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I started painting this model for the November Painting Comp:



but for the life of me, I can't seem to figure out how to paint the banner topper. I figure the light source is on the model's left (where I put the highlights on his helmet), but I can't seem to figure out anything past that. I'd really appreciate any advice and/or photo reference. Help!

I personally don't paint NMM, but i like to draw & paint 3D Objects on 2D surfaces.

I think what may or may not throw you off is that your shadows have no clear direction and your Contrast is to low. I know that NMM - which you can also paint/draw on paper - has almost no mid-tones, and consists entirely of either light or shadow, with very harsh transitions between them.

Metal is also very reflective, so the lower metal orb would reflect the upper metal sphere and vise versa.

Shadows on a spherical object are a bit counter intuitive - You have a core shadow, a reflected cast shadow, a cast shadow, a reflected light and very little mid tones - here's an example for better understanding.

Use the banner underneath. Eg put a red tinted bounce light on the bottom ball, and maybe a lighter but still reddish bounce light on the top ball. I don't quibble too much about secondary highlights/bounce lights, as long as they are generally in the right spot you'll be ok.