Source
r/minipainting•
spacewizardproblems

I feel like I put in too much effort when I paint sometimes

I don't paint that much and I'm not an exceptional painter. My miniatures generally turn out pretty good, but not quite professional quality and I'm fine with that. However, whenever I do paint, I often find myself putting in way more effort than I really want to. Sometimes I just want to turn my mind off and paint something simple. The problem is I feel like I'm wasting miniatures if I don't do my best on a piece. I do like having good looking miniatures, and I also like having consistency across miniatures.

Does anyone else relate? Do you do anything about it?

I feel like it would maybe help if I had a source of miniatures with lower levels of detail that are fun and easy to paint that I can churn out in batches when I'm feeling lazy. I do have the Kickstarter set of Bones (with more on the way...) but even those have too much detail for me to be able to relax.

Posted Jan 7, 2015, 4:55 AM UTC

631
geekd•

I totally understand where you are coming from. I'm the opposite of redpiano (see his post above) in that I paint minis to use in games, and some of the games I play require 100+ minis, so I tend to paint fast and dirty.

I combat the "spend too much time" problem by painting several at once. If a unit is 8 or less (SAGA hearthguard and warriors, most Sword & Spear, a Dreadball team), then I'll paint the whole unit at once. If a unit is more than that (Kings of War, some Sword & Spear), I'll paint 5 or so at once until I have the whole unit painted.

For example http://i.imgur.com/yXThlIWh.jpg - I assembled and primed 18 pikemen for Sword & Spear. A pike unit is 9. So I painted 6 at a time, then based all 18 at once.

Having those other minis "looking at me" prevents me from endless highlights and finishing touches.

And here's a unit of 9 completed http://i.imgur.com/TZ6v5dGh.jpg

For games that only use 5 - 10 minis, I do spend more time per mini, but even then 2 or 3 hours for single mini (for the painting step - if you include assembly and basing, then add another hour) is my limit.

This guy I went "all out" on (for me) http://i.imgur.com/QvKjioyh.jpg?1

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

I guess I'm somewhere in between. I started collecting and painting because I thought I would enjoy playing 40k. At first, I didn't put in much painting effort but I gradually came to realize I enjoyed assembling and painting the models much more than I enjoyed playing the game.

But when I started to get serious about painting, I started to try harder and take more time. I enjoy that a lot, but I also have less free time and mental energy to devote to the hobby and it makes me really miss my more productive early days where I could paint an ugly squad of imperial guardsmen in an evening.

I guess that's why I crave something less serious to paint. Being highly productive in a short time helps me appreciate actually taking the time to paint something nice once in a while because I get the sense of productivity? I guess? I think I'd rather paint 10 simple minis and 1 quality mini in a week than just 2 quality minis. 11 vs 2.

Oh, and excellent work on all of those, as always, geekd! Those pikemen look great. Care to share a quick overview of your technique?

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jestergoblin•

I love the assembly line approach to painting. It works especially when when I am doing something like Zombicide minis. Need to paint 20 of the exact same sculpt? Sure, I'll just run through them quickly and make gut calls "red tie, blue tie, green tie, brown belt, black belt, tan belt, black pants, blue pants, navy pants..." because I'm more concerned about the end result of the game, not the end result of any individual miniature.

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randomisation•

Yup, I can totally relate to this. A buddy of mine has asked on multiple occasions "Why do you have to treat every miniature like its a master piece?". I reply that it's because if I feel like I could have done better, it will forever plague me. It's odd, but I would basically be buying models I liked, but then ending up not liking them...

Essentially I think I'm just a perfectionist when it comes to minipainting. I don't think I'll ever be completely happy with it, so will continue to go to the nth degree to do as best I can.

I've tried painting less detailed mini, but found I still do the same thing, but it's harder as I feel I have to add more details by hand!

Would I like to paint faster? Yup. Would I like the quality to slip? Nope. So painstakingly slow it it then! Sooner or later I'll be skilled enough to paint quicker without slipping, so until then it's just practice, practice, practice!

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

Yep! I think I'm just too much of a perfectionist too. It's hard to just turn off my brain and do less than my best. I figured a less detailed miniature would be easier to put less effort into, but if your experience is anything to go by, maybe I just need to learn to deal with it.

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HiddenA•

I find it nice because instead of turning off my brain, I focus in. I don't have to think about work or family or friends... I can turn other things off and just focus on the art.

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redpiano•

Hasslefree miniatures are in my opinion typically lesser detailed than Reaper minis, might check them out.

As someone who paints solely for the painting, no I don't really relate, if I'm going to paint a miniature I generally put in as much effort as I have the patience to.

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

Thanks for reminding me! They actually have a few pretty cool looking miniatures that I'm interested in getting, though I think at those prices, they're probably worth putting in a little more effort.

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redpiano•

Only option then is Bones which you already have, they're the cheapest, lowest detailed minis out there. I suppose you could try smaller scale minis that can't really be detailed all that well?

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

Yeah. I guess maybe I need to get over my irrational fear of ruining Bones minis. I'm almost scared to even paint them at all, for some reason. It's not like they're not easily replaceable!

I think another option might be boardgames with miniatures if anyone has any particular favorites.

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Distind•

Bones are tougher than they look. I've used simple green to strip mine twice now and they hold up fine. Only problem is you need a good base after the first time so the stains from the old colors don't show through. I prefer to prime mine anyway and I can confirm the primer still comes off. It came off better than the ones I based with reaper paints.

I should mention, someone tested a bones kobold in simple green for over a month, it was just fine and really easy to get the paint off aside from now being slightly green.

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matt3o•

I paint for the sake of it. I don't play any game with the minis. I just find painting relaxing. I code most of the day, so switching to something artistic is soothing for my mind.

That being said I really put too much effort on each mini. Some sessions I don't even paint, I just look at the mini debating which color would be best to use. I definitely overthink it and I end up getting bored of the same mini I'm painting for a month.

To that add the I'm never ever satisfied with the end result. They are "ok", possibly one step over "splat-some-color-here-and-there" but definitely not good enough for the effort I put on them.

I found out that slightly bigger minis are actually less frustrating. I'm now trying to avoid strictly 28mm minis and point my attention to the 30-32mm ones. The difference is tiny but it helped me, so it might work for you as well.

Good luck!

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

Dude, are you me? Seriously. I feel like I could have written your comment.

I code all day and come home and want to do something calm and creative. Just picking colors is probably my least favorite thing about painting. It's just really difficult and I do that exact same thing where I have the same unfinished mini sitting around forever because I can't figure out exactly what to do with it.

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HiddenA•

I find it helps to look at a photo which captures the mood or idea and use that to draw inspiration from for color choices.

I also spend a lot of time staring at a color wheel thinking of what kind of relationship each color has to the other... But I love color theory. It's my favorite thing about colors! Their interplay. (I design lights for theatre for a living so I think of color a lot).

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matt3o•

well... at least I'm not alone

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Mi_Productions•

If you're in the situation where you don't want to spend a lot of time on your minis, but you do want them to look good, you have a few options. Choose armies that look good with simple paintjobs (e.g. Necrons); develop speedpainting techniques and/or a better workflow; or pay someone else to paint for you.

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matt3o•

or pay someone else to paint for you

this is the meanest thing to say in this sub-reddit! :)

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Mi_Productions•

Sorry, I didn't mean to be mean. Just you know, if you're not enjoying it, but you want good results, don't beat your head against a wall! Pay someone who does enjoy it.

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matt3o•

yeah I get it, just kidding.

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

I enjoy painting though. As I mentioned in reply to geekd's comment, I think my problem has more to do with the fact that I don't have a lot of time to invest in painting anymore so when I spend too much time painting one miniature, it doesn't feel like I'm accomplishing much.

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Mi_Productions•

Fair enough. I myself am staggered by what some people can achieve very quickly, e.g. Dave Paints http://theoverlordsforum.freeforums.org/dave-paints-t3236.html . I guess it just comes down to practice, and an efficient workflow. The rest of us mortals have to make do.

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kmj2l•

I can totally relate to this.

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Tydorr•

I absolutely understand. I constantly struggle with wanting to do something quickly and wanting to do something to the absolute best of my ability. As it is now i can only spend about 2 hours max on my painting a night, more if I'm not doing much during the weekends. Even with all that time I still only put out 1 mini every 2 week and a half...

Bones are something I'm going into after my current D&D player party is complete. With the metal minis I bought for those I had the same problem I did when i painted 40k minis, the price was high enough I felt i NEEDED to spend enough effort on them to make them worth it.

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Captainlunchbox•

The problem is I feel like I'm wasting miniatures if I don't do my best on a piece.

You might look into the sunk cost fallacy. I know exactly what you mean. For instance, I'm painting up my Infinity stuff with patience and total attention to detail because I want it to be the absolute best...

I got a huge reality check when my favorite mini fell and broke. Then I botched the repair job. Now it looks terrible.

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

I think I might see what you're getting at with the sunk cost thing. I've already paid for the minis, and right now they're just piled in boxes in a drawer in my office. Having them unpainted and unused like that is probably worse than having them poorly painted.

I suppose it's pretty irrational however you look at it. I have enough disposable income to buy miniatures way faster than I can paint them, so I shouldn't even worry so much about the monetary cost. I think what holds me back more is the actual level of detail (which usually happens to correlate with price) of the miniatures. If something has a lot of little intricate details, I feel like shitlord if I just use a few basic colors and a wash and call it a day. Like I absolutely have to pick out each and every little detail or I'm wasting the miniature's potential.

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Ekiima•

Totally in the same boat as you are buddy, I play/paint Warmahordes and damn it, it takes a while, I do take my time with models, something I found out about my self is that I don't like to paint in a factory style (this ten models from the same unit, basing for all, then do all the shields, then all the weapons etc) but rather paint one at a time, is slower but less frustrating/stressful.

For specific models like warcasters (the leader of the army) I take my time and it is ok, but I hate painting units, but leaving them in a lower quality that the one I can achieve rots my heart, I end up hating my self so I go back to do highlights and lie to myself saying "it will only take one hour", after that, I look at them and they need now propper shading "it will only take one hour" and after that one they all need some linear highligthing, basing (very important, if a model is looking good but with an ugly base, it will not 'pop' and in the other hand, if the model is just ok but with a cool base, it will 'pop') and what not.

So, besides rambling in here with you, my proposition for you is to try to take it easy, some days you feel like painting and some days you don't, don't force your self to paint because you have models left (I have models left to paint, yup), play video games, fap, watch a movie, try all those at the same time, whatever you feel like it, it is your free time, and when you feel like painting, go and paint and do it at a quality level you feel comfortable with.

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Rycb•

I feel your pain. I spend to much time on every mini and no one notices. They all stop to say how great something looks but not to the point of the tiny details I spent to much time on. I think it's some kind of OCD. I tell myself that I should stop but I keep going over the same area with further layers. Even worse, some of the most subtle shades and highlights aren't even visable in my dark flgs.

Maybe we should force ourselves to try a mini with no more then 3 steps (base, only 1 highlight and only 1 shade)?

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spacewizardproblemsOP•

The subtle shading and highlighting thing is a big problem for me too. I think it's because I'm not great at color selection, or I'm too timid about it so I don't pick bold or contrasting colors. Everything tends to look a little flat so I end up putting 10 subtle layers on something before it looks decent.

I think I've decided to sacrifice my Kickstarter Bones to the speedpainting gods and try to stick with a primer -> base color -> wash -> highlight or drybrush routine for most of them.

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