Reply To: I paint every mini like it's my last!

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Ha ha, that me laugh. But I suppose I can share a few thoughts about how I approach my hobby that help with reaching a level of contentment.

Firstly, I paint in small bursts, sessions of 30 mins to an hour, but regularly (almost daily). This has built a mindset of having a target to achieve when I sit down to paint, and practice has made me very aware of what I can achieve in a given timeframe. Looking at what’s on my desk as an example, I’ve got a dozen 18mm Napoleonic Highlanders. Yesterday’s aim was to add the yellow lines to the kilts and highlight the facings. Todays will be to highlight anything white. By trying to finish something within a narrowish window of time, it encourages walking away when you’ve got to a point that is ‘acceptable’. Conversely, I don’t try to cram too much into the time I have. I’m not going to paint 20 models in an hour, so I don’t try.

I’m always looking at the bigger picture of what I want to achieve. If I want a finished army by a certain point, it’s unlikely to happen if I lavish each model with all my attention. Again, it helps to encourage a mindset of putting a model down when it’s acceptable in order to reach the ultimate goal.

I enjoy painting, and I use it as a way to relax and destress. If I find I’m getting frustrated by trying to finish something to a standard that is a struggle, I’ve missed the point of why I picked up a paint brush. That’s not to say I won’t challenge myself by trying to improve, but I’m accepting of my failure to paint a perfect model.