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Hey guys, I just had a thought. What if you went with bright shades and dark highlights? Has this been done?

Yes, it's a common trick for painting Eldar Avatars, or anything else that 'glows from inside'.

Oh my god. I completely forgot about lava and stuff.

I think it might just give the appearance that the light source is coming from the ground, but hey!, if it's something you have fun with I say go for it!

It's also used with crystals where the light "collects" at the bottom where it's most focused.
Used to show whether a gem is transparent or not.

Stop changing your avatar BC. It's confusing.

But but but, it's October and I don't want Halloween-Santa to be mad and not leave me any presents. If I don't decorate my profile with pumpkins, how will he know I'm loyal?

Done!

Better?

Anyway, this is the light theory I was speaking of.
http://handcannononline.com/blog/2013/02/08/a-beginners-guide-to-painting-gems/

*butter

Oh cacty you're so funny!

If we're being pedants, it's *batter... I think we can stop now.

The Tau shoulderpads are painted that way -- the shoulderpads are red, the crevice is painted white. It's worth noting, though, you it's rough shading a light color over a dark color. I mean, technically, sure, you can, but because of the translucent nature of acrylic paints, and the way light colors cover less well anyhow, if you "shade" a dark color with a light colored glaze (like yellow) or mix white paint with some glazing/shading medium (like klear), the results won't look very convincing unless you're willing to do a zillion coats in those crevices.

@BC - I like your Halloween avatar

 Talys wrote:
I mean, technically, sure, you can, but because of the translucent nature of acrylic paints, and the way light colors cover less well anyhow, if you "shade" a dark color with a light colored glaze (like yellow) or mix white paint with some glazing/shading medium (like klear), the results won't look very convincing unless you're willing to do a zillion coats in those crevices.

I think the best way to go about it would be to adopt a normal layering strategy, but get darker each time instead of brighter. Rather than starting with your darkest colour as the base, start with your lightest, then paint a 'highlight' in the way you normally would but with the darker paint. It's a tricky one to wrap your head around, but makes more sense than trying to wash/glaze light over dark.

good point, Para...
i had to wrap my head around inverting my usual approach for this job:





i normally paint over a black undercoat, but had to go white for this one...
i left a bit of white in the cracks between the belly scales, and then each layer then got progressively darker...
the OSL shows the heat radiating off of the belly, and then things get darker as they cool, finishing with cold black scales...

it was quite a fun exercise to completely switch up my style...
painting is all about playing and experimenting, so if you have an idea, give it a shot...

cheers
jah

It's how I paint the coils on my plasma weapons, but you can't really tell because the detail is so small. But I know they are painted in a way that makes sense, and that's what counts.