Highlights - where to place them

[icy relic]

Hello,

Is there some sort of tool where it tells me where the highlights are on a model? I get the whole i should look at things as shapes (cylinder, sphere, square, etc...) but I just can't translate that on a model. I try to but when I add the highlights it looks so off

Any tips would be appreciated

Thanks,

[supple briar]

Zenithal is a very nice tool for this, just get white in yoyr airbrush and spray it from where the sun/light source is and yoy can pretty easily get a nice highlight with that

I hate this keyboard, I always spell it you and it auto correct because I've made the mistake so many times

[icy relic]

Won't I be painting over it with a basecoat? Then after that, I'd lose my light source

[supple briar]

Hmmmm

It seems I may be using a term wrong

Get a brighter color rather, then you airbrush the model from where the light source is in whatever color you want your light to be.

Or the highlight color for the muscles

[silk sparrow]

You decide where the highlights go by choosing a Light Source Direction.

Once you choose where your light is coming from, you can either:

1. Zenithal prime it from that direction - anywhere the White paint hits will be a highlight area.
2. Prime it in a satin Black, stick it under an actual light source (ie lamp) from the direction of your imagined light source, and then take a reference picture of the model. You will see reflections where the highlights should be placed.

I find Zenithal helpful also for picking out details on the model.

Yes, your basecoat will cover the Zenithal, but most paints are not fully opaque, and you should be painting relatively thin coats, so they will be influenced by the colour of paint under them. They will naturally appear brighter over the white, and darker over the black.

You can also pre-mix highlights and "paint by numbers" first - sketch in your highlight colours on all the white parts, then your shadow colours on the black parks, then blend them to create your gradient.

[icy relic]

So i kinda did your suggestion but instead of zenithal highlighting it, I just kinda painted where I think the highlights would be, sort of like a guide on where i should stop layering. How does it look? Also did some black lining.

Ignore the lower part of his body, only did it for his abs

[silk sparrow]

It’s looking good but be careful of creating muscle islands.

The whole torso should be lit further if each ab is getting that much light.

[icy relic]

How do I prevent myself from creating muscle islands? Won't I need a shadow to divide each muscle?

[silk sparrow]

If they’re directly in the light, no - you’ll want a midtone between them.

The big thing is to block in your volumes by bigger sections first and then work small. So the abdomen should be painted as an entire cylinder first, and then highlights placed on the muscles where appropriate.

I can try to do a paintover for you tomorrow evening but you can also look up reference images.

See how this guy, who is in very strong light and has well defined muscles is relatively evenly lit? The shadows between his abs are not nearly as dark as the shadows under his left arm.

[icy relic]

Ohhh I see. In my mini, I'm planning a Zenithal lighting so I'm guessing from your explanation, the shadows on his sides (my Troll Mini) should be darker than the shadows on his abs?

[silk sparrow]

Yes