Back after a two year break and HELP!

[kathrynloch]

Hi everyone - I just thought I\'d stop in and reintroduce myself. I\'m Kat and used to hang out on CMON quite a bit.

But then life blew up and I put the minis down for two years. I was really starting to get the hang of it too - especially blending and NMM.

Now that I\'ve jumped back in with both feet, I wish I had never taken that break. I can\'t paint worth a darn! :cussing:

Talk about frustrating! I have to go back and relearn almost everything. And the shakes...I can hardly believe I used to hold a paint brush steady at all. My blends are off, even my eye for color is rusty.

I\'m so frustrated! Anyone have any advice? I\'m trying to spend as much time painting as possible - which honestly isn\'t much. Between working full time, riding a horse competitively, working out (so my horse can\'t kick my butt - lol), being a mom and wife...whew! There just not enough hours in a day!

One thing that\'s great tho? It\'s fantastic to be back and see some of the awesome work folks have done!

:bouncy:

Cheers,
Kat

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by kathrynloch
I\'m trying to spend as much time painting as possible...

There\'s your answer, right there! Can\'t say how long it\'ll take, but things WILL come back to you. Just try to enjoy yourself along the way.

And, welcome back, Kat! :beer:

 

[kathrynloch]

There\'s your answer, right there! Can\'t say how long it\'ll take, but things WILL come back to you. Just try to enjoy yourself along the way.

And, welcome back, Kat! :beer:

Thank you, Ritual!

But I want it all and I want it right now! hehe! Seriously, it is hard to have patience with this sort of thing but I\'ll keep plugging away. Thanks for the encouragement.

It\'s great to be back. It\'s amazing how much I missed the creativity. And I\'m definitely joining you in that beer.

:beer:

Cheers,
Kat

 

[Ritual]

A certain amount of impatience about \"getting there\" can be positive, as it drives you to take bigger leaps towards your goals. As long as it doesn\'t pull you down in a negative spiral of frustration and doubt. That\'s why it\'s important to remember that we paint for enjoyment, first and foremost.

Time for another one, methinks.... :drunk:

 

[Aliengod3]

Welcome back! Like you said, just keep painting. Find minis that really inspire you and make you want to paint better. Back in 2005 I took a break and did not touch a paint brush for over a year and I was in the same position you are in and the minis I painted were less than stellar. However I set a goal for myself which was to win a golden demon and I was greatly inspired by the GW vostroyan command minis so I spent hours on them painting them to the best of my ability and ended up winning 2nd place in the 40k squad category. So just keep at it, try to set goals for yourself to achieve, and paint minis that really really really inspire and motivate you to improve.

 

[freakinacage]

welcome back! practice, practice and more practice!

 

[kathrynloch]

Thanks guys!

That\'s a good point - having a goal. While I doubt a GD will be in my future any time soon (right now it\'s Regional Championships with my horse), it\'s good to have something to work towards.

Unfortunately, all my gaming friends have moved away. There\'s really nothing in the area. So I guess I\'m just gonna have to shoot for getting 8\'s on CMON.

When I stopped painting my minis had moved from 5\'s to 7\'s. So, first goal will be to get back where I was, then see if I can kick it up a notch.

Thanks again!

(Yes, I\'m popping in from work whenever I get the chance. lol!)

Cheers,
Kat

 

[Sand Rat]

Welcome back.

My advice is to practice and stop worrying about the scores.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Welcome back! Always good to have another girl around to keep the lads in line!

Sounds like you\'ve got the right attitude and buckets of enthusiam, so I\'m sure you\'ll be fine once the muscle memory starts returning. Post up plenty on WIPs on the forums so we can see how you\'re getting on.

OT, nosy question: What kind of competitions do you ride in? I used to own a horse myself, and I\'m still a big fan of horsey sports.

 

[kathrynloch]

Thank you all for the responses. It\'s great to have such a warm welcome back!

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
Welcome back! Always good to have another girl around to keep the lads in line!

Sounds like you\'ve got the right attitude and buckets of enthusiam, so I\'m sure you\'ll be fine once the muscle memory starts returning. Post up plenty on WIPs on the forums so we can see how you\'re getting on.

OT, nosy question: What kind of competitions do you ride in? I used to own a horse myself, and I\'m still a big fan of horsey sports.

Thanks! It\'s good to see more gals getting involved in the hobby. I still get a kick out of the \"but...but...you\'re a girl!\" lol

As for the horsey stuff, I ride dressage. When I was a kid, I did combined training but now...I don\'t have the guts for jumping. I don\'t bounce as well as I did when I a kid.

Cheers,
Kat

 

[supervike]

Hiya Kat!

Welcome back, I\'m glad you got the painting bug again!

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by kathrynloch
Thanks! It\'s good to see more gals getting involved in the hobby. I still get a kick out of the \"but...but...you\'re a girl!\" lol

Yup, always good for giggle, that! lol

As for the horsey stuff, I ride dressage. When I was a kid, I did combined training but now...I don\'t have the guts for jumping. I don\'t bounce as well as I did when I a kid.

Cheers,
Kat

Oooh, takes a lot of skill and precision, that does. My sister did a bit with our horse back in the day (as part of one-day events, mostly) and they did ok together, but most of my dressage experiences have been a bit disastrous! lol It\'s lovely to watch when it\'s done well, tho. Good luck with your up-coming competition!

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
Welcome back! Always good to have another girl around to keep the lads in line!

pfffffffffft!

where abouts in the world are you? bear in mind there could be people around the corner form you on cmon! (there are 5 here that live close)

 

[Donga]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
Welcome back! Always good to have another girl around to keep the lads in line!

pfffffffffft!

Yeah!

It\'ll never work!

Welcome back, I\'ve had painting breaks over the years. Wierdly it makes me better in the long run.

So keep hold of that thought

(and do the WIP thang!)

 

[kathrynloch]

Thanks again to all for the warm welcome back!

I\'m in Southeast Texas - about 2 hours east of Houston (right where Hurricanes Rita and Ike made landfall). It would be cool if there are some CMON folks around. We have one comic book store where folks can gather but I haven\'t seen many around lately.

I\'ll definitely post a WIP as soon as I can get some half-way decent pics. I was hoping to paint some more tonight but I got back from the barn too late.

Thanks again everyone!

Cheers,
Kat

 

[mickc22]

welcome back Kat, been in the same boat myself
as most have said just keep practicing

 

[kathrynloch]

Thanks mick!

Hopefully, this lesson has been learned - taking a break from painting is ok...taking a LONG break from painting is disastrous.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by mickc22
welcome back Kat, been in the same boat myself
as most have said just keep practicing

balls are you! you aren\'t painting anything you lazy git. you are just making barbed wire and taking pics of your legs!

 

[mickc22]

bugger! rumbled again lol

If I\'d known you were keeping notes.......
.....anyway I painted the Snowboarding Cow, just haven\'t finished the board or the base yet, I\'m waiting for some creative inspiration lol

 

[kathrynloch]

lol