When ambition inhibits efficiency

[Ghaffasa]

Something has happened to me as a painter.

In \"the old days\", the days before coolminiornot.com, alcoholic beverages and university, My relation to painting was a very healthy one.

When I bought myself a set of figures, I always painted them; every single one. Always. I never spared the quality of the outcome much thought. These were easy times; you saw armies grow as time went by and progress was made. Painting was an excellent way to unwind and relieve stress.

I recall often feeling an urge to get home to finish the model I so reluctantly left laying on the table, when I left for school in the morning. The best moment of the day was when you once again felt the polished surface of the brush against your fingertips.

To paint a hero or a champion of a regiment was incredible. Naturally, you made sure it stood out among the ranks of troops. It was a sheer joy, a sort of relief from the routine of painting normal rank-and-file soldiers.

Times have changed though. Painting to me has become a source of much agony and irritation; I am unhappily in love with it. When I inspect a miniature, I look for flaws instead of admiring the effort; when I paint, I am only satisfied if the outcome is virtually flawless.

This is a very destructive perspective, especially if you are but an averagely skilled painter like myself. I very rarely produce anything I am truly proud of. Most things I paint nowadays are experiments with different techniques (hence all my WIP posts and very few minis in the gallery). When I sit down to paint, it doesn\'t come naturally anymore. I spend most of the time considering what to paint, and whether or not I believe I could succeed in attaining the results I wish. Ususally the session ends after a few minutes, when I decide there is nothing to paint that would be worth the effort.

I partly blame coolminiornot for my change of attitude. However, I still want to empasize how great this site truly is. It is the, without a doubt, best site for miniature painting on the internet, crowded with talented, intelligent and nice people who want nothing but to help you succeed. At first, this site proved to be a huge boost of my painting skill, as ambitions rose and opportunity to receive help from the best painters on the planet showed itself. However, as my painting skill stangated, my ambitions did not. When I paint a space marine, i visualize one of Cyril\'s in my mind, and as I set to work and fail horribly in fulfilling my vision, I get a sense of failure

I assume I am neither the first nor the last, to struggle with these thoughts. Please feel free to share your own encounters with artistic inferiority complex! (and maybe how you overcame it)

 

[BarstoolProphet]

You\'re right, I\'m sure, that you aren\'t the first to struggle with these thoughts. Looking at the works of the greats posted here can, indeed, be daunting.

There is only one thing that pushed me past those thoughts, and let me maintain my joy in painting. And no, it isn\'t that I get paid for it, quite a bit, now.

\"The only person you should ever be in competition with is yourself.\"

Comparing your own skills, which you describe as midling, to those of Cyril or whoever else you might consider \'great\' can only inhibit you.

Compare the mini you are painting now only to the ones you have painted before. If it is an improvement, then you have won that competition with yourself, and can be proud of your work.

Be aware that there are plateaus to painting skills, and when you hit them, you might not notice those improvements, yourself.

But those nice, intelligent people that you share them with, here in CMON, will. And they\'ll point the things out that could still use work, or are improved.

Go with your own flow, and enjoy yourself. Take a break if you need to. We\'ll still be here when you come back.

 

[Legacy Account]

The only reason I really paint figures is because I love the finished product.

Painting itself is a chore. Minis are fiddly to hold, lighting is a problem, I end up painting in positions my body doesn\'t like and they take far too long to finish.

It\'s only after the finished figure has sat in the cabinet for a month or two that I start to enjoy it!

 

[ScottRadom]

God!

Fall back in love with the process! Painting is a joy, and I love all aspects of it. This site did make me hold a magnifying glass back up to my own work, and I find I usually am drawn towards the flaws in work first and admire the overall work second (That does suck, you\'re right) but I still am very, very much in love with the hobby, all aspects of it.

My advice... paint something you never have done before. A model from a different manufacturer or something you have NEVER seen on this site. That way you have only your own work to compare to yourself. Maybe pick up a plastic kit and build something like that. Maybe that\'ll jumpstart your passion.

All in all what I do to myself is just compare my results to myself. If that\'s not your mindset and you find you compare your work vs. the gods of the painting world then of course you\'re going to want to drive a brush into your eye!

Sorry the passion has gone dry. If I find myself in a rut I usually spend a session
-Assembling some figs (no real passion or creative drive required)
-Go buy a new mini I really want to paint
-Do some grunt work for one of my game projects. Painting 30 pairs of dwarf boots might spur you on to something more creative?

Good Luck!

 

[sivousplay]

I understand what you are saying completely. I too find myself frustrated by efforts that aren\'t \"sufficient.\" My way of dealing with it is to have a number of ways the hobby can make me happy ... I find that when I\'m happy, I do my best work.

If \"competition\" quality minis are causing me grief, I paint minis for my D&D game ... painting them helps me create a story for my game and thus I\'m happy and my players always love the results.

If miniatures as a whole are frustrating me, I pull out a resin kit and try something completely different ... when that becomes a chore, I break out my Hirst Arts molds and cast some bricks and make a building or cast bases for my game or for other painting projects.

By the time I\'ve cycled through all that, I\'m ready to start the cycle again ...

Self-awareness is the key to success in just about any pursuit ... know yourself and find ways to keep yourself engaged and completing projects ... you\'ll always be invigorated and happy that way.

jim

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Sound\'s to me like you may still have the love for painting but are tired of mini painting.
My creative life can at times be like a merry-go-round. I like to switch between these and more!!

Painting of canvas
Sci-fi painting
Cartoon paintings
Landscapes

Pencil drawing
Cartooning
Design work
Doodling

Sculpting
Metal
Wood
Found junk

Etc...etc...etc.......................

Life\'s too short and there are WAY to many cool things to try to expect that freashness to remain in one narrow channel.

 

[freakinacage]

ghaffasa, it could have been me writing that! i know what you mean

it always feels as if the skills of the mini painting world is one step ahead of me!

i\'m never truly happy with my work (also look for flaws)b ut am trying to accept it. most of my models have been finish to a sub standard (imo) degree simply because i wanted them finished. most of them are like sketches, a quick study to see how a technique/scheme would work out

keep plugging at it. practice is the only way to improve!

 

[Amazon warrior]

Along with many others, I can sympathise. It can be depressing when you\'ve tried your heart out, then compare your work to one of the \"great\" and fall short. As people above have said, this is a bit unhealthy, and you\'re better off comparing your latest work to the one before. Are there improvments, has there been backsliding (for whatever reason), what would you do differently next time? Getting advice on here also helps to put your work in perspective.

I\'ve found that my ambition far outstrips my current ability level, but it doesn\'t stop me from trying. The more I try, the closer I\'ll hopefully come to the picture in my head, but without trying, I\'ll never achieve anything, not even a half-decent paint-job. Sure, I\'m probably never going to be a high-level painter, but I can make slow progress and end up with finished minis that I\'m fond of because each one taught me something.

 

[Dragonsreach]

The main thing is that you should set yourself attainable targets...With this figure I\'m aiming to get my NMM steel right or I want to show good Clothing folds on this one\'s dress.
Things like that.

That wa you are making small but noticable steps towards achieving your ultimate goal.

 

[TKNY]

I can sympathize and relate. It\'s humbling and frustrating to see how darn good some people are at this. Thanks a lot, you damn Internet! :cussing: lol

On the other hand, seeing the works on this site has pushed me to get a lot better then I would have without it; I bet it\'s had that effect on you as well. I try to keep an outlook that as long as each piece is better then my last, its a masterpiece

You may need to just take a break. A week, or even a month. Do no mini painting or modeling. Pick out some things to fill your hobby time so you\'re not tempted: a few good books, a long rpg video game, paint some rooms in your home, etc.

 

[nadine]

I\'ll be in your boat soon. I\'m getting back into this after years of not painting. I wasn\'t all that great before but I know any skill I\'d developed will be gone. My recommendation is to set a small, attainable goal.

This time around I wanted to not rely on pre-mixed colors for every shade/highlight so I\'ve got 8 colors atm (2 of which are white lol) Since learning how these pigments interact will be a challenge, when it comes to actually painting on the miniature my goal is to simply get the paint on smoothly and neatly. I\'m confident that I can attain that goal (and man this paint is smooth on the palette) and I know that the confidence I gain in attaining that goal will make me want to set a new one.

I had a similar problem when I was a musician. I could not enjoy concerts; if the performer was playing \'my\' instrument, I would get bogged down in searching for faults. I think the key is to let go of that feeling of being judgemental and think of what you enjoyed about painting that figure. And if you can\'t think of anything offhand, your next figure you need to find something you\'re really going to relish (like doing some nice blends on folded cloth or something).

Rambling, sorry. Hope that gets you thinking though

 

[Aliengod3]

Ya I have stopped looking at the 9+ minis because I have found I will study them (blending, color, etc.) and when I go to paint I convince myself, unintentionally, that I can do what these minis have a achieved and when I cannot I throw a fit. Some of these painters make smooth blending look so easy that it can be a bit deceptive. I am not a bad painter but my minis are stuck in the 8.7 - 9.1 range and I am trying to figure out how I can improve my style enough to achieve 9.5+ results. It is like trying to lose 5 lbs of body fat exercising when you have no body fat to lose. Hope this makes sense.

I also seem to find it hard to find a mini to paint. I used to paint everything I could get my hands on but I have become so picky that I never paint.

I also used to finish every mini I painted and never stripped a mini if I did not like how it was turning out. For some reason recently I have stripped almost every mini I have touched with a loaded brush.

It is lso frustrating when you see something that works well on a miniature, and try to replicate and practice what you saw, and you never achieve the result you want. My worst problem.

 

[EArkham]

I very rarely produce anything I am truly proud of.

I\'ve never painted anything I\'m truly proud of. Things I\'m not unhappy with, sure; pleased with, rarely; but never truly proud. And it got worse during commissions since every single time felt like I was cheating the client. The curse of OCPD.

You have to focus on the small parts that bring you a little boost of happiness, even if it\'s illusion or temporary. Whatever trick it takes to keep the frustration from consuming you, because it will if you let it.

Kep

 

[Ghaffasa]

Thank you for the replies!

You\'ve posted many good pieces of advice that I\'m going to try!

A very appealing idea, to paint things few have done before (like D&D figures). Do you know of any company producing star wars/warcraft/diablo miniatures? From where can I purchase D&D minis?

As many of you have stated, the best thing to do is probably to set up attainable goals. The difficulty would be to notice the improvements and not the failures.

I\'ll probably get through this \"crisis\", but I hope I don\'t do it by quitting the hobby.

 

[McKenna35]

Originally posted by Ghaffasa
Thank you for the replies!

You\'ve posted many good pieces of advice that I\'m going to try!

A very appealing idea, to paint things few have done before (like D&D figures). Do you know of any company producing star wars/warcraft/diablo miniatures? From where can I purchase D&D minis?

For D&D figures I\'d look through Reaper\'s range. They\'ve got a wide enough assortment that I\'m sure you can find SOMETHING to peek your interest!

West End Games did a range of Star Wars miniatures, but it was Years ago. you could always repaint some of the pre-paint plastics that are everywhere, if you really want a Star Wars fix. Likewise I think someone is doing Warcraft plastic miniatures. I seem to recall that Someone did an assortment of Diablo figures, but it was years ago. Might be a bit hard to find.

Anyway, HTH, and good luck getting your painting joy back!

Michael

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Originally posted by EArkham

I very rarely produce anything I am truly proud of.

I\'ve never painted anything I\'m truly proud of.

The one - the best I\'ve done in my life!! - I lost about 15 years ago.............

 

[supervike]

Wow.

You sum up exactly how I feel about it too.

I have so many almost complete minis it is sickening. I can never quite finish them, as I can\'t \'fix\' them by painting them better.

Just like you say, I start out in my minds eye with exactly what I want, and as soon as I put brush to paint, it starts the downhill slide into what I am actually only capable of. I\'ve tried so often to recapture that joy, but it\'s very short lived.

Frustrating!

 

[ozymandias]

I got exactly the same issue a few years back (when I first started looking at CMON). In my case, I couldn\'t work on a miniature straight out of the blister - I had to convert it, sculpt a little AND then I had all the hang ups when I started painting.

In my case things got better one Christmas when I visted my parents. I only had a few paints, a couple of plastic marines, no GS or tools (other than a knife). I also had only limited time to paint (the parents seem to expect me to be sociable on my rare returns to Bolton). Yet oddly enough the end products remain some of my favourites.

I still have ambitions way above my ability (I suspect that Michael Angelo looking at ceiling of a certain chapel can see all of the \"flaws\") but these days when I feel the pressure I \"recreate\" that Christmas by limiting the stuff available and, more importantly, the time available.

 

[boristfrog]

I keep telling myself that I\'m just a noob so it\'s ok to be a noob and not paint like other people, but that means I can also get better.
In my head I\'ll always be a noob - no matter how many years I end up painting for.

But hey, I\'m never 100% happy with anything I do in life, especially at work. I have a high set of standards, but I\'ve learnt over the years (and still learning) to accept doing the best you could with the time and resources you had. As long as you did your best you can\'t fault the result, but sure it could be better!

Find people who will be honest with you about your work - and who know what you\'re capable of, so they hold you to it and don\'t let you slack - but also don\'t judge you too harshly.

And there\'s nothing wrong with a self deprecating WIP - but be proud when you do something well - even if that\'s just that you pushed yourself, or tried something new.

 

[Avelorn]

You\'ve gotten some great replies so far. I think most of us struggle with this regardless of skill-level. It\'s like with music I only fully realise now how good a pianist for my age I was back when I was 16-17 (no exceptional talent - just good). I only kept comparing myself with the bests and never was satisfied with my playing. I haven\'t played so much since because of that I think. I still find it much easier to play the guitar despite that I\'m not a great guitarist.

ok some tips I use.

Set a timelimit. This miniature will take two evenings to paint etc. As some has mentioned work on one specific aspect of the miniature.

Pick good sculpts that paint themselves, not too much details. I find Hasslefree minis for example are excellent for small projects when I am tired of painting.