Hobby fatigue is something everyone can relate to. For me, it comes along when I spend too much time painting the same unit, and currently I'm suffering from it big time.
So it seems I've been painting my unit of silver helms endlessly for the past few weeks. This isn't to say I haven't completed other units. In fact I've managed to finish up around 700 points of tomb kings, and about 500 of high elves.....but the silver helms have killed me. So I thought I'd sit down and think about how I deal with hobby fatigue.
Namely, my primary work around is painting 2-3 models at a time. Any more then that and I lose patience, and any less I never get through what I need to paint. So I tend to find myself painting a layer onto 2-3 models and then getting up and doing something else around the house. Painting at home has a lot of distractions, so this is unsurprising.
My second way of trying to bypass my painting boredom is by switching up the units frequently. This means that I usually have a lot ld unfinished models, however, in one whack I can suddenly have an entire army finished in a week. Of course the biggest motivator is tournament painting scores, where many a gamer has found themselves up at 2am slapping the minimum colours onto their models.
Another weird knack of mine is having sky news on in the background......the mindless drone of the headlines is strangely helpful when it comes to painting. Perhaps it's a way of engaging my hearing so I don't get distracted as easy?
What do other people do?
One Foot in the Grave, endless cups of tea, and regular breaks for some fresh air! I do exactly the same as you, painting my models in threes and switching from unit to unit. Of course, since I renounced 'big gaming' and went to 500pt armies, armies take much less time to paint!
ReplyDeleteTea is my life saver for painting,few minutes if break to make it can make all the difference.
DeleteI'll set a goal of 20 squad members with painting a big bug as my reward for finishing the gribblies. Everytime I'm painting a squad I'm cursing choosing to play bugs.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel your pain because both of my armies are high points small numbers. Eldar and Elves. You must be patient!
DeleteFirstly I think you should celebrate the Tomb Kings and High elves more. As much as the Silver Helms may be your ultimate goal don't underestimate those other models completed. It's taken me 2 and 3 years respectively to paint my first Deathwing and Dark Angel tactical squad, but I have painted 4,000+ pts of Tyranids. They may be diverting my time and effort from the Fallen but anything that you're prcraastinating with that still results in painted miniatures can't be bad.
ReplyDeleteI really think hobby fatigue has to be 'managed'. You need to expect it and therefore observe the symptoms and treat it. I find 'going with the flow' - painiting what you want to paint always easiest, whether that's elves or silver helms, do what you feel happiest doing.
Then in amongst that 'go against the flow' try slipping in a couple of hours on those projects you least enjoy, because you're already motivated and then switch to going with the flow again. I try to throw in some basecoating or basing when I'm motivated just so when I've finished something all the dull mind-numbing stuff on my next project is already done and I'm already into '3rd gear' of the next models, not starting from scratch.
Which leads onto 'being prepared' - having miniatures ready to go is always useful, otherwise it's like a blank canvas and that's always a barrier to progress, it's momentum that you have to keep going with and any obstacle that slows you up needs to be planned for.
Lastly, 'dull is dull' - base coating, bases, building models - mostly these are all dull tasks, unless you're doing scenic bases or a cool kitbash. Usually this is dull, dull, dull whichever way you cut it. Where possible try and so this when you ARE least motivated! There's no point wasting your creative energies when you've the hobby sweat on on soemthing which is awlays going to feel boring.
Just a few of my observations.
Thanks mate. I try to switch it up as much as possible. Usually get about 3 silver helms done a week, and I'm about a third if the way through the 15 man unit. Will need to switch it up big time.
DeletePretty much everything Dave Weston said is great advice, particularly the part about painting what you want to paint.
ReplyDeleteLast week I got most of the way through 25 Space Marine Scouts and even though I only have highlights and details to do I have lost all motivation to paint them. I switched back to my Undead, which I'm putting together for a tournament in May and got 80 Skeletons painted over the weekend.
This year I'm taking part in a number of painting challenges on forums or facebook groups where the goal is to paint more than you buy. This has seen the biggest turnover in my painting for many years; Currently 334 models painted since 1st Jan, which is more than I've painted in the last 3-4 years combined!
When I'm actually sitting down to paint I'll usually have either music playing or be watching something that doesn't require my full attention to keep up with... for example over the last 3 months I've blasted through 14 seasons of Stargate SG1/Atlantis.
I also find it good to arrange a game or two if I get fed up painting. Its good to remind yourself why you're chaining yourself to your paint station for hours at a time! :)
334 is a huge effort mate, congrats! I do find that playing games motivate me more, especially if I'm the only player with an unpainted army.
DeleteMike, you're so right when it comes to the end of the project and suddenly the fatigue hits because you know it's so close to completion. You have to really push on through at that stage, it's really tough some times.
DeleteI find listening to Podcast while I paint to help since you just have to listen and not really pay attention.
ReplyDeleteYeah 40k podcasts have me going hard. Lot of amazing ones out there and free.
DeleteI bought built and painted a knight titan in a week. This from a guy who can't finish a squad in 4 years.
Switching units usually isn't enough to keep me painting. If I get burnt out on painting models I'll switch to something really different like building terrain or something.
ReplyDeleteTry painting ½ an hour a day, while watching / listening to the news, talking to your girlfriend or whatever you do on a daily basis. This will give you a Little Progress every day, leaving you with a lot of Progress on a monthly basis.
ReplyDelete