Painting Motivation

As we enter another lockdown, many hobbyists pick up their paintbrushes and once more try and tackle the dreaded "Pile of Shame".

We all have one - it could be small, it could be huge, but we all have a collection of unpainted miniatures lurking somewhere. All those painting projects that sit unfinished or unstarted. I personally have several shoeboxes in my wardrobe containing unpainted miniatures for SBG, as well as 40k and Age of Sigmar (I keep a separate box for each). 

One part of the hobby we all enjoy is playing games with painted miniatures - it makes it look nicer when two fully painted armies are battling it out, opposed to bare plastic or metal. In a casual game of course, this wouldn't be a problem, but most tournaments (GW being the obvious) will require you to have your minis painted and based. 

For some of us, this is their least favourite thing about the hobby - there are those of us who simply don't enjoy painting, and there's nothing wrong with that. Others enjoy painting but struggle to find time or start and then struggle to finish - again, nothing bad about that. The challenge every hobbyist face is motivation. Hopefully I can share with you some tips and tricks that helps picking up the brush and slapping some colour on those models easier! 

Step 1: Set yourself a goal

A deadline is one of the easiest ways to encourage yourself to paint - you might have a tournament coming up and need to get some models painted for it, or you might be thinking to yourself that these models have gone unpainted or unfinished for too long. 

You could set yourself a deadline such as "I want to get all these models painted by the end of the month". Of course, you don't have to be ridiculously ambitious - you could set yourself a goal of painting them by the end of the year. Basically, pick a goal that you think you can achieve. 

Alternatively, you could set yourself a quantity challenge - try to get a certain number of models painted within a certain period of time - you could, for example, set yourself a goal of painting a certain number of models each week / month etc., or say "I want to have painted 100 models by the end of the year!"

Another way would be to set aside some hobby time - even if it's just a couple of hours a week, sitting down and painting for an hour is a good way of making progress on your models, and it can be very pleasing to see what you manage to paint in a short space of time. 

At the end of the day, the best advice is to keep things manageable - if you think you can achieve it, go for it!

Step 2: Keep it simple

Some hobbyists will spend hours painting a single model for their army, giving it tons of attention and detail and coming up with a truly astonishing army. They are then of course justly rewarded with Best Painted Army prizes, Golden Demons, Armies on Parade, etc., but not everyone can / will spend that much time on individual models. 

You don't have to spend hours painting a single model so it looks brilliant - you can if you want to, but if you just want to get some paint on the model, then paint to a standard that you're happy with, not one someone else has set. 

If you want to spend a bit more time on your "centrepiece" models (such as your heroes, monsters, siege weapons etc.), then feel free - this is the approach I usually take - paint the regular warriors to a decent standard, then spend some extra time on the heroes to make them stand out from the rest of the army. 

Again, this can be achieved in many ways - you base them differently, use different colours, or add an extra layer of highlights above what you used for your warriors. 

Also, keeping the paint scheme simple will also be a help. Generally, models can be broken down into three simple stages:

1. Armour and weapons

2: Flesh

3: Clothing

By breaking models down into stages, you can plan out your colour schemes much more easily - this then helps you paint a decent looking army without having to focus on every detail of the model. 

Also remember - it doesn't have to be perfect. If you're happy with what you've painted, then that is all that matters.

Step 3: Speed it up

If you’re painting a horde army, such as goblins or hobbits, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to speed up the painting process - painting a huge army can always be an off-putting prospect, but there are ways to get through them:

• Batch painting - instead of painting your models individually, painting them in batches (I'd recommend around 5 to 10 models to keep it manageable) will help paint them faster. It's a simple technique too - paint one particular colour on a model, then do the same for the rest in the batch. By the time you've painted the last model, the first will be dry and then you can start the process again with a different colour. 

• Drybrushing - A fast and effective way of adding highlights to a model - sometimes you can spend ages highlighting a model, when a simple drybrush can achieve the same thing. Drybrushing means adding some paint to your brush, wiping most of the excess paint off, and then gently brushing over the raised areas of a model, leaving a nice highlight behind. The trick is to keep the drybrushing light, otherwise you might find the highlights are getting a bit stark or they're getting too extreme - make sure you've wiped off as much paint as possible before you start painting the model. 

• Contrast Paints - these are pretty easy to use - simply apply the paint straight out of the pot. They're designed to have a certain consistency, so that you should only need to apply one coat of paint on a model. Tutorials on using contrast paint can easily be found on YouTube or the GW website.

IMPORTANT NOTE - contrast paints require a certain undercoat - either Grey Seer or Wraithbone Spray - make sure you've used one of these as an undercoat before using contrast paints - otherwise it won't work like it's supposed to!

Step 4: Take a break

If you're struggling to get something painted, then one of the easiest things to do is to walk away - take a break, clear your head and then come back to painting when you feel like it. If you force yourself to paint just for the sake of it, then you're not going to enjoy it - even the most experienced painters get burnout over time, so only pick up a paintbrush when you want to. 

If you're getting stressed out because you've got a deadline approaching and you're struggling, again, take a breather and then try and plan out what to do - can you cut down on your painting time by focussing more on certain models / painting less details? Alternatively, focus on models you know you can paint quickly before returning to the more difficult models. Time management can also be helpful in ensuring that you can get through everything before the deadline. 

Also, remember that tournaments usually ask that all models simply be painted - they don't have to be Golden Demon winning quality on the table top. You can always add those final details after the tournament's finished and there's a lot less pressure - you can then bring them to the next one and show off the extra details you've added!

Hopefully you've found this little entry helpful for ploughing into your Pile of Shame, and that the suggestions above make things easier. 

Until next time, happy painting!

The Tolkien Fan