When it comes down to painting...

Hello and good tidings fellow wargamers!  Welcome to another set of ramblings with today's focus being on painting up our models, or why we don't.  Without further ado, let's get rolling!

So when it comes down to painting it becomes another challenge for most of us wargamers.  I've spent quite a bit of time talking to people who do paint regularly and those who abhor it.  For many of us we seem to fall a bit into that spectrum leaning one way or the other.  We shift from one stance to the other and sometimes stagnate in our paint zone.  Why is that though, why don't we paint like little zealots of the Emprah?

The type of army I think we all aspire to

I'm sure there are a large host of reasons and each one of us can testify anecdotally why we do/don't paint our miniatures.  To me it seems a disservice really that we spend a lot of discretionary income to leave them as plastic/metal/resin shapes.  Most are quick to assemble and quick to leave painting for another day.  Still when it's all said and done we often see armies in various stages of being painted from none to fully (and many in primer).  I cannot count how many primer armies I've seen over the years, it's almost like they are nothing but black/white out there.

What you most likely see in your LGS (credit: space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com)

From a viewpoint of the American way I think a large part of it has to do with it being less of a hobby for most and more of a game.  It takes considerably less effort to assemble a 35 point army than it does to paint it, so I'd like to think that many people want to be done with it and get to playing.  I can't say that's the same general attitude for those reading this in a different nation (my hats off to you), but for the Muricans it seems pretty applicable.  We also tend to enjoy quick gratification in terms of entertainment and the multitude of other activities (video games, movies, drugs, etc) compete for our time and attention.  For many it's just easier to assemble the models and then move on since most people are still willing to play versus an unpainted army.


"Paint? Game! 'Murica!"

I think there tends to be bit of hesitation when it comes to painting because of high expectations that collide with individual ignorance/experience.  All too often we get to see many articles about "how to paint X" or "look at this guy's army" and we see professional levels of detail.  Some of the stuff that GW, Privateer Press, or Corvus Belli put out are just simply gorgeous.  We dream about how great our models will look and we get encouraged to paint, hurrah!  Then we look at our own completed work and we see a ramshackle blob of colors and quite frankly it can be discouraging when we start to compare.  I think this must be what some women feel like when they see the models/actresses/porn stars and then try to compare to what they see with their own image.  It can be disheartening at times and I think of some people who just simply...stop.


This is for us what Cosmo is to some women

A good portion of hesitation might end up being a lack of knowledge on how to paint models aside from the obvious.  My younger self 10 years ago would have never have known all of the things I do now and you can see the differences in painting (unless I'm lazy).  All the different tips, tricks, tools, and trials lead up to where I am now in terms of skill.  It took me a long time though, it was not an overnight process.  Thankfully we live in an age where Youtube allows us to get tutorials to help mitigate this hurdle.

Wait there are different brushes? Whaaaaaat?

In a way I speak on a personal level.  I too suffer from having too many entertainment options and often put those ahead of painting my own models.  Occasionally I get discouraged by my perceived lack of talent and frustrated by where I think I "should be."  A good part of it also lies in just that I have waaaaaay too many models to paint and it gets overwhelming mentally at times.

How my collection feels like

I can't speak for anyone else but for me my advice has always been: when the waves of motivation come crashing in, ride it until you cannot anymore.  I get in painting moods and will take time to paint daily, watch some shows, and get lost in the painting.  There is something cathartic about painting and truly the result of having a force completely painted (despite the perceived skill behind it) is very rewarding.  I have enough painted where if I play with nothing but painted models any comments like "Man I really love that color scheme" or "Wow that's really well done" just make it so worth it in the end.

I encourage you my readers and fellow wargamers to take the time to paint if you are even remotely interested in doing so.  Eventually you get better and faster at it and soon you will have a force that looks so much more than just black/white primer.  Until then happy gaming, happy painting, and see you around.