What do you do when you\'re discouraged?

[dave3555]

Originally posted by t_haye2
i\'ve had times like I\'m having now where I hated everything I painted, and at a certain point, all of a sudden my painting was better than before. I don\'t know what happened, but it was like reaching a newlevel in a computer game....hope I do soon...

I know exactly what you mean tammy. You tend to go through a phase where nothing goes right and nothing seems to work. Suddenly. Wham! Something just clicks and your painting ability comes back stronger and better than ever before....

I also find that if I am unhappy with a model as I am working on it, it sometimes helps to put the model away in a box for a few days and not look at it at all. Then after a few days you can come back to working on it with a fresh perspective - and you even tend to be less self critical of your previous work imo.

Dave

 

[nadine]

I\'m struggling with this too. I had to buy all new paints, so I switched brands. The switch is not going well-I feel like I paint so much worse than I used to because I\'m still learning how to work with the new stuff. I also don\'t like the few miniatures I managed to keep.

The only way I\'m getting through this \'forced painting\' time is to set myself small goals I\'m fairly sure of achieving. Sure, this miniature I\'m working on doesn\'t have the best blending and the base is ugly, but I definately made improvements on my brush control and the paint is on a lot smoother than the last figure I did.

My other thing is to reward myself-once I finish painting three of these miniatures I\'m not keen on, I\'m going to buy myself one miniature that I really, really want to paint.

Small goals and a promised reward, that\'s how I\'m working through it. I\'ll let you know how it goes.

 

[AlexDaKid]

Painting is something that you can\'t stay consistant at.

Just keep at it.

 

[Cerridwyn1st]

Give your minis some air

I\'ve got a sure-fire method to make you feel better about your painting (unless you REALLY suck...)

Pack up your minis. Go to your local gaming store. Show a few of them around. After an hour or so of \"oohs\", \"ahs\" and \"more work than I want to do\", you will feel much better about your painting.

I may just barely be in the top 50% on CMON, but in my own neck of the woods, I RULE. Painting goddess bar none.

Get out and share your stuff with \"ordinary\" people. If you are that stressed about your own quality, you are probably light years ahead of the average gamer/painter.

Oh, and Dragonsreach\'s advice about talking to painters you admire is dead-on. It is amazing how friendly these people are, says the chick who regularly converses with some of the best painters on the planet, and has Dragonsreach for a mentor. lol lol

 

[U4-Welcome]

While I was having my little painter\'s block, I went to my LGS (actually not so L but anyway...) and in an off-hand manner, mentioned thet one of my minis was in fact printed in the magazine that the cashier was reading.

Nobody gave a damn. So much for my ego boost, and back to painter\'s block for me !

lol

 

[finn17]

Hmmm..

Originally posted by Cerridwyn1st
It is amazing how friendly these people are, says the chick who regularly converses with some of the best painters on the planet, and has Dragonsreach for a mentor. lol lol

Just be careful if he ever asks you to \'come and see his etchings\'.:innocent:

 

[beh]

Originally posted by Smoth
well, if we are getting into budhism..(hindu has gurus not budhist) It would be that your paint just is. I wouldn\'t be bad or good. You would however paint because you are capable and if you didn\'t paint the mini but instead ignored it it wouldn\'t matter because minis do not have karma... unless you are a japanese budhist who mixed shinto beliefs in then you beleve everything has a karma.

Well, I didn\'t really intend to imply Buddhism per se, but merely a more meditative aspect to painting that is based on neither comparison to others nor even to one\'s own abilities. So yeah, kinda\' like you say about the \"paint just is\": there is a mini, paint, a brush, and a being, but altogether right then and there--not photos of others works or such to clutter up the mind!

The \"guru\" thing was a reference to Ram Dass who was a hippy but became a sort of guru and published a book by the name of Be Here Now, which went on to become a meme of some strength with respect to certain people.

 

[praetorian0_1]

there are two sides to this coin- i always say ups can\'t last forever, but then neither do the downs, or is it the other way around. In all seriousness, my brother Curt is some bigtime kinda artist- even he says it all comes down to practice (or how good ya are at the b.s.\'ing part). ... i wish i still had my first soldiers i tried to paint, hillarious. dig silver spray paint, then flesh heads, helmets and all.i would be all time worst champion in the galleries- no contest :|~ looked like an army of Dr. Evils/ mini-mes\'- :~(throw me a fickin\' bone here people, all i need is one reserve role and you\'re history Powers. Just keep plugging.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

But Steelcult\'s idea works too. lol
I usually just keep focused. I think of it like golf: I just worry about improving my own skills. I read tons of articles. Since being on CMON my wife has even made the comment that my colours are more vibrant compared to some of my earlier works. I also value the opinions of people like Chrispy, Dragonreach, Rachel, et al. I could walk into a game one day with 3000 points of minis that l dipped in day glo orange paint an hour ago and my gaming group would just say, “It looks awesome” then proceed to blow stuff up.lol

Originally posted by steelcult
Ale and Whores!!!