As mentioned in the what's new section, I'd been wanting to try out the OSL (object source lighting) technique for a long time (probably since I first saw Victoria Lamb's 'The Rescue of Sister Joan' and 'Fiery Angel' dioramas) but I kept putting it off... The technique looked quite tricky and after a while you get comfortable with your painting and the thought of having to learn something new is much more daunting than when you're first starting out... Maybe it's the fear of it not working out when you've become used to things turning out just the way you want them to. Anyhow it's probably the best way to make sure that you don't continue to improve and is not at all recommended...

I was asked to paint a Callidus Assassin last year and I can't remember if I suggested that a glowing blade might look cool or the collector mentioned it but either way it was decided that OSL would be a feature.

Most examples of OSL I've seen have been painted without there being a bright ambient light source, this means that the glowing blade (or whatever) is the main source of illumination and because of this the effect is generally very obvious. The assassin on the other hand was painted with two definite sources of light - the blade and a brighter ambient light source. This means that the reflected light from the blade is restricted to a fairly small area and is subtle even in the areas where it is present... There is also some reflected light on the gun surrounding the glowing crystal, this only effects a very small area though... Whilst writing this I found a great little article which explains what effects the intensity of the reflected light and the OSL technique in general very well.

To give you a better idea of what's going on with the OSL and the rest of the miniature you can check out this extra large picture, it has only been cropped (no resizing or editing).