{"id":71391,"date":"2019-08-05T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativetwilight.com\/?p=71391"},"modified":"2022-04-11T23:25:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T03:25:39","slug":"glass-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativetwilight.com\/glass-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Miniature Painting Glass Effect (Gemstones) is Easy to Do!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the coolest effects you can paint on a miniature is a glassy, reflective surface like that of a gemstone, eye lenses, goggles, etc. The thing is, it’s also really easy to do on a miniature and it has a big impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to show you how you can do a miniature painting glass effect easily! There’s just a few basic principles you need to follow to create the effect and it can be done by beginner painters. I also have an advanced technique I show as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miniature Painting Glass Effect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ll break this down into beginner and advanced. The great part is once you’re comfortable with the beginner technique for the miniature painting glass effect you can easily convert that into the advanced version. You’ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to be using Cubie for this tutorial and painting it larger than you would have on a typical miniature. I want you to be able to see the concept larger to understand it easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite painting larger, the process remains unchanged on a miniature. Well, let’s be honest, it’s a bit harder on a miniature do to the size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it’s that small size that makes it easier. The reason I say that is because you don’t have to work so hard to blend things together. Just basic layering for a gem or lense will still look great at a distance; no fancy blending required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclosure:<\/strong> Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission earned helps maintain this site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light Source Help<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I put together a quick image to show you how things differ based on the angle of the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Light<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can see how the reflection point (covered later) is where the light source is. Also notice that the darkest area of the gem is where the light source is and it gets brighter as it moves away from the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginner Miniature Glass Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even if you’re after the advanced miniature painting glass effect, do read through this section as I explain the theory behind the choices being made and it will help you understand the approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time needed: <\/span>3 minutes<\/p>

Beginner’s guide to a glass effect. Further below is the advanced version.<\/p>

  1. Laying Down the Base Coat<\/strong>

    I like to start by putting down the darkest color I\u2019ll be using as my base coat.<\/a>Now, when you\u2019re doing something highly reflective like this, you have to go darker than you might think. To sell the glass effect you have to really push the contrast as reflective items have a lot of contrast in real life. It\u2019s that high contrast that makes it seem reflective.I\u2019m going to paint this red, so for my darkest color I\u2019m going to use a dark brown, in this case\u00a0Rhinox Hide<\/a>.I kinda forgot to get a picture before I jumped to the second layer. So, jump down a bit. It\u2019s not like it was anything major.<\/p> <\/li>

  2. The Second Layer<\/strong>

    To start selling the glass effect I make a jump in my next color. Again, I want to push contrast. So, I\u2019m going to go straight to a red. For this I\u2019ll be using\u00a0Khorne Red<\/a>, which is one of my favorite colors.What you need to understand with a glass effect is that the darkest color is closest to the light source and you\u2019re brighter colors are furthest from it. I know it seems counter-intuitive but that\u2019s how it works.I put down a layer of the red on the lower half of the gem I\u2019m painting. I start about halfway up and bring it down.\"GemsYou can already see the striking contrast. Also, notice how it has a slight curve? I\u2019m layering with the shape of the gem, which is round.<\/p> <\/li>

  3. Keep Layering Brighter Colors<\/strong>

    To keep pushing the contrast up I have to go brighter still. So, I use an a brighter red and layer that over the lower part of the previous layer. This red is\u00a0Evil Sunz Scarlet<\/a>.\"Gems<\/p> <\/li>

  4. Pushing it Even More!<\/strong>

    Now to really push the colors.Next I painted an orange,\u00a0Troll Slayer Orange<\/a>.\"GemsNow, depending on the size of the item you\u2019re painting, this could be as far as you need to go. You might find adding more layers is too hard. If so, that\u2019s fine and just skip down to the reflective highlight section.<\/p> <\/li>

  5. Orange Highlight<\/strong>

    I like to add a thin line at the very bottom to highlight the orange. For this I used\u00a0Fire Dragon Bright<\/a>.\"Gems<\/p> <\/li>

  6. Final Reflective Highlight<\/strong>

    The final step in this whole process is the easiest and gives the biggest impact; it brings it all home.Take a bright color like a very light grey or white (I prefer white), and put a dot at the top of the gem inside that dark base coat. This should be placed where the light source is coming from.\"GemsThat\u2019s it!<\/p> <\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Now, if I zoom out you can better see the effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gem<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    On a Smaller Scale<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Being that I did that gem very large, you can clearly see the layering, which is what I wanted for the sake of showing you. However, now I’ll show you the same steps on something more typically sized for a 28mm miniature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s the base coat, the dark brown of Rhinox Hide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Now for the dark red, Khorne Red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Then the brighter red, Evil Sunz Scarlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Now I add the orange. The area is so small that I’m really just adding in a very thin line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The brighter orange (Fire Dragon Bright) is almost a dot at the bottom at this scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Now the reflective dot and done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    And zoomed out to better see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Smaller<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    As you can see, there’s no blending on that smaller gem and it looks pretty good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Advanced Glass Effect for Miniatures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The only thing you need to do to make this an advanced version of the miniature glass effect is to blend those layers that were put down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Those layers could have been blended as they were going on but sometimes it’s just easier to blend them after you’ve layered it out. I prefer blending as I go, but it worked out this way for the tutorial!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Also, to reiterate what I said above, if the scale of what you’re painting is very small, then you may find this is entirely unnecessary. The only time I blend a glass effect is when it’s something larger and more prominent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To give an example, something like the lense on a Space Marine’s helmet is not something I blend. It’s such a small area that a few basic layers with a reflective dot does the trick. Same if it were something small like a tiny gem on an amulet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, if you’re painting larger gems, like an Aeldari soul stone on a vehicle, or maybe a crystal orb on a staff, then blending out the layers is useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Start with the Darkest Area<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    To start the blending I grabbed my dark red, Khorne Red, and thinned it out to a glaze. I then started the brush in the dark brown area (Rhinox Hide), and pulled down into the Khorne red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    As you can see, it’s not very clean. So, I keep doing this to smooth that transition out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gems<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    I do this a few times to smooth out the transition until I’m happy.<\/p>\n\n\n