The 5 Ws of painting part 3

 Hi Folks,

This is part three of the 5 Ws of painting. We have gone over Who and What over the past couple days, so if you missed any of those, please feel free to go back and read them. Yesterday's post was I felt abut the right size of where I want to keep these little thoughts of mine. so I hope you are ready to continue along this road with me for today's section. So, Here we go!
"Where?"

So as you know if you have been following along since I started this week, we have covered the who, being who is the character, squad or army  we are going to paint. I also went over the What? What are they doing? What does the sculpted pose tell us about that character and how we can make it unique to the story you are trying to tell.  So now that brings us to where? This is a pretty easy one to explain at first. Where is where do you want this person to be at? Are they  chilling out in a frozen wasteland? Are they covered in sand from a dust storm in the desert?

These ideas can add another dimension to an already beautiful painted figure. Having a brave knight in his armor with sword raised and his shield in front of him can be a pretty awesome sight. Now add castle ruins or swords at his feet, paints a story. A story of possibly a heroic knight, protecting his king from a ruthless conqueror who wants to pillage and plunder all that he can. Or they can be that conquering force, storming the castle for their kingdom and honor.

Let's go back to my example about being in a desert. Someone isn't going to be in perfectly clean clothes. Depending on how long they have been wandering the desert or living there, their clothes  or vehicles will be weathered. It will look drier due to shortage of water supplies. Knowing where your character is or where you want to put them can add realism to the piece.

Now mind you, this just doesn't end with weathering effects either. Lighting is also a big part of explaining where "Where" is. If they are standing near a lava flow, there will be a glow from the molten hot rock. Shadows can be cast upon your character from trees, rocks  or even tall weeds or grass. It's good to think about how the area around your piece will affect the miniature itself. Does it add light? shadows? Or does it just get them a little dirty or muddy. Knowing this and understanding its effect on something is a great skill to learn.

I am going to leave this here for today. There is more to where and how it ties in with our next subject "When". So I will keep that for my next post and hope you all enjoyed and learned a little something.

As always, if you liked what you read please let me know in the comments. If you didn't let me know why, the negative comments help as much as the positive. Also, this series is coming to an end here in the next day or so. If you have any topics or questions you think might make for an interesting rant, let me know. I will do my best to give you quality content.

One last note, I apologize for the lack of pictures in these posts. I am in the middle of renovating a new work station and once that's up and finished, I will have photos of stuff I am working on and as well as any that are relevant for the current topic.

Until next time,

Mystix