Thinking of quitting the hobby

[supervike]

I think alot of mini-painters suffer from this sort of problem.....

I have soooo many half finished minis, mostly because of what you said. They never \'look\' like what I picture they should. I think once I got a comment saying basically that on one of my minis...It said \"concept is a 10, execution is a 6\"....It is frustrating at times, but like so many had said above, you can\'t necessarily always judge your work compared to the CMoN standards...you are just setting yourself up for failure.

I have thrown down my brushes in disgust more often than I care to admit. But the great thing about this hobby is that you can live without it. Just let it go for awhile. Eventually, it will call you back and you\'re ready to go again...

 

[Dammekkos2]

Originally posted by AinuLainour

Originally posted by Dammekkos2

Originally posted by Sonnyslayer
:no: I really dont want to write this message.. but right now im very frustrated and angry. When i paint i allways mess up.. I never like what i see.. and i never finish the mini. Yeah i know alot of painters get that sometimes.. Ive had it like this for almost a year now. I cant even finish a mini.. This is my life.. I get home after school and talk about minis on msn and cmon.. but i can even finish ONE mini.. I just dont know what to do anymore.. I have lost alot of friends to this hobby.. And met some new here.. I just cant take the anger and frustration every time i try to paint something.. I hope someone will be reading this..

I reccomend you quit.

.. What is the point of that? At least give a bloody reason.

Did you not read the quotation? Reason enough I would say.

 

[jgemrich]

Hmmm very interesting. Completing stuff is something I struggled w/ for a little while. Great tips in this thread with only 1 exception. Here are 3 of mine that helped me break the 1/2 done mini cycle.

1. Take a break from the difficult minis and go back to something easy. When I\'m in a duldrum I just pick up some low detail minis and paint away. I tell myself max 3 highlights and 1 shade.

2. Go for time. Set a time goal for yourself. We had some guys whining about having no time to finish a skirmish level army so I tried to see what I could do in 1 hour. Then I added and hour to it. While it may not be the best job you are capable of you can say...\"Look what I did in a couple hours.\" I often look at this stuff later and think there isn\'t much I could do to improve it w/ 5 more hours and it certainly is more than playable.

1 hour
2 hour


3. Always base coat the whole mini instead of working 1 part at a time. When I work one part at a time and am disastisfied I tend to set the mini down thinking it looks awful. If the mini is completely base coated I tend to move to something else on the same fig to see if it improves my impression of the figure.


Good luck - John

 

[EricJ]

My basic theory is that the goal of the hobbie isn\'t a factor of the product you finish, but rather the skill you aquire. Each mini is just a means to the ends, and not the ends itself. On top of that, the most important lessons are learned by simply doing it a lot, not based on consious effort. Things like getting a feel for the paint, brush control, a sense of dynamic lighting is mostly based on feel, and simply painting a lot. Just sitting down and painting, and enjoying painting, and producing a lot of minis while not worrying about the results of each mini, is honestly the best way to learn and improve.

I think a good ananolgy actually has been about my insomnia in the past. When I couldn\'t sleep and I would get agrivated and stress about it, I would be even further from falling asleep. One day I realized even if I wasn\'t going to sleep, it was better to just lay and relax and at least get some benefit even if I couldn\'t fall asleep, rather than getting stressed out and getting no rest. Of course once I started doing this I would fall right asleep...and I\'ve never had problems since.

Painting is basically the same, don\'t worry about it, keep doing it, learn to enjoy it, and you will improve your ability.

 

[Sonnyslayer]

Thanks guys. I will get pics of the sloppy low standard mini i painted today.. just gotta find the battery charger..

@jgemrich. hey! i know you! I hang around on the rackham forums. i dont think you know me.. i never write anything

 

[supervike]

On second thought....

You should quit the hobby Sonny....


Send me all your unpainted minis and paints so as not to \'tempt\' yourself....


lollollol

 

[funnymouth]

dont force it

well, better late than never.....
i too have had issues with not finishing minis (seems like everyone does) - one of mine took four months, and i nearly went insane. what did i do about it? i began practicing the same techniques i was already skilled at, but i started to paint them faster - i went simple, clean, an quick. knock the minis out, paintr them fast and be done. dont try to make them better, just faster. once youve improved your painting time, work on something else. learning new techniques takes time, lots of it. that might be your problem.
are you frustrated because some techniques you want to learn are giving you problems? practice on test minis you have no intent on finishing. do what your good at! think you have a technique mastered? you dont; do it more and you\'ll continue to improve.

keep at it, but dont let it take over your life. work on your friendships.

 

[Braveheart712]

Hey Sonny, glad to see you rethought your idea of quitting and decided to take some presure off yourself. Remeber this is a hobby and was meant to be fun. Please do not use this place as a way to measure your painting skills. There are alot of talented people here who paint at standards that are way above the average painter. Use the pictures and knowledge here for inspiration, not as aa standard you have to paint to. Like I tell my son, you should paint because it is fun. Nothing ever turns out as we picture it in our minds, but over time you will improve. Allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes, it is OK that you can look at a mini you have worked on and say \"This is really bad\", you learn from your mistakes and the next one will be better. Lastly, if you post pictures here keep in mind there are alot of cruel people who delight in slamming others and giving out low scores. I have not let my child post yet for just this reason, so again if you do, please take your scores with a grain of salt.

 

[demonherald]

Drevilmonki..........:beer:

Take a break you will come back t it..keep converting you enjoy that and thats cool..so what if your not a emon winning painter enjoy it have fun..don\'t post minis or wip just paint for you..

If you get so fustrated and angry aybe the problem isn\'t purely down to painting..

we all get frustrated paricularly when we are a certain age...enjoy life...

don\'t sell everything you will regret this more trust me....

some people develop quickly some not so quick ( like the girls when I was at school) with anything that involves skill that\'s the nature of things but I personally can see development in your work and improvements just don\'t sweat it if it takes longer than others..

chin up and chill dude....:beer:

 

[NYChaos]

Thinking of quitting, don\'t do it!

Get a World of Warcraft account and play it for a while. Under no circumstances are you to get any fresh air. It\'s poison.

I used to play WoW, thats why I\'m now painting mini\'s. Ive met alot of ppl that have the same interests and have some good buddies that we get together on off nights, paint and talk smack to each other. It\'s fun, But World of Warcrack is a definate no. It\'s like going from drinking to heroin.:drunk:

 

[Javi Metal]

(lol supervike fun approach )

Errr... if you ain\'t really enjoying it, you should quit but I, like most of those guys pointed, may suggest you to take a break and while doing think about what pleases you most.

I started painting due to wargames, then I got sick of it and quitted playing but not painting. Finally I quitted painting due to lack of motivation but Imma sucker for this stuff so after a 6+ years break I came back to the business (now I paint mainly what amuses me enough).

Look I have no mini posted nor many forum posts. In fact, I don\'t care much about what\'s hot or watsnot, I just sculpt my own minis from time to time (far from perfect, they are no scale toon-like stuff) and keep painting them like pure crap, plus I don\'t learn a damn think after each session nor improve a bit but man, I do love spending some time doing it !

Don\'t care about people, care about you. Why not trying resin or vynil kits (there is a lot of work to do with them previous to paint). Maybe some airbrush... here and there... or try scupting / converting.

Man if you finally decide to quit I\'m sure sooner or later you will come back to this

I take hobbies as sex: maybe my tool is the worst i\'ve seen and sure I sux at using it, so why I keep trying? man cause I enjoy doing (and I\'ve found few that did too )

Ah, the joys of the internet... everyone can share their bits of wisdom but maybe it also promotes a competitive feeling to this kind of hobbies.

Well I\'m now going back to under the rock I\'ve been living.

Cheers.

I forgot: try not letting a friend down for any reason. A good frien is something that will last till the end of your days.

 

[Highbulp Billy]

Originally posted by Javi Metal
I take hobbies as sex: maybe my tool is the worst i\'ve seen and sure I sux at using it, so why I keep trying? man cause I enjoy doing (and I\'ve found few that did too )

Wow, we\'re really opening up here aren\'t we. See how supportive the CMON community can be. Never leave us Sonnyslayer, we love you

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Originally posted by Highbulp Billy

Originally posted by Javi Metal
I take hobbies as sex: maybe my tool is the worst i\'ve seen and sure I sux at using it, so why I keep trying? man cause I enjoy doing (and I\'ve found few that did too )

Wow, we\'re really opening up here aren\'t we. See how supportive the CMON community can be. Never leave us Sonnyslayer, we love you

But not in a girly freaky love way, more a manly big hug and a kiss and a lick sort of way. hmmm that does sound a little freaky doesn\'t it! lol

 

[Highbulp Billy]

Originally posted by DrEvilmonki

Originally posted by Highbulp Billy

Originally posted by Javi Metal
I take hobbies as sex: maybe my tool is the worst i\'ve seen and sure I sux at using it, so why I keep trying? man cause I enjoy doing (and I\'ve found few that did too )

Wow, we\'re really opening up here aren\'t we. See how supportive the CMON community can be. Never leave us Sonnyslayer, we love you

But not in a girly freaky love way, more a manly big hug and a kiss and a lick sort of way. hmmm that does sound a little freaky doesn\'t it! lol

Hmmm, you seem to know me a little too well... :kiss:

 

[Sonnyslayer]

Ok.. kissing and licking?!
Maybe if you put on a alexi_Z mask or something lol

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I would rather put on Alexi_Z.

Talk about giving a licking...

Maybe I juat shared too much.:redface:

Originally posted by Sonnyslayer
Ok.. kissing and licking?!
Maybe if you put on a alexi_Z mask or something lol

 

[funnymouth]

wow, im pretty pervy, and that made me blush! :redface:

 

[Ebonbuddha]

Well Alexi_Z has a good sense of humour and I am pretty sure she will not get offended by it. But if she does I have prepared this statement (ahem);

\"Dear Ms Z,
I am sorry. It seems that Sonnyslayer stole my account (briefly) and posted that comment under my name. So if you are angry, you should take it out on him.\"

There. Problem solved. lol

Seriously. Sorry if I offended you Alexi.