Painters Block

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:25 pm

Has anyone else ever experienced this? I've gone to the workroom three nights in a row now and just sat there an looked at my minis. I can't develop a desire to paint anything, SFB/FC minis, D&D minis, 'Mechs, etc.

I've sanded, assembled, and base-coated about 100 stands for SFB/FC minis when I finally do get started painting again, but that's about the extent of my recent work.

Any suggestions on how to get motivated again? I tried to force myself to paint a couple of Hydrans last night... and they'll be dipped in Easy-Off! this evening, so that was a wasted hour or so.

jmt · Post by **jmt** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:45 pm

Yes, all the time.

I find either (1) a change of media or (2) exposure to new techniques tends to wake up the Muse. Usually, a trip to CoolMiniOrNot or to the various "golden demon" or "Rackham" sites helps me.

jmt

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:31 pm

Happens to me almost every night.

I've walked past my bench for the last four nights and don't sit down. It's probably because I just finished a "full court press" to get two done for a client and I'm having to play catch-up with the wife.

I'm still very uncomfortable painting. I can do it, but it makes me nervy - I'm much happier assembling, modifying, etc.

I guess jmt's advice would be mine as well. Trying something different to get the mojo back.

In my case - I've been working hard in FreeHand on the PC to get my graphics for the homebrew decals done. I've also been [gasp] practicing the game to get my self ready to teach my first batch of friends (I don't have a regular play group like a lot of folks do).

I just picked up 2 more prospectives last night, so I'm getting fired up to paint again as they were all pretty stoked by the pictures I showed them on various websites.

Starfury · Post by **Starfury** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:37 pm

I'm in that rut now. Haven't had any interest in painting; got 13 ISC ships and a half dozen Fed to do...even painting some as captured ships. Maybe because it's getting colder or I'd rather play a game than paint the minis.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:30 am

I miss sitting outside on my back patio, working on minis in the sun. Good times.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:53 am

Not really sure what my problem is... I spent two hours sitting at he work table tonight and got some work don on a top-secret project (more details once completed). Nothing complex or difficult, basically mixing together some "green putty" and forming rough shapes. Maybe, after it cures and I start finishing it... it'll put me in the mood to paint!

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:58 am

I bought my first bag of minis a couple of months ago, washed them, and primed them in a couple of different greys.

Since then, nothing. I've been busy with other stuff, though.

toastie · Post by **toastie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:00 am

I've got a set of frigates (2 Fed, 2 Klingon, 2 Romulan, 2 Kzin) that I was working on for a demo and never finished. Its probably about the best work I've done so far, but I can't get the motivation to finish them. I'm thinking about stripping all the paint and starting over.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:05 am

toastie - Why the desire to strip them? What about the paint work are you having issues with?

toastie · Post by **toastie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:00 pm

The base coat on the Feds and Romulans did not come out even. I'm having a tough time getting light base colors to come out right. I used a white primer so the Kzin came out a bit brighter than the standard 'brick red' you normally see. I sorta like it, so I might stick with it, but haven't decided yet.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:42 pm

I've only been painting Feds and Klingons so far, so I haven't hit that problem. It's food for thought though. Sounds like a grey primer is a better bet for the darker hull colors.

PaulK · Post by **PaulK** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:57 pm

I'm currently painting up some Feds and Romulans myself. The first Fed frigate I did turned out well (brush painted) but the heavy cruiser started to look like a big white blob of snowman poo. I ended up breaking out the airbrush and things have worked out much better. From what I've been able to tell, SFU ships are almost made to be airbrushed (at least for the base coat).

To the topic at hand, I routinely suffer from painters' block. I end up getting to the 80% point and just get all "blah" about painting on a particular figure any more. When that happens I typically pull some "virgin metal" out and do all the cleanup, filing, and such.

Cheers!

/Paul

toastie · Post by **toastie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:03 pm

djdood wrote:I've only been painting Feds and Klingons so far, so I haven't hit that problem. It's food for thought though. Sounds like a grey primer is a better bet for the darker hull colors.

If I can figure out how to do it, I'll try to take a few pictures, so you can see how it looks. If I like it, I've also got a bunch of big ships to do.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:07 pm

I agree with PaulK. I've been airbrushing the base-coats of my ADB minis, and they look a million times better than the old stuff I did with brushes 20 years ago.

I'm even using a dirt-cheap Testors airbrush and canned air and still getting decent results (when I don't over do it). I guess the cheapest airbrush is better than a rattle-can or brushed paint.

toastie · Post by **toastie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:48 pm

I guess I need to find my old airbrush then, and it is time to invest in a compressor. But before that, I've got about a hundred minis that need to be primed. Any suggestion on how to apply spray primer indoors without asphyxiating myself, or should I just give up for the season?