I have come to a rather unpleasant crossroad, in regards to my Guard forces. From time to time I will look through an image archive I maintain for some painting inspiration. Today, as I was looking, I came upon and old painting commission I did for someone. The color scheme was meant to capture the look of Steel Legion, only the models were Cadian. Here's an example...
As I happily reminisced, my thoughts turned to my current troops project and my heart dropped. Bottom line...I don't like them. They have become overwhelmingly boring and it has been taking way too long to get even a squad completed. I suppose I brought it on my self, deciding to trim off ALL the shoulder pads and going with a certain direction with other details, like different heads that are metal (details are less defined) and trying to achieve a specific effect with some of the painting.
I am wondering whether I am simply bored with this color scheme, or if I am bored with painting all together. I had an idea is to start a different army for a spell but that doesn't sit well with me because I don't like to leave something unfinished.
And that's were I am right now. I am 80% done with my 2nd squad of troops and I still have the Command squad to finish. I don't really force myself to finish a painting project, but today I noticed I was becoming sloppy with the paint in an effort to get these done. I was trying to rush the process and it annoyed the hell out of me.
I will be taking a few weeks(maybe a whole month) off from painting to clear my head and get a better idea about what I will work on as I move forward. Ultimately, I want to be able to complete a project that I can set on the table and be happy to just look at it and know I did a good job. Maybe I will swicth between 2 different armies, possibly breaking things down into small, achievable pieces. Hmmm, not sure.
Has anyone out there ever come across this before? How do you deal with it? Should I go ahead and finish what I started before moving on? I am interested to know people's opinions.
The war goes on,
Hessler
I am wondering whether I am simply bored with this color scheme, or if I am bored with painting all together. I had an idea is to start a different army for a spell but that doesn't sit well with me because I don't like to leave something unfinished.
And that's were I am right now. I am 80% done with my 2nd squad of troops and I still have the Command squad to finish. I don't really force myself to finish a painting project, but today I noticed I was becoming sloppy with the paint in an effort to get these done. I was trying to rush the process and it annoyed the hell out of me.
I will be taking a few weeks(maybe a whole month) off from painting to clear my head and get a better idea about what I will work on as I move forward. Ultimately, I want to be able to complete a project that I can set on the table and be happy to just look at it and know I did a good job. Maybe I will swicth between 2 different armies, possibly breaking things down into small, achievable pieces. Hmmm, not sure.
Has anyone out there ever come across this before? How do you deal with it? Should I go ahead and finish what I started before moving on? I am interested to know people's opinions.
The war goes on,
Hessler
5 comments:
I had the same problem with my traitor guard, my solution was to mix up the painting of the units with building/painting vehicles. This helped to get the army done and break up the tiresome task of painting to foot sloggers.
If things are starting to get sloppy, I find it better to put things down and trying something new for a bit before going back afresh.
Good luck!
We've all been there. If it starts to feel like work, it's time to mix things up.
some things that work for me -
look back through older figures and armies you have, remember why they excited you, maybe add a unit to that force to get the paint flowing again.
change up the appearance of some of the units in your current army. Guard are perfect for this. throw in a vetran unit from a different wolrd, paint a commisar, do a few vehicles.
pick up a simple game like (in my case) Mordheim, or space hulk. a few figures to paint, no danger of massive investment on par with 40k.
make some terrain. I love terrain building, and its a welcome change of pace from minis i find.
lastly, take some time off totally, read a book, play a computer game, watch a movie, pick the brush up again when youre ready.
hope some of that helps, remember, you are not alone in this :)
Oh I can certainly commiserate - I get "army painter's fatigue" pretty regularly, after cranking out three or four units of infantry, usually I just get fed up with the paint scheme or tired of the models. Best thing for it in my opinion is to step away from the project for a bit - A week or two break is nothing to be afraid of, and usually I can come back to the project with fresh perspective.
On the other hand, I also like to have a couple small side projects to give me something radically different to paint as a palate-cleanser. Karitas' suggestion of making some terrain is an excellent idea as well - anything new and different but still related to the hobby may help reinvigorate your interest for the Guard...
thanks for the encouraging words...I'm definitely not stopping completely, but changing my focus seems to be the best advice so far. I am happiest when I am creating something on the modeling side, as opposed to the painting side. I think terrain might be the trick. thanks!
Hmm...I've been painting my guard infantry for six year now, and I've still more to go. I'm slow, but at least I can see that my painting's improving, and that helps.
The uniformity is a grind, though; especially as I've painted almost all of my lovely vehicles now. I actually found painting the bright colours of my WFB units made for a nice change...and the Empire State Troops models are so bloody frustrating that it's always a relief to return to Cadians!
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