garbetsp

I've had this idea for some time, and googling returns nothing, so I thought I would share here. The basic theory of painting in miniatures is what I have come to call 'forced shadow'. Being miniatures the scale is different, so light works differently and the painter is trying to force the coloration to look as if it were full size. I find thinking about it in this context is helpful when painting and feel it has improved my technique as I focus on this aspect.

Forced perspective is a fun thing when one encounters it. When an artist draws or paints something that makes it jump out of flatland and look like it's a 3d object and it plays with your sense of space. I've seen sidewalk chalk paintings that looked like stairs going down or giant pits into the earth. The coloration and perspective drawn by the artist tricks 'forces' our brain into seeing depth that isn't there. Forced shadow is a similar idea, to use the shading to force our minds to see a miniature as larger than it is.

The root of the problem lies in the inverse square law of light. Light falls off with the square of the distance travelled. The inverse square is a highly non-linear effect. What happens between 25mm scale and full size? The falloff from an inch of full size compared with 1/64 of an inch is multiplied by 1/(64^2) or 0.00024. A tiny fraction of what is expected from real life. Thus if one painted the areas of their miniature flat colors, then there would little discernible shadow when compared with life sized. The miniature painter has to force the shadow fall off back to what's expected at full size. Thus inks, whites, etc become important to create the proper gradient. There is no simple rule either of dividing the shades evenly--there are anything but even divisions given the inverse square. One is going to have to study photos, real life, and compare with other professional painted miniatures. When walking about in daily life pay attention see just how different a single shade appears in shadows, notice how it changes based on viewing angle. One caveat, staring at the folds of a someones pants  to study the color on the elevator will get you labeled as a creep. 

Just like forced perspective doesn't work from all viewing angles, forced shade has a similar issue. It's not as pronounced as the illusion doesn't completely shatter at different angles for shadows, but some viewing angles of the miniature will look 'off'. One has to make a choice about lighting sources when painting: how many, directions, harsh or diffused? This determines the ratios of dark to white in shading. Once that choice is made, it fixes the overall shading into that context. The more colors on a miniature the harder it becomes to keep all the shades consistent for the lighting choice. If one turns the miniature the light sources turn with the miniature for the paint job chosen unlike real life. I typically will make a choices about lighting, and apply it both to the front and flip the miniature to it's back side and then make the same choice for consistency as the viewer is apt to turn it around and pause at the back to examine. The side views are the ones left looking slightly off, like a hiccup in an image stitch--but with respect to shading and shadow.

I had a fortunate accident that has proven quite helpful. I purchased an inexpensive Morduedde magnifying glass on a loupe stand with led light. The led light was on the back facing forward. If I set anything in the loupe it's backlit with a point source. At first I thought what a poor design choice on led placement. For working I must want my light source from the front. Turns out it's a great design choice, the placement is such that I can hold the miniature horizontal I have a perfect light source reference to how the shading should appear with a light source from above front. I paint my flat base coat, hold it under the light (the angle to the light and closer or further are all choices), and look where it's dark and light and shade it up or down paying attention to where the dark and light lines fall. It's taken me some time to realize just how much darker and lighter I have to go, because the light falloff isn't the same on this scale--but I have a non-linear reference built into my workspace so figuring it out has gotten so much easier.

Thinking about the idea of forced shadow has been very helpful for me and really turned up my results a notch. The understanding of the non-linear effects of light fall off across scales is a principal concern of the miniature painter and understanding this provides a solid mental context to approach the art. Finding real world references and a back point source led light can be very helpful in improving technique. Forced shadow has become my default viewpoint in painting miniatures.

Taurus of Nemedia is ambushed! Feel free to use.

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Hi.

I can't say that I am happy with that.
But I can't do nothing. That s the Cabinet's business.
I will not abandon Conan, because Conan is the DNA of Monolith. Nevertheless we have to think how to proceed. The issue is not about money (I don think it will harm so bad our business), it s all about principles and "partnership".

On 9/28/2017 at 8:58 PM, Primeval said:

My only suggestion is that if allies fall into the water and are instantly eaten by sharks, it might make more sense that nobody can swim in those waters.

My wife want rules where Conan can fight sharks now. She's quite insistent that he could take one on.

Just what exactly is a Nor Ouk? Google gives me nothing.

Found the place I ordered from before. 

https://tableclothsfactory.com/products/mini-arcylic-ice-rock-crystals-ocean-blue-400pcs

You are free to use any photos I've posted on this forum. I claim a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) creative commons license. That's fancy speak for just give attribution and I'm good.

Took some direction from @rhogg27184's efforts, especially the claws.

And the god Cröm!

Any word on an English T2 ?

I am unaware of one and google reveals nothing. You could easily put together one and publically allow folks to edit their wins into it. I'd keep a regular backup, because there is always someone who will destroy all the work.

Some fan recorded statistics show the overlord wins 80% of the time in this scenario. (https://goo.gl/WrIvbY) However, there's only 5 recorded plays so the spread on a binomial outcome like leads to the true rate of OL winning is between 30% and 99% with 95% confidence. Maybe it's a misprint in both languages.

I created a Conan Fiasco playset (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kYt3UuDyTjOfgYaVXMayA-xoEl3yEaJk ) It needs artwork if anyone out there feels so compelled. Thoughts?

Is it going to be possible to get this at Retail? I never got in on the initial Kickstarter. My shelves are getting crushed by the Conan sized offerings these days.

I think he's fine. Don't be too critical of yourself. The face is very emotive and that is something that is very hard to do. He looks like a sad Don Quixote.

@rhogg27184 I like your work, but the last few photos have been a little dark on the mini and the white balance is off so they don't shine like I think they should. I think the auto sensor is overwhelmed by the white background and missing on the auto-balance. Here's the same photo corrected and cropped a bit, I think the color shows through a bit better.

2 hours ago, Primeval said:

The idea of a periodic fan-made pdf magazine came to me, it could have some scenarios, maybe painting advice, new skills/equipment, a gallery of fan painted miniatures... @Matt John S, do  you think Monolith might be ok with something like this?

Games Workshop basically used White Dwarf for years to promote their products. It's general format was along those lines. A monthly is hard to crank out, maybe a quarterly is more in the realm of possibility. It should cover the full line of Monolith games. I would totally subscribe and submit miniature pictures. I think the licensing for Batman and Conan might be a little thorny.

I think the lesson on printing and shipping is that if one wants to run an "at cost" offering there is a need to charge a "handling" fee of about 10% of overall cost to cover problems, and time involved. I.e., "at cost" is not just printing and initial shipping, there are more costs to being successful. Heck at this point, I'd be okay with a little more on the next one to cover those who previously didn't get their copy.

Look at their other offerings. I have serious doubts about their ability to deliver something of the scope of Monolith's offering. However, Conan vs. My Little Ponies has some potential. 

Also, I don't think the licensing is necessarily exclusive. 

I've gotted Thogged down painting pirates, so I took a break and did this instead. Pallantides is in a pickle.

So to pick up the few items I didn't get I have eBay searches saved in my profile. Then today, this pops up: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mythic-Battles-Pantheon-Erishkigal-Model-Expansion-BRAND-NEW/202410765830?hash=item2f209f2e06:g:WCAAAOSw5V1bV7KV. Just what the heck is that? Is it bootleg Mythic Battles? Fan-made expansion? 

We need a reference pdf of all LOS for all maps in this format.