Why do you paint?

[evil tendencies]

When I was in college, I practiced Karate for a couple of years. I finally left after having a conversation with my sensei. I had achieved orange belt status (three promotions), and he said that - in his opinion - there was no situation that I could not already kick and punch my way out of. I asked him what point there was in continuing in that case, and he simply replied that I had to do it for the art. Self defense is easy, he said, but it\'s the art that continues. I didn\'t see the art, and so I left.

Since I have the flu right now (I love back to school days), I got to thinking about why I paint. There is no practical reason that I should do it; it takes a lot of money, and pre-painted and bare minis are perfectly usable in a game. I realized that the act of painting, of putting colors together on the canvas of a mini in a certain way, brings me peace. I don\'t need to minis to be painted; I need to paint because something inside me takes joy in seeing a well-executed paintjob. Simply put, the act and the result of my efforts brings joy to me.

Then I got to wondering if other painters did it for the same reason, or if my experience was unique. So, the question: why do YOU paint?

 

[lizcam]

There\'s something about seeing a bare mini and then making it look like the image in your head. Something about self-challenge. When I\'m really on my game (which I haven\'t been in a long time) it seems to center me, make everything else go away. That\'s worth the money and the time for me.

 

[AinuLainour]

It\'s something I\'m good at, I guess.

 

[Jike Ichi]

It\'s an inner need. I simply have to do it to feel...hmm..in peace with myself!?

I had a long conversation with a friend of mine who is DJing on the same topic. He had kind of the same ideas, only his way was music.
So I guess being artistic springs off from this inner need. An inner need to express without making words. I think its not for a community or making the world better, but a rather egoist thing.

If I wanted to do something for everybody I could simply paint beautiful flowerpaintings or realistic portraits of family members...but I\'m not into that, never felt a need to do that.

 

[supervike]

Good question.

Initially, I took a shine to painting as a way to play those fancy shmancy war games.

At some point, the zen of painting hit me too. It wasn\'t a means to an end, but rather painting was \'it\' in and of itself.
Real joy over getting a color scheme to look right, or having painted a small freehand.

When I found CMoN, I became very excited about painting, as many of us still are, just for the sheer thrill of painting to get responses or comments. I\'ve found myself painting for the approval of others. Despite what we all say, many of us do exactly that. But, there is danger in that as well, as it is a very empty feeling,

Nowadays, I\'ve all but given up painting. I did just paint some figures, but my heart and soul wasn\'t in it. It was more a chore than anything, and I can\'t find the joy I once found. Somedays, I truly yearn for that joy, but the only thing that comes of it is frustration of not getting the paint to look the way I want. Frustration that while I spend countless hours agonizing over the face of a 28 mm figure, other folks are doing meaningful things. I have developed a serious LOVE/HATE relationship with painting.

So, I suppose I paint to for spite.

Is that a good reason?

Conversely, I\'ve discovered I like to play Board Games (tannhauser, Last night on earth), and shockingly, enjoy the fact that I can play \'wargames\' with PREPAINTED or not even painted miniatures.

So, I guess I\'ve come full circle with it....

 

[PegaZus]

I was tooling around for a hobby that was fun to do, actually produced something, and that I could pick up or drop at any time.

Painting minis has certainly provided all that. And to prove it, I haven\'t painted jack since December. But it is waiting for me, calling softly to me from behind while I sit at home on the computer.

Too bad Star Wars Legos is shouting rather than calling softly right now! And I think someone muzzled Niko from GTA IV. Maybe Jabba is sitting on him! lol

 

[Jike Ichi]

Orginal gepostet von supervike
...other folks are doing meaningful things...

Tell me one meanigful thing!? I would need an example.
Is it Work? Or Gardening? Or Shopping? Or Traveling? hmm?

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Why do I paint?

I have been a collector of metal miniatures for . . . about a quarter of a century, now. Longer, I think. I have always liked to look at the sculpts, admire the details, and more often than not, wonder at the craftsmanship that goes into making something so very small look so very life-like. Sculpting is an art that I, one day, will try.

But, painting. For most of my years as a collector, I did not have much interest in painting, at all. One or two minis in a year was a lot of painting for me. So, for myself, I have to ask myself more specifically, \"What changed?\" in addition to the original question.

So, I\'ll start with \"What changed?\" and move on from there . . .

I was looking at a few different web-sites for miniatures, and the studio paint jobs that had been done, and found myself wondering if I could make a mini - any mini - look as good as any of those.

At that time, I gamed with them only very rarely, usually with unpainted and only partially assembled pieces. And that also prompted me. If I\'m going to play the games, wouldn\'t it be nice if my gaming pieces were better looking than bare metal?

The answer to the first part is still \'no\'. I have not yet reached a studio level of painting (or photography). The answer to the second part is definitely \'yes\'. It is nice to have gaming pieces properly assemled and painted when I\'m playing the game. It makes it a little more interesting, a little more fun, to play the game.

Beyond that, I can also take pride in my gaming minis, because now, people pause by the gaming table and look at my pieces, and tell me how good they look. There are still better pieces out there, and probably always will be (there is always someone better), but it makes me feel good, even proud, when someone notices that I\'ve put an effort into something.

So, that\'s what changed, and got me onto the road to painting.

But, my initial army is pretty much finished, and I\'ve started doing other things, other projects, and have even begun getting hired to paint other people\'s miniatures (more pride in my work, there).

Why do I keep painting? Partly, I have to admit, I want to be able to paint something of studio quality, and I\'m not there yet. But why do I seek this goal? Will it gain me anything, with so many people out there painting at that level already? No, probably not.

Self-improvement is certainly a part of the answer. I read tutorials and threads here quite voraciously, and try to put things into practice, to improve my own quality of work. And when I succeed, it makes me feel pride again.

But, again, that isn\'t all of it. I have found that I enjoy painting. Not because it is a skill to learn (and maybe one day master), but because it is relaxing, enjoyable, sometimes frustrating, and what I think I like best . . . answering my own question about each piece I take on. \"What will this look like when I\'m finished it?\"

I like finding out. I like imagining something and trying to make the piece in my hands match the piece in my head. Every piece I paint, I get a little better at one thing or another. Every time, the finished piece is just a little bit closer to what I imagine.

And that . . . that makes me happy. That, I think, is why I paint. And one day, something is going to look exactly as I imagine it at the beginning. What will I do when that happens? See if I can do it twice in a row. Then thrice.

I don\'t imagine I\'ll ever stop trying. Oh, no doubt I\'ll take breaks from painting, when life gets too hectic . . . but I\'ll always be able to come back to it and I\'ll always be able to ask myself . . .

\"What will this look like, when I\'m finished with it?\"

 

[Jike Ichi]

@BarstoolProphet:
...Or you could write a book about it. I always like reading your summaries. So much truth in it. So why not make money with that skill you got there?

(oh and sorry for double post, we def need a better PC here at work )

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Originally posted by Jike Ichi
@BarstoolProphet:
...Or you could write a book about it. I always like reading your summaries. So much truth in it. So why not make money with that skill you got there?

(oh and sorry for double post, we def need a better PC here at work )

I\'ve not yet gotten an agent or editor to accept any of my writings. I continue to work on that, as well. I don\'t have enough money for Vanity Press publishing. Or anywhere near enough knowledge of how to get people to carry my works if I did.
But if you really like my writing, I could share a few of my short stories.

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by Jike Ichi

Orginal gepostet von supervike
...other folks are doing meaningful things...

Tell me one meanigful thing!? I would need an example.
Is it Work? Or Gardening? Or Shopping? Or Traveling? hmm?

sky diving, working at a food bank, curing cancer. Living their lives, developing relationships with non-pewter entities, taking courses, exercising....

:beer:

 

[Hinton]

Maybe I should have some deeper, Zen-type of explanation, but it\'s just because I like to paint minis and I seem to be improving as I go along.

I can\'t draw or sculpt, so writing and painting miniatures are the only outlets for creativity that I have that I\'m any good at.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

it pays better than minumum wage as i don\'t have to pay silly amounts on travel expenses everyday.

at times because of this i feel it\'s the only reason i still paint as i haven\'t painted anything purely for myself in a long, long time.

 

[Pelorat]

I\'ve had an art bug since high school (yeesh, coming up on 20 years), but I always hit talent ceilings on my drawing, painting, sculpting. I was Salieri to any number of Mozarts.

Painting 3d miniatures seems to be the exception, and I really just enjoy having a talent outlet that .. I dunno, it just feels like what I\'m able to excel at, even if I\'m still on the bottom rung of the experience ladder.

My turning point has certainly been recent, after absorbing various video tutorials (like Miniature Mentor & Jeremie B.) - for example, after just a few days of practice, I\'m turning crap into less crap.

Before and now:

And it\'s just fun to do!

 

[Jike Ichi]

Orginal gepostet von BarstoolProphet

Originally posted by Jike Ichi
@BarstoolProphet:
...Or you could write a book about it. I always like reading your summaries. So much truth in it. So why not make money with that skill you got there?

(oh and sorry for double post, we def need a better PC here at work )

I\'ve not yet gotten an agent or editor to accept any of my writings. I continue to work on that, as well. I don\'t have enough money for Vanity Press publishing. Or anywhere near enough knowledge of how to get people to carry my works if I did.
But if you really like my writing, I could share a few of my short stories.

Really? You write short stories? I would be honored if you let me read some.

@Pelorat: ...I always hit talent ceilings on my drawing, painting, sculpting. I was Salieri to any number of Mozarts.

Careful there Pelorat, talent is nothing without self reflection and practice. And as Prophet said, there\'s always someone better. But I guess I had that punk attitude also at your ago, so just keep it coming and use that energy lol

But I understand you at some point. I also started Miniature painting again, because its something I can really improve on. From crap to not so much crap. It fits to my idea: I started doing street art/graffitti to paint BIG and then I started Miniature painting to paint SMALL. I learn a lot from doing both.
What I like about Miniatures too is that the canvas is stretched out and motive is already clear. I \"just\" have to paint it. Thats incredible relaxing for me.

 

[Aliengod3]

I paint because I want to win a slayer sword. I paint because it makes me happy when I can create something that I think turned out well. Sometimes I paint really bad and I hate painting. With me painting is a love/hate relationship with the good outweighing the bad. I paint because I want to be in the top 50 on coolmini. Most importantly I paint because there are so many excellent minis that are constantly calling to me just asking me to paint them

That is also why I started sculpting. I want to make minis that people hear calling them to paint them.

 

[Jike Ichi]

Orginal gepostet von supervike

Originally posted by Jike Ichi

Orginal gepostet von supervike
...other folks are doing meaningful things...

Tell me one meanigful thing!? I would need an example.
Is it Work? Or Gardening? Or Shopping? Or Traveling? hmm?

sky diving, working at a food bank, curing cancer. Living their lives, developing relationships with non-pewter entities, taking courses, exercising....

:beer:

Only really meaningful I see in the list is this one: :beer:
I understand now! :beer: :drunk:

 

[Dedwrekka]

Oh no you don\'t! If I think about it I\'m just going to discover that it has little point. Dissecting things just leaves you with a bunch of twitching pieces and no real answers.

So, no thank you, I prefer to enjoy it and not think about why...

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by evil tendencies
So, the question: why do YOU paint?

It used to be cheaper than a therapist.

 

[painterboyroy]

I have always been keen on drawing as a child, then did the airfix stuff donkeys years ago. left school, became a technical illustrator, have done a few options like Motor sport artist and other exploits.
Then helped a mate babysit while the women went out on a bender and he had Bloodbowl.. we played the game then I suggested we paint a team each like in the rule book.. and a downward spiral since then..lol.. now I paint during lunchtime at work for an hour a day.. and still learning new techniques etc, which is the interesting part..