Forced Shadow: Theory of Miniature Painting

[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.

Edited November 16, 2018 by garbetsp
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[Epaka]

Fascinating topic @garbetsp!

As a photographer/videographer, I think about light a LOT. Whether I’m filming documentary-style in the field for one of our TV shows, or setting up a complex lighting scheme for our commercial work, making a 2D image ‘pop’ and feel more 3D is always on my mind. This is on my mind to a certain degree as I paint miniatures as well. However, I’ve sorted out how I deal with it in miniature form - and in the end, I pretty much don’t.  Lol. I tend to paint the minis as if they are in a neutral studio environment with even, soft, white light coming from all directions. Any shading and highlighting decisions are based solely on which portions of the sculpture are raised vs. which portions are recessed. In my simplistic approach, I do not attempt to ‘paint-in’ a key source light or hard backlighting, for the exact reasons you mentioned; You don’t know what angle the mini will be viewed from, or rather, you can assume the mini will be viewed from a full 360 degrees while moving around a gameboard which has people seated completely around it. This approach just makes it easier for me to bang out minis quickly. I always say that I’m painting for the game table, not a display case.

While I’m blown away by the talent and artistry of many professional mini painters, personally I’m not always keen on their end results. Painting-in a lot of shadows and highlights and obsessive amounts of details can actually make a 3D mini look too much like a 2D illustration for my tastes. And, well... it just takes too long for a gamer like me, someone who simply wants to get the minis looking good enough to enhance gaming, not to create art. 

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[garbetsp]

I've seen what you refer too, I think when taken too far forced shadow leads to cartoonish looking miniatures. In photography, harsh direct lighting rarely makes for a good photo (although some shots call for it). One can take the technique too far. In the end it's all personal taste. I try to go for some, but not too much, an ombra non troppo if you will.

Edited November 16, 2018 by garbetsp
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