The Zen of painting little robots (deep philosophical thread)

[agen2]

Lately I've spent a little time on my favorite hobby.
This is a key element: it may happen that I do not have time to paint, but I have a great desire to do it, other times I have time to do it, but I have no inspiration (this is frustrating).
I do not like "throw myself" in the painting just because I had a bad day, on the contrary I have to be relaxed. If I'm rather pissed off I dedicate myself to gardening.
I avoid almost always to paint at night, unless it is to apply decals or finish bases, the favorite part of the day is the morning or early afternoon where I have the right intensity of light and especially my hand is steady.
One last thing: I spend more time cleaning the line molding and shaping, and polish with the cutter the entire miniature before any primer.

[Neko_Bijin]

Hobbies are the devil.  You work twice as long as you plan to get a result half as good as you imagined.  You find yourself looking for household chores to do so as to put of starting a new project.  A stack of undone figures sits there, mocking you from an unopened box.

And yet, we need something to keep our hands busy, and activities that keep us at home and out of the way.  The small bits of pleasure we derive aren't the point: it's keeping us out of trouble that's important.

[Whitar]

Interesting thoughts overal. I share the opinion, that a miniature painting hobby needs good concentration, attention to detail, it helps me, for axample, to improve my lack of patience, and develop accuracy. Long gone times when I used to drybrush, I read, explored the subject, and watched artists work. I began experimenting with paints, primers, washes, flocks.. Such deep hobby it is.. And each time, when I started a mini, I had more confidence, that it will come up well. Though still, I have a normal feeling, that I'm useless, untill the first wash is applied  ^-^   
I don't own many miniatures, I restrict myself to buy more then 1-2 minis per month, now I have certain collector's goals, and get the minis I really need to fill my unit list. I won't buy a mini I wouldn't like, and unfortunatelly, time stopped for me at 3025 era.
At that point, commission painting gave me the oportunity to get hold of various mechs models. Ones I hated, ones I loved. And it's also a chance to try out a paintscheme I would never used on my minis. You put yourself time limits, that let you think on quicker and better techniques to make a good and not overdone piece.
Can't say I like cutting metal or assembly stages. I hate cleaning mold imperfections. Sometimes it's too much for me to be calm. You can spend a day, cutting away and sanding flash, only to see an overlooked damn mold line after priming. But, even if this process seems boring, I got used to it, and somehow learned to enjoy it.

I'm always in a search for a perfect painting solution, it's great, that Camospecs has such nice artists to learn from. I relax, launch some UFO sci fi on youtube, put some acrilics on the palette and get the mech done for battle  8)
 

[Paint it Pink]

Okay, not sure if this belongs here or in Tips & Tricks, but ...

The purpose of this thread isn't to show pictures, or discuss techniques. It's to talk about the Zen - the internalised thought processes, benefits and pains - of the mini painter.

Hi Worktroll, long time since I've talked to you here on the forums, but that's life.  One breath, one action.  Eat when hungry, sleep when tired.

I like getting into the zone, and my hobbies help me do that, but putting myself at the workbench to get into the zone doesn't always happen, because..., well just because really (work life balance resulting from getting older and having commitments outside of one's own need for self gratification).  Is that Zen enough for you?

My rheumatoid arthritis is currently in abeyance, which can flare up if I come down with a bug.

Like you I enjoy making up my models and customising them too, but alternate between making and painting, which I also enjoy as I like making up futurist SF camo schemes.  I put the oscillation between the two states as being a bit like the description of a photon acting like a particle and wave depending on how it is measured.  It strikes me that motivation to do different aspects of the hobby are very much down perspective, which IMO is driven by mood.

When things go wrong I see this as an opportunity to excel; adapt, improvise and overcome.  ::)

As to my collection I find that I have more than I ever had, but play less games than I ever did.  The former is correlated to the latter, but not causing the latter.   Playing games requires getting a group together who want to play at the same time.  This also strikes me as a process that is subject to Quantum interference (especially as one gets older, as the confounding variables add friction to the process leading to frustration, which is when being mindful really helps).

So there you have it, my thoughts and insights into the human condition.