introduction

My DnD group includes an elf druid. I painted this miniature for her, originally representing the planeswalker Nissa from Magic the Gathering: Arena of the Planeswalkers board game. Her other form is the black panther.

Prime

Prime in black. 

Painting

Painting the cape

I went with the same scheme as for the this red cape, only this time in green.

Basecoat with a solid green color.

Mix the same green with black, paint the recesses, then feather out towards the ridges.

Mix the same green with a lighter green. Paint the ridges, then feather out towards the recesses.

Highlight the ridges with light green for full effect.

Basecoat everything

Being a woodland creature herself, I imagined the druid dressed in mostly leather. As such, she got an overall brown basecoat.

Thick leather brown highlights on the gloves and boots.

Cloth shirt basecoated in bonewhite.

Ochre basecoat on the pants, for a different leather effect.

Washes

Brown wash (Agrax Earthshade) on brown leather surfaces (boots, pants, gloves).

Sepia wash (Seraphim Sepia) on the cloth shirt.

Highlights

Highlight the leathery parts and the shirt with the original base colors.

Black leather jacket

I decided on a black leather jacket for some color variation. I used the same technique as for this black cape.

Face

Her face is the only part showing skin. As usual, I started with a skintone basecoat.

Fleshtone wash (Reikland Fleshshade).

Skintone edge highlight.
Notice how the wash created those deep shadows around her eyes. That was not my full intent and was probably caused by the lack of detail in the face. Nevertheless, I find that awesome, as it mimics shadows or tattoos often found on a druid.

White basecoat for the eyes.

Black wash around the eyes (also on the hair and staff).

White highlight and brown iris for the eyes. Brown highlights on the hair.

Sash and gem

The green does not offer much of a contrast with brown, so I decided on red details both in front and back. 

In the front, she has a subdued red sash (dark red washed with black).

In the back, she has a gem in the middle of the cape. 

I went with the usual red color transition, from dark red washed with black...

... to dark red, to bright red ...

... to a white spot on the top.

Staff

I took advantage of the pattern of the staff's head. I colored the swirls along the length white, then on each side I drew a dark and light green streak.

Base

I wanted to go with my woodland basing technique, then decided to give it a twist. Instead of bushes, she'll stand among wildflowers.

Start with the classic soil and grass covering.

Apply the PVA glue sealant. At this step also throw on some wildflower flocking, then apply more PVA glue to seal them in.

Finished!