Been thinking.....

[matty1001]

This is gonna be a rant, youve been warned!
Iv been thinking about painting and this site, and iv realised some things about my painting skills. Before finding this site about 2 month ago my painting was rubbish, and then after finding it i read peoples comments and worked through the forums and articles and my painting has improved alot over the space of those 2 month.

However last week i hit a bit of a problem, i was trying to hard. I had just uploaded my Iron Painter contest entry and was extremely displeased with it (Just ask Mick, Torn Blue Sky, about this!) My entry had been rushed and turned out very shiny due to using inks (I had no matte varnish at the time)

Basically i wanted the mini to look so much better than i could offer and it really made me down that day.
Then i realised this happens with most of the stuff i paint, i think its alright then i post it CMoN and it settles under a 5, and i find this very offputting.

But then i realised that i shouldnt base my skill off the scores on this site, i was trying so hard to get better scores my painting and self esteem was suffering greatly. So i bought the Gotrek mini the other day and decieded to just paint it, no aiming at a score, or looking at other minis and trying to match the skills shown. I have only painted the hair so far, and although it wont get a high score i have enjoyed painting it because i wasnt pushing myself for an amazing outcome. (im getting a WIP up but photobucket isnt very well)

So thats my rant over, sorry if iv bored you, but iv realsised so much and im happy how iv came out from it.

*EDIT* My gallery: GALLERY

 

[Naukhel]

Sounds to me like you\'ve found the right mentality to use.
Paint for yourself. Take the advice from those who comment constructively, if you feel they\'re correct.
Ignore it if you don\'t.
We all know that photos don\'t always do the mini justice. Not all of us are brilliant photographers.
Gods know I\'m not.
I\'ve been around for coming up on 2 years, now, and I\'m not a great painter. But I\'ve learned a lot.

That\'s the important thing, though, isn\'t it? Improving in your own eyes.

 

[Trevor]

Yeah, nail, head, hammer.
It took me a while to realise that the scores on CMON are rather arbitrary, not the scoring of the picture, but because the picture is what is being scored, not the actual mini. This is seen at its simplest in the bad pic, bad score, but it also works the other way.

Once you realise that it doesn\'t matter as long as you are having fun and (if thats what you want) progressing, then you can get on with enjoying the hobby.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Not just doing mini\'s, but any art I do has improved GREATLY once I gave up trying to win approval, scores, money etc......... If you do it for the love of it, it usually shows and people pick up on that. The thing can come full circle.

 

[stumpkiller]

First matt... you thinking is just scary:beer:

Second... if you do it for your own pleasure it will help you be patient... painting can be very tedious... and there are days i can do it for hours.... other days i cant even bring myself to pick up a brush...


third... groao ejjnbe kr iuug auf anebe;a

yup that\'ll do it

 

[Highbulp Billy]

Congratulations young padawan, you have reached the plateau of enlightenment. It\'s all too easy to forget that we have no real control over what score any of our work will get no matter how highly we think of it. I\'ll admit that I\'ve got seriously depressed over some of the scores I\'ve had here for what I thought were pretty good minis by my standards. As you have found, the important thing is to be happy with what you\'re doing and try not to stretch too far in one go.

It can be particularly hard when you have made a great leap forward in your skills over a short period (ie since joining CMON and using all the advice) and then you seem to plateau (twice in one post, wow). From now on, the improvements are likely to be more gradual and take more effort but will be worth it. Keep doing what makes you happy and trying new things but be prepared for a lot of re-painting while you learn... that\'s how it works.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Yuppity yup, remembering that this is meant to be fun first and foremost is the most importent thing (and considering the number of \"I\'ve been sniped\" threads a point lost on far to many people).

Your ord from iron painter reminds me of stuff I used to paint, I was fortunate because one of my mates was vastly better than me and started to put me right. But if your main focus is getting better then you are asking for trouble because our brains simply don\'t tend to learn in a linear progression. So you will (and have) frustrated yourself.

By the way I left a comment on your Iron painter entry, hopefully it will have been meoderated by now.

 

[airhead]

a link to your gallery might help:

like this

Scores do not tell the whole story. I see improvement in your gallery, which is a good thing. Do you have any experienced (read better) painters you can paint with in your area? I spend time when possible with better painters when possible and it is amazing what you can learn by watching them paint.

I went and had a look at your gallery. You are painting better than most real tabletop that I\'ve seen.
Your last ork is a bit glossy and need some shadowing on the feathers. (think maybe a brown ink wash). The base is also too light and upsets my color sense.
Frodo is not bad, work on those eyes and one more highlight and he could possibly break a 7.
The troll needed the paints thinned a bit more. His skintones have enough contrast, but the transitions are not very smooth - thinner paints and a few more layers would help.

Keep at it, you are getting better.

 

[matty1001]

Thanks everyone.
@DR E M: Cheers for the comment, i seem to be getting the same of everyone, more defination on the wings. This was the first time i had ever painted wings so il keep that in mind for the future. I dont like repainting things on finished minis, this was how id entered it so this is how il keep it (although i have matted coated it!)

@Airhead: I dont really know any other painters in the area, i only have one friend who paints and plays but he hasnt been serioulsly in the hobby for a while now. The only other option would be to sit in GW in Newcastle.

Iv just posted the Gotrek WIP up, which will be a model i will just paint and not try to aim for a score or style.

 

[vincegamer]

scores

Here\'s how I think about scores on CMON.
First, they will never be as high as I wish.

If I get a good score on a mini, that\'s great! pat myself on the back, I done good.

If I get a bad score on a mini, well, just didn\'t suit people\'s tastes. Doesn\'t mean it was a bad mini or poorly painted, just that I have unusual taste. The voters just didn\'t \"get it.\"

 

[Torn blue sky]

GooooD GOOooood. nice to see your just going with it matty! Thats the ONLY way to go!
When you force it you get accidents. Same thing goes for toilet etiquete...