How to get through the pile?

[grant]

Clear the bench, clear the mind. Clean the brush. Paint.

Zen painting philosophy. 

[FramFramson]

My bench is host to chaos and squallor

Alternate solution: Paint yourself an Imperial Inquisitor and retinue. I think you'll come back in the morning to find the problem has taken care of itself, though your desk might feature a few shell holes or radiation burns. But those clean up in a trice.

[Major_Gilbear]

This is my painting area - I am always set up, ready. And highly organized. I return it to this clean state after every project, always, or I would go nuts.

I salute you for your awesome and tidy set-up sir! I too like to paint in a tidy area, and make an effort to keep it that way.

One suggestion I might have though... Have two or three water pots rather than one - it saves you needing to get up to change the water in longer painting sessions. 

Another tool I make great use of is a small travel hairdryer. I don't really like batch-painting rows and rows of models (too dull and discouraging), and waiting for each basecoat or wash to dry on just a couple of figures really cuts into my painting time too much. The hairdyer lets me speed up the drying times significatly, and I'm therefore rather more productive than I'd otherwise be (especially as my style of painting uses a lot of glazing and washing in order to build up colours in a fairly fast and lazy way).

[grant]

Hey thanks! I have a washroom 10 feet away for changing water. One pot means I change it frequently (I actually have another labelled "metals" for those rare times I use them.

Hair dryer? Nah. I thin my paints on a wet palette, and they go on thin, so dry fast however, like you I am a washer and employer of glazes - that's when the dryer would work. Wife has a touch screen controlled dryer. I can't imagine stealing that without near-death

All good advice though!

[Major_Gilbear]

Wife has a touch screen controlled dryer. I can't imagine stealing that without near-death

Huh, I must live a sheltered life. I... Had no idea those even existed!

Still, like I said, mine's a travel hairdryer - it's fairly compact and the handle folds up so that you can store it easily with the painting clobber. I seem to remember it was super cheap too, £3-4 or something around that. Even if it's not suitable for you, I mention it as it helped speed up my painting and might therefore be helpful for somebody else too (i.e., anything that's useful for getting through Mount Lead that little bit faster  ).

[grant]

Huh, I must live a sheltered life. I... Had no idea those even existed!

Still, like I said, mine's a travel hairdryer - it's fairly compact and the handle folds up so that you can store it easily with the painting clobber. I seem to remember it was super cheap too, £3-4 or something around that. Even if it's not suitable for you, I mention it as it helped speed up my painting and might therefore be helpful for somebody else too (i.e., anything that's useful for getting through Mount Lead that little bit faster  ).

This is it. I seem to recall paying like $400 or some obscene amount for it. It's actually very cool! 

[Drachenklinge]

Clear the bench, clear the mind. Clean the brush. Paint.

Zen painting philosophy. 

There is no mini ... 

[grant]

There is no mini ... 

Ah, but there is the secret: be the mini

So endeth the lesson 

[Gibby]

I paint for 1-1&1/2 hours every day, whether I want to or not. It's the only way to be productive. Habits.

(I confess! There's the odd day I don't but it's very rare). Sometimes I paint much more too - days off, holidays.

This is my painting area - I am always set up, ready. And highly organized. I return it to this clean state after every project, always, or I would go nuts. I don't look at the unpainted mountain, only ever what's in front of me and in focus. Simple.

I envy this set up. It looks great!

[grant]

Cheers! I enjoy being highly organized.

Incidentally, the desk and the paint shelves are IKEA, so dirt cheap. The shelves are called "ribba" and are meant for pictures. They take two Vallejo bottles back to back. I don't bury colours, so anything in the back are spares. The shelves are also deep enough for a large bottle like the big Vallejo primers or thinners.

[Vanvlak]

Wow, stunning bench and paint shelves.

I hate selling stuff, as I tend to move from one project to another - and eventually back, even if it takes years. So I horde. Which is not the ideal solution, but it's fun to find stuff you forgot you owned.
I try to be positive about results: yesterday I finished 4 models, which I had fun* doing. End of story 

*a conversion, the first model of a new project, and a pair of Pewter Ponies - very nicely detailed and fun to paint!

[Michi]

I like my work area with more chaos. That setup makes it look like it is a job not a fun past time.

Ditto. I keep my brushes clean and put everything back to its place after work though. However the painting table still looks like a mess most of the time... 

[Modhail]

Sounds familiar, I've a pack-away shambles as well.
As for getting through the pile, for me I've found that the best way is to just paint what I want, when I want. As I hardly ever get to game the incentive to finish something for a certain game or date is missing for me and I've enough chores and must-dos as it is, painting is me-time: A time of focused relaxation.

[Modhail]

There is no teutonic neatness in me at all.

Ah, another sufferer of teutonic deficiency... 

[grant]

Another thing to do to get through the pile: quit wasting time on the Internet!

 This is my week's goal, to unplug.

I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.