Gaining confidence painting

[vodkafan]

Despite my eyesight problems, I am pleased with how my painting is now going. Today I felt like I passed my first big "test" since restarting after 6 years. I did the first flesh coat on some hands and faces. It was something I was worrying about.  Faces make or break a miniature. But I felt it went OK. It has helped my confidence no end.
Hopefully I will soon now have some figures finished to photograph and put up here.
I have found that disciplining myself and following certain rules is helping me, and I put them up here in case they are helpful to others:
1. Paint every day- even if it's only for half an hour. If I don't feel I can do quality detail work I have other minis ready to undercoat or just blocking in large areas of basic colour.
2. Have your current projects in a tray or somewhere you can get out easily and quickly (I don't have an area I can leave stuff set up). Likewise have paints organised.
3.Always paint in the best light you can. Don't try to paint in bad light.
4. Have small clear goals in mind for each day/session. When I am at work I write a small list of jobs I want to do, breaking them down into steps. I seem to get much more done that way.
5. Warm up by painting on an unwanted or spare figure I don't care about.  I also use this figure to test the colours I am going to use on my "proper" figures.
6.Don't be discouraged if I have several bad painting days in a row. Nobody died. Nobody even cares about my miniatures except for me.   

[Eric the Shed]

Good list..

But can I add a couple of thoughts...

1. Have a goal...eg I wanted hundreds of Zulus. I only painted Zulus until this goal was reached.
2. only paint everyday if you want to...and it does not interfere with family, life and other commitments. I paint most days in the early hours (6am to 7am before work and everybody else wakes up)...
3. Don't let your lead mountain get ahead of three months painting time. If it does you are wasting money and will never complete the goal..

Good luck

[vodkafan]

Good list..

But can I add a couple of thoughts...

1. Have a goal...eg I wanted hundreds of Zulus. I only painted Zulus until this goal was reached.
2. only paint everyday if you want to...and it does not interfere with family, life and other commitments. I paint most days in the early hours (6am to 7am before work and everybody else wakes up)...
3. Don't let your lead mountain get ahead of three months painting time. If it does you are wasting money and will never complete the goal..

Good luck

Hi Eric thanks muchly for the input.
1). I only wish my brain was set up that way. It never has been though so I don't try. I do limit my projects to 2 or        3 at a time though.
2) There is one day a week I can't paint  because of circumstances but every other day I am really keen. I really like that feeling of building up momentum and hate to stop.
3) Haha it's far too late for that! A little while ago I cashed in a forgotten pension plan and set aside £1000 just to be able to buy every mini I have ever wanted over the years. Let me tell ya it's been great. I do love having little parcels coming through the letter box... 

[stone-cold-lead]

6.Don't be discouraged if I have several bad painting days in a row. Nobody died. Nobody even cares about my miniatures except for me.   

Way back in the late 90's I used to mess up every third model or so and would end up stripping them. No disasters in recent years although I do occasionally bite the bullet and change something if it just isn't quite working. In fact I'm doing that right now. Painted a model with an all metallic shield and it just looked a bit weak so I'm now repainting it to better match some other models and to just do a better job of it.

[Elbows]

Only things I can advise...

1) Don't paint unless you're in the mood to paint.  Barring some odd situation we're probably normally not painting to a deadline or as a job/career.  I never ever like what I paint when I'm forcing myself to do it.

2) If you can't think of a scheme, etc?  Wait.  I primed some figures and waited four weeks until the inspiration struck finally.

3) I only assemble/prime what I'm going to paint.  A huge assembled army etc. can be far too intimidating and will keep me from sitting down at my painting desk.  3-4 figures sitting there primed?  I find that more inviting and I'm more likely to sit down and actually paint them.  You may have a lead mountain, but don't start assembling/basing hundreds of minis because you're bored.  That's a recipe for disaster.

4) If you screw something up...strip it and start over again.  It's pretty simple.

5) Start a blog or show some stuff off, or develop a very concise goal.  These things help motivate me to paint and finish stuff.

[fred]

2. Have your current projects in a tray or somewhere you can get out easily and quickly (I don't have an area I can leave stuff set up). Likewise have paints organised.

I find this really helpful - when I have to make an effort to set things up, or get them out, I get much less done. Now I have a space I can leave setup its great (except when the kids steal my desk to use the computer!)

[vodkafan]

Only things I can advise...

1) Don't paint unless you're in the mood to paint.  Barring some odd situation we're probably normally not painting to a deadline or as a job/career.  I never ever like what I paint when I'm forcing myself to do it.

2) If you can't think of a scheme, etc?  Wait.  I primed some figures and waited four weeks until the inspiration struck finally.

3) I only assemble/prime what I'm going to paint.  A huge assembled army etc. can be far too intimidating and will keep me from sitting down at my painting desk.  3-4 figures sitting there primed?  I find that more inviting and I'm more likely to sit down and actually paint them.  You may have a lead mountain, but don't start assembling/basing hundreds of minis because you're bored.  That's a recipe for disaster.

4) If you screw something up...strip it and start over again.  It's pretty simple.

5) Start a blog or show some stuff off, or develop a very concise goal.  These things help motivate me to paint and finish stuff.

Hi Elbows thanks for your reply. I found your advice really very interesting because I am developing almost exactly the opposite approach to some of your tenets! It just shows we are all different.

1) I find painting whether I am in the mood or not helps me build up momentum and a feeling of confidence. Other wise I will procrastinate for ever. 

2) Most of my stuff is historical so there is not so much bearing on being inspired

3) I am finding that having other stuff assembled/undercoated ready to paint means that I can just switch to other projects straight away if I hit a sticking point in my main project without wasting painting time.

4) What do you use to strip stuff? I definitely have some minis I want to do again

5) That is a good piece of advice! I would like to start a thread here if I am allowed. I am not much on keeping up a blog 

[Elbows]

http://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2016/04/stripping-models.html

Some info on my blog.  The actual chemicals you use will be determined by where you live.  Here in the states I used Super Clean or Purple Power.

[vodkafan]

Great blog Elbows. Your painting is amazing sir. Interesting that you remove slottabases. I never knew Dettol could be used to strip paint! Never heard of that ultrasonic gizmo what will they think of next?

[Severian]

Interesting. I definitely fall on the "paint every day" side of this debate - mostly because I find it relaxing and (usually) enjoyable.

The inspiration thing is tricky, but generally, as with a lot of things, I find if I set myself to it, and make a habit of sitting with brush in hand (or in front of the keyboard, or whatever), then inspiration can come if it's going to. If I wait until I'm inspired not much will ever happen! But if I make a space for it, then it can come (or not). Sometimes of course I'm too tired for much to happen except some base coats or simple washes, but it's all progress.

I do envy those who can stick to a project until it's done, and resist distraction, but I'm also self-aware enough to know that's not really how my hobby works! I do sometimes manage to finish smallish projects, but more usually I get distracted soon after the first few hurdles (units, or such) are past.

With any luck, though, what I'm distracted by will be one of the other dozen or so part-finished (or barely started) projects hiding in boxes and drawers, so that then gets disinterred and worked on for a few weeks... But this never wholly excludes adding to the lead/plastic pile, of course... Then again, in my experience planning and assembling (unpainted) armies, basing them up &c and buying those "few extra" figures is a key part of the fun. I can worry about actually painting them later on...

I think one of the key motivators for me is when I take a look at my painting table first thing in the morning, and see something I've (more or less) finished the night before. Nice to have something to show the children, too - they're encouragingly easy to impress!

I suppose what I've realised is I need to allow for a certain degree of chaos and incompletion in my hobby without worrying too much about it. It's enough to enjoy the process, and I do. Painting gives me some welcome relaxation at the end of my day, and that in some ways is enough. All the rest is added bonus!

Good to hear about others' different approaches, though - not least because the fantastic results achieved by the disciplined and systematic (such as the estimable Mr The Shed) play a large part in inspiring my more ramshackle efforts.

Another vote for Dettol, by the way (although it can make plastic a bit brittle if, like me, you forget about the jar of the stuff you filled with plastic orcs some months back...)

[Hobgoblin]

I suppose what I've realised is I need to allow for a certain degree of chaos and incompletion in my hobby without worrying too much about it. It's enough to enjoy the process, and I do. Painting gives me some welcome relaxation at the end of my day, and that in some ways is enough. All the rest is added bonus!

Couldn't agree more with this. I actively embrace flipping from one project to another. And sometimes, it's nice just to pick up an inviting miniature and paint it from scratch, without any connection to other projects. You can always find a place for something in a skirmish game.

Another vote for Dettol, by the way (although it can make plastic a bit brittle if, like me, you forget about the jar of the stuff you filled with plastic orcs some months back...)

Try Biostrip! I'll never go back to Dettol. Biostrip's quicker, safer, much less smelly and much easier to use. It's more reusable too, I think, so even though it costs around £10 a tub, you can get a lot of use out of it. And the convenience greatly outweighs the cost in any case. Also, it takes only 20 minutes or so to work. You can throw some miniatures in it, tell the kids a bedtime story, then strip the models and have them on the painting table in a few minutes.

[MartinR]

I only paint when I feel like it it. If it feels like a chore, it isn't a hobby any more.

The two main things I find useful are:

1. setting sensible goals (breaking big paint jobs up into smaller batches - unit or two at a time or whatever). It gives a sense of progress and and avoids the job being overwhelming. I don't do multiple projects at once, it is just a distraction.

2. I also don't have a permanent spot, so I have a 'ready use' work set - tin tray with my tools on it, shoe box with all my immediate use paints and brushes and a single A4 box file with my current project in it. I can just take it off the shelf and start work.  A single box file helps keep the projects manageable.

All the rest of my stuff lives in a cupboard (less used paint, basing materials, filler etc).

[shandy]

This is a fun thread!

I always thought I was the only one who has no permanent set up for painting - I also work with a tray with tools and figures and a shoe box of paints, which I can get out & pack away in an instance. Works well and even has its advantages - I'm always forced to clean up my work space and don't have lots of unfinished minis lying around :-)

The most important thing to keep me painting is - as has already been mentioned - working in small batches: 8 figures for 15mm, 4 for 28mm (I've usually got two such batches prepared, so when one is finished, I can tackle the other one). Fortunately, I mainly play skirmish games 

Regular painting helps keep the pace, but I won't paint if it's a chore. I do nudge myself sometimes though so as not to spend to whole evening browsing the internet...

[Elbows]

I'll add that I like getting any gaming project up to it's full playable standard (ie. minis, terrain, rules etc.).  This makes it far easier to find time to paint an additional figure or two if that makes sense.  Having a big army looming in front of me is intimidating.  Once said army is essentially done it's far more enjoyable to be able to paint pieces to add to it.

For instance my Dungeon Crawl selection is playable/done.   My Old West selection is playable/done.  My recent Eldar army for old school 40K is almost there.  This means I have three projects where I can just paint 2-3 figures in an evening to add to a unit, or to a project.  While this is a bit chicken before egg..."finishing" a project is a darn good way to be motivated to add to it later --- if that makes any sense at all.

My Old West project for instance, I'm now taking time to re-base my old painted figures to match my new ones, and I stumbled upon a huge box filled with indians and cavalry I was considering doing a couple years ago.  Awesome, I've enjoyed painting up a couple random indians over the past few days.  There's no intimidation or stress, just paint at my pace - adding to the already "good to go" Old West project.

[FramFramson]

With regards to false starts, I always paint the skin and faces of my miniatures first. This is good practices for those of us who follow the layer method (paint the deepest layers and work your way outward as best you can, so skin, then underclothes, then coats or cloaks, then gear, as a rough guide), but it's also good for me because the face is the most difficult and sensitive part of the figure by far, so if I screw it all up really badly then it's much easier to strip and start over then it would be if I'd painted the face last.

Plus if I like the face, I also tend to be more forgiving of errors elsewhere. This is generally true anyway - at miniature size the primary focus of a viewer will fall on the face and upper chest, so if you paint those to a higher standard than the rest of the mini, the viewer will mentally apply that standard to the whole mini. It's true! It works!