The Golden Angle
The miniature term the Golden Angle is different compared to that which is derived from the ‘Golden Rule’ which comes from design (not behaviour)
Golden Angle, The
[ gohl-duhn ang-guhl]
noun
The angle at which a miniature should be viewed: The box art shows the golden angle.
The angle at which the natural light would hit the miniature to create lights and shadows: You can see where the light hits as you move the model, that means the golden angle is here.
The picture on the left (or top if you’re mobile) is the golden angle. However, the second one is where you really get to see it shine. The ‘Eavy Metal style is all about edge highlighting and a >’eavy< use of layering. Take a look at the second picture this is where you can see the best use of the ‘Eavy Metal style.
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-AU/kill-team-elucidian-starstriders-2022
While it may not be as visible, in these two picture I am putting up the link so you can use the rotation feature for yourself to see how it works. In the second picture, you see that there is very little highlighting on the hair and that most of the highlight is actually reflected light from the lights used to take the picture.
The picture on the left (or above if you're mobile) is the golden angle in my paint job but the second picture helps show the golden angle more. My style focuses much more on using the light source from the golden angle and it may be subtle but you should be able to see it if you focus.
Take a look for yourself
I am putting some text here so you have space to look at it for yourself before you see my explanation.
I
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Okay, now that you have had a go for yourself I will explain it.
The red circles show the True Metalic Metal and you can quite easily see where the light hits because of how the reflective properties hit along with the highlight within them. The raised areas are significantly brighter than that of those which are being hit by the light, like real metal.
The blue circles show ‘Micro Shadows’, you may hear this term thrown about but all it means is they are shadows created by the object itself. For example, if you have your hand above your brow so you can see better in bright light, the shadow created by your hand would be called a ‘Micro Shadow’ if it was painted, they are just shadows, don’t worry about fancy names. You see the shadow along the tubing that shows where the light comes from, this helps show the golden angle as you can trace the light along the tube. Whereas the tubing and the shoulder create a darker area on the back. While the left leg is slightly darker from the shadow from the body. The right leg has a much harsher shadow but the rest of the leg is in light so it is lit.
Finally, the purple shows light diffusion which is a bit complicated but if you know how gemstones work that is essentially why the highlights are in the ‘wrong area’.
Why is all of this important?
Understanding where your light source is, is the most important part of stepping up as a painter. Does Plague Zombie 247 need to have detailed shadows showing here? Probably not. However, if Plague Zombie 247 is going into a competition where you want to win big… well… yeah kinda.
But the second reason that this is important.
I may have brought it up before in previous articles but…
We are pattern recognition machines
Humans are exceptional at recognizing patterns more than you may believe. We are so good at recognizing patterns we see patterns that aren’t there. This is what is behind the idea of anthropomorphism, imagine getting that in a spelling bee. The second thing is this!
verisimilitude
[ ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood ]
noun
the appearance or semblance of truth; genuineness; authenticity:The play lacked verisimilitude.
something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.
I know if you are a frequent reader of mine you may be extremely bored of me repeating the same things over and over but the reason I do… They are true. Giving realistic or even seemingly realistic shadows on the miniature helps draw people into the idea of the false reality of this being a real person. Not just a figure for a wargame. Is it a figure for a wargame? Yes. Are you using plastic toy soldiers to play army men? Yes. Is there anything wrong with that? No. The thing is that if you love your craft and assuming that you have actually read everything here it’s an important lesson.
AND the more you use this lesson the more you will find how important it is.
Object source lighting?
Object source lighting is no longer the scary demon it once was and you can do it better than most if you understand how natural lighting works. And if you use the golden angle in your common miniature painting you will get better and better at it.
But you know what golden rule I know that keeps you painting each and every day? If you just…