Motivation

[Leroy101]

Hi guys, I hope you are well.

 

Does anybody else find it difficult to find the motivation to paint?

 

I am very appreciative of a good paint job (my friend is very good), but I can never bring myself to actually attempt to finish a full squad of models!

 

I think my main issue is fear of failure - I get 80% of a model done, then freak out when it comes down to highlighting etc, so I just don't bother. This leaves me with an *almost* good looking model - But lacks highlights and eye detail, for example.

 

Is it a practice makes perfect situation? I've had marines for a couple of years now and I can honestly say that out of the 50+ models I have, not one of them is what I would call "completed".

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Razblood]

Probably the best motivation for your situation is that if you don't attempt you can never improve.

 

In the end if you are not happy with what you do try again until you are and then redo all the ones you weren't happy with :) after all stripping minis is quite straightforward :lol:

 

I was in much the same position a few years ago and looking at my painting now compared to then I am very glad I took the leap :)

 

And always remember - And they shall know no fear! ;)

[boreas]

I usually tell my daughters there are three "tricks" to being good at something: Practice, pratice and practice! Annoys them no end :) That being said, there are a lot of nice video tutorials out there by real "pro-painter" (not average youtube propainters, although a lot are good. I mean golden daemon winners!).

 

Now, the way I keep my motivation through the tedious work of painting full squads is Audible. I find painting that first few models sooo exciting. The 17th, 23rd, 45th not so much! So a good historical book on audio in my iPod keeps me interested while painting...

[Firepower]

I've had the same 6 headless Templars on my desk for about 5 or 6 months now, I think.  They're all more or less done, but the shoulder pads and heads are unpainted.  That's something I could get done in two days of free time.

 

So yeah, I know how it feels to be unmotivated.  I've always been a fits-and-starts sort of painter.  Partly it depends on my passion for the work at the time, and partly on the complexity of the paintjob (because of time investment per model).

 

But my opinion is to paint until you're satisfied.  It's not generally difficult to go back and correct mistakes on things as small as highlighting, so you've got that going for you when you wanna cross that 80% threshold.  And yes, it is a practice makes perfect sort of thing.  I have painted 40k models since I was 13, and they looked awful.  You can see my latest work in the link in my signature- it's good, but not perfect.  And it won't get any better if I keep just staring at half finished models on my desk! :P

[Kaedes Nex]

I do the exact same thing, OP. My very first foray into edge highlighting practically ruined the model so I said, "Never again." I could probably do it with a copious amount of re-painting to get the highlighted edge to a smaller width, but I already do that step for the shades so it makes each model that much more tedious to paint. My helmet lenses are similarly a single solid color that has been cleaned up. I used to have aspirations to do gem effects or white OSL with colored glazes, until I saw just how tiny the eyes were.

 

It's going to take some courage to make that commitment and plunge into the technique, as well as a lot of practice to master it, I suspect.

 

For me, I am happy with a clean, neat paintjob even if it isn't fully complete with highlights. I figure I will purchase an airbrush down the line and go the realistic blending route rather than the edge highlight style.

[boreas]

I you plan to paint for a few years, invest now in an airbrush! I bought one 3 years ago, and I wish I had done so 10 years ago!

[Captain Semper]

We also run semi-regular painting competitions here in B&C - taking part is a great way to get some progress within resonable anount of time... the next one maybe sooner than you think!

[Fibonacci]

First, set realistic goals. Don't try to paint to your friends standard. Do what you can do. Base coat, wash and dry brush is enough to make a table ready army. Do that to a full army and you are already ahead of half the people that play. Flock the bases and you are in the top quarter. Do what you can and be proud of what you do. Most people don't even try.

 

Painting an army for play is just doing the basics over and over. If you want to work on new tecniques, work with a few spare miniatures and practice. Strip the paint as you need to and try again. Practice, practice, practice. And when you get it right, you have the start of your next squad.

[Hellios]

I don't know if your problem is a motivation issue. If you paint all of your models up to that stage... That is good. It seems like you are more worried about ruining the models. If that is case and you have a friend who is a good painter, get him to do a couple with you. Once you've done it a couple of times and know you can... You shouldn't have any problems.

[Chaeron]

Less motivation, more than I lack the time to!

[Coopervisor]

I have bouts of motivation. Often leading to half finished projects and piles of plastic sprues all over the place.

 

For weeks at a time I cannot be interested at all in setting aside the time for painting. Then other times, I'll have an urge to paint and get as much done as I can (often on something different to the previous project).

 

I also struggle to finish miniatures fully. Often leaving a few details for later and then never getting round to finishing them as I'm distracted by other things. 

[mactire]

Enter the painting competitions ! i find its the only way to finish a project on time. I'm a great one to start and then find every excuse not to keep at it .....work, kids, not enough time and yet here i am sitting on my ass typing this

[Leroy101]

Wow,

 

Thanks for all of the replies guys! It seems like I am in good company when it comes to this!

 

An update on my situation, I have added decals to my guys and they look alot better already (although I sort of hate decals now).

 

I am trying to go the audiobook route - Sort of makes things a little more enjoyable when doing the "business" painting (i.e. basecoating and drybrushing etc), and I'm working my way into highlighting, just painting models for a couple of days and I have realised that my skill is improving as I'm getting the rhythm back.

 

All that said, I have a strong feeling that I will be asking for tips on how to strip models soon enough (brakefluid I seem to remember hearing before)

 

This thread in itself has provided me with motivation, so thanks very much guys, I hope to nurture my love for this side of the hobby too.

 

Happy painting,

 

Liam

[Firepower]

Run a search for stripping methods here and you'll get the Library of Congress.  No shortage of advice there.  But to throw in my 2 bits, I use Castrol Super Clean which works quite well (but GW White Primer seems to be immune), and I've found that nail polish remover (regardless of whether it has acetone in it or not) will dissolve the plastic's lamination and ruin the model.

 

But yeah, run a search, and you'll get all the info you could ask for.  Good luck.

[Greylocke]

I used to have the issue of not finishing a squad completely. So I started looking at one mini at a time. I treat each model like a character and refuse to start a new one until I finish the last. This raised my game skill wise. It also kept me from getting bored as I would alternate painting one mini from one squad then one from another. Before you know it you have two squads done and you don't feel like you're painting the same mini over and over.