How Good is Good Enough?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- Is your miniature painting good, or good enough? And is 'good enough' a bad thing? Uncle Atom tries to help you understand how to understand when to decide you're good enough.
Official Tabletop Minions t-shirts: bit.ly/merchbunker
Help support the channel on Patreon: / tabletopminions
Follow Tabletop Minions on Twitter: / tabletopminions
Like Tabletop Minions on Facebook: / tabletopminions
Check out the website: www.tabletopminions.org
Chat, ask questions, and communicate with Atom - เกม
One of my favorite quotes, from Ernest Hemmingway:
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."
I realize I'm pretty randomly asking but does anyone know of a good site to watch new series online ?
@Shepard Hudson i watch on FlixZone. You can find it by googling :)
@Ryder Lochlan definitely, been watching on flixzone for since april myself :)
@Ryder Lochlan Thank you, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :D I appreciate it!!
@Shepard Hudson no problem xD
"Done is better than perfect, because perfect never gets done." As usual, your videos are brilliant and filled with truth-telling and wisdom-saying that extends far beyond the table. Thank you.
Totally agree. Another good thing about painting things to be "good enough" is that it's much more inclusive for newcomers and kids in the hobby. I try to show that on my channel: speed painting in batches, 1 hour paint jobs on characters, etc.
PS, your channel was certainly one of the inspiring factors in me getting back into the hobby after a 15 year hiatus! Thank you.
Midwinter minis good to see you here! Love your blackstone vids.
I've always been here. Lurking. Sneaking. Learning, haha
Set up for deep strike?
They must be perfect. Perfect I tell you!!
Uncle atom I thank you for your videos. Your advice helps me with not only modeling but life in general so much as well.
I’m glad to help. Thanks for watching!
My output improved when I adopted a "when it's done, it's done" policy.
I don't rush half-finished models to the table, and I don't go back to add details or whatever either.
There's always the next model.
The worst part about starting is getting progressively way better at the end of a 10 man squad and seeing one guy be super awesome while the first guy was really bad. Then you go back and repaint the first model and the first model looks twice as good as the last Model you did so now you want to just repaint everything again. I have way more than one Squad done it's just that I don't tend to finish one Squad and move to another. I just jump around from faction to faction.
I wound up having some thicker paint layers due to trying to get used to metallic paints back when I did my first 10-man of marines for Killteam. They are pretty noticeable compared to the last few guys I did, but when mixed in a squad or two, it's not nearly as bad, even the Aspiring Champ and his slightly darker tone due to perhaps an inexperienced ink wash ^^;
I find that painting each stage across all models helps with this; if you just focus on completing one model at a time, then yeah - that can happen ;)
@@darkowl9 I mean, I only had that box at the time. By the time I got the second box, I had painted a baneblade, a rhino, and some cultists too, and between fighting with some Tamiya Desert Yellow and getting used to Citadel across the rest of the projects, I was a bit more adapt at things. Just happens with your first models and all that, right?
Truth!, I hear ya mate! Brings my piss to a boil...
If I have a group or squad to paint, then I never do them one at a time. I do them in assembly line style - basecoat the boots brown on each model and then move on to the next part, etc. - and then all the models in the group generally have the same quality. Give that a try. Thanks for watching!
So i've been painting my minis for just under a month and your channel actually was one of the kicks in the butt i needed to start painting. I've been having a blast. And I know my minis are not amazing but I love just seeing colors on them. No more grey!
Any paint is better than grey. Thanks for watching!
I've just started the hobby 3 weeks ago and you're advice has been invaluable my friend. Thought i was going slow painting a squad of 6 regular Space Marines (Ultramarine) in 8 hours. Glad to hear that's not too slow
Your marines look magnificent. I always strive for Citadel quality but it is tough.
Finished is better than perfect. Great vid, thanks!
I've done a huge progress in last 2-3 years in painting miniatures just by doing exaxtly what you're saying here. I got rid of that need to make every single model perfect. It allowed me to paint batches of squads, that still look awesome (cause yeah, I know what I'm doing - I'm a professional artist) but I started using much quicker techniques and just got ok with the fact, that not every space marine in my army must be a golden daemon contestant. I still spend alot of time on my Kill Teams tho, as they are small in numbers and I like my opponents intimidated just by the look of my squad ;). Great video, spot on as usual
Atom, you are a gem. As someone who's been painting "good enough" but not "display quality" for 30 years, I need to hear this sometimes.
This some real talk right here. Watched the entire vid. Needed to hear it.
All these years watching your vids and your outro still reminds me of Street Fighter Alpha 3. Love ya Atom!
Brilliant video, I'm an old hand, been getting back into 40k over the last year and I never know when enough is enough.
Just getting into the hobby and I've got to say, your videos are my favorite, by far!
Keep them coming!
I - in terms of experiecne - just recently started painting. Because I was a student then and I hadn't much money my boyfriend who doesn't like painting gave his models to me to paint them. Ofcourse he didn't expect any professional outcome but for me it is quite daunting because of course, I want to present him decent looking models. He really liked the first few but I still was insecure. On top of this, there are so many more, since it's quite a big army and it feels lik a bit of an overwhelming task. This video really motivated me to carry on an be a bit less fearful and perhaps even a bit more efficient than perfect. Thank you so much!
I’m glad that the video helped. Thanks for watching!
I relate to this so much. This is one of my favourite channels because I feel like you really address issues of motivation and gaming really articulately and thoroughly :)
One thing I've finally figured out for myself is that I can stop painting a model for a bit knowing I can always come back to it later. And I actually have! I recently had a mini that was "good enough" but I still felt it was missing something. I put aside and moved on. Then one day at work it finally came to me what the model needed. I was so excited to get home and get back to work on it.
Thank you! As somebody just starting out again after a 25 year hiatus from miniature painting this helps me put my work into context. Keep up the great work and supporting hobbyists!
Thank you. I needed this video today, as I've been having some doubts about a model I finished last night.
Wow this was really good advice. I've been painting minis for ~18 years and this is the first thing every perfectionist should learn.
Such a GREAT video Atom! Extraordinarily inspirational!!
One of your previous videos touched on this subject and just a week ago I sat myself down with my 30 ghouls that had been unpainted for over a year. I told myself I'm going to get them all painted in that one day. I stayed focused and got them up to my good enough standard in just a day, from gray plastic to fully painted and detailed. I forgot what the older video of yours was that mentioned getting things to your own acceptable standard but it really helped me think "I don't need to pick out every last detail with 3 varying shades." I just need to get it done good enough.
It also didn't help that I hadn't been painting minis in over a month, so it was one of those put paint to plastic for the practice of it things.
Either way, as always, thanks for the sagely advice.
Another great video as always! Thanks for the guidance to push forward with my minis projects. 🐙👍
*Really awesome video, U.A.!! Well done!*
🖒😎
As you pointed out, self-doubt happens to all artists-- even experienced ones. As a wanna-be author, I realized a while ago that it just goes with the territory...
That said, I once knew an artist [an oil painter] who didn't know when to quit once he'd created some very nice pieces, because of his self-doubt.
As a result, I saw some wonderful oil paintings go from really spectacular (when he should have stopped) to, literally, "what's wrong with this picture?"
If self-doubt helps you strive to improve your art, that's excellent. But, if it enslaves you to the point of 'overdoing' your work, or worse, becoming stymied when you really should be working, then you need to work on your self if you're ever going to be successful at anything.
I am new to the table top hobby, your video,s have been a great help. Keep up the good work:)
This video was great! I've been into the hobby for barely a year and I keep looking at my dude asking myself, is it good enough? This video really helped with my perspective, thanks!
Dang, I really needed this, thank you!
I play kill team pretty much exclusively right now. I've only been painting for about 7 months, and using some of the tips and tricks from the TH-cam community has really helped me a lot. Thanks Uncle Atom, Miniac, Sam Lentz, and many others for what you guys do.
Wisest words ever said, uncle Atom!
I repeat them constantly to too many of my friends. And not only related to miniature painting. Almost all of them say the same excuse for not "getting things done", and that is: "but I want it to be perfect"
...then I send them your video about the "price of perfection" :)
A great video with a valuable message!
Always positive and fatherly advice! Cheers!
thank you. for everything you do. you have helped me, and I'm assuming many others, get into the hobby and keep motivated.
You’re certainly welcome. I’m glad it helps. Thanks for watching!
Hey Uncle Atom, Id love to hear your opinion on something I'm struggling with.
I feel like when I tell people (like friends and family) that I paint and play with miniatures, they don't take it seriously or view it negatively like I'm wasting time. I know I shouldn't care about what others think, but I can't help but feel a little hurt when some people seem to put down what I like to do. Thanks for the videos, and it would be great to hear your thoughts.
I often tell people that building and painting models is my form of a "zen garden". It's relaxing and allows my brain to relax from other things, such as work and other stressful things in my life. I'm not avoiding those things while painting, my subconscious mind is sorting and solving other problems while I am doing hobby things. If that doesn't work, tell them the hobby is less expensive than therapy. ;)
Ive also flipped the tables on them on occasion. What do you do to relax ? Video games ? Netflix wow your soo fucking cool ..... drinking pints in a pub ? Yep me too only Im not the sad bastard in the corner on my own Im the one with the dice and 6 others laughing my head off.
I like to look at it like this: after hours of painting miniatures I have something for my troubles (finished miniatures) - but after hours of watching TV or playing video games, I don’t have anything other than memories to look back on. That’s one way to look at it. Thanks for watching!
You don't have to justify your hobbies. You do them for fun and distraction. As others have said, you have something to show at the end of painting, and you're developing a whole raft of skills. For instance, you're undoubtedly learning about the intricacies of painting, time management, colour theory (even subconciously), hand-eye coordination, critical thinking, planning, and most importantly in this day and age, face to face social interaction. Don't underestimate any of those.
Way, WAY back in my youth I used to "play" with computers. Of course back then, few people even knew what they were or where we'd end up, but it was "nerdy" even then. I didn't play computer games (when they finally arrived), I was useless at them!. But I did learn how to reverse engineer and bypass copy protection - for my personal backups only of course. (Disclaimer - it's illegal in some jurisidictions and I do not advicate it!)
I also played Dungeons and Dragons. It really wasn't deemed cool. Then...
Roll forwards a few years and I'm on one of the UK's top university courses, being interviewed for a highly prestigeous and lucrative sponsorship by the Intel corporation! My "nerdy" computer and electronics experience got me into the interview room. But it was the Dungeons & Dragons that sealed the deal! (All to do with solving problems in a constrained / rule driven environment). I was awarded the sponsorship & 3 x paid summer internships :-)
TL;DR - Smart people get it. Nice people shouldn't criticise.
Hi Dave , carry on buddy , Take no notice doesn’t matter what you do someone will disagree, I’m 48 no friends = less hassle lol
This topic is at the heart of my situation. I have lost motivation (many times) and stopped painting. My initial energy and motivation comes from how cool and amazing GW miniatures look in the GW pictures. What I need is more game time to shift my motivation. I am calling this "motivation mechanics". What is drawing me into the hobby won't sustain me long enough to get a full 40k or AoS Army (50 to 100 models) painted. I need other, perhaps manufactured or engineered, motivators to fuel a sustained, prolonged effort.
Ideas: chunking (breaking a big task into very tiny tasks); playing smaller model count games; speed painting tips; lowering my expectations to an acceptable "battle-ready" paint job; escalation league with point count progression (500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 1750, 2000) over 7 weeks+; creating a paint recipe for my horde and saving the quality for an individual model. Suggestions? Thanks for all the videos!
The models dont hit harder if they are painted. Spray them with a spray can, and all it a day. You have models to play that are at least the right colour and you get to play games.
Good advice. And doing so will greatly lower any expectations around doing any amount of painting. Thx! @@MrDeadmanXIII
Thank you for doing what you do, keep up the great work!
Another idea you could do a video on is "Is this good enough *FOR NOW*"?
I collect Iron Warriors (40k) and I really wanted to do some free handed hazard stripes on them, but when I started them (2years ago), I just didn't have the freehand skill for it, it was always messy. I messed up a few times on a model and had a local league round coming up so I stripped the stripe, painted the gun casing flat black and said "This is good enough *for now*".
I've practiced my free handing a lot more, and I'm only now coming back to the Iron Warriors I painted 18 months ago to finish those bits off, but they've looked tabletop ready for all of those 18 months of play because I made a good choice on where to pause. I'm doing a similar thing with some custodes bikers using entirely new palettes or techniques, and I'm doing them 1 step at a time and then pausing to learn the new technique / pallet on a different model before I come back and know *how* to do the next step.
Great video as always Atom :)
Great video. My 'good enough' moment of clarity came last year when I realised I just wasn't getting anything completed as I was trying to get absolute perfection with every figure. This was to the detriment of actually throwing dice. I now look for quick wins, corner cutting and other ways to produce tabletop standard figures. I know that I would rather have the three armies that I have painted this way in 11 months rather than eternal procrastination over each individual model.
100% agree. Also, for me I also needed to break out of the perfection bubble and discover what actually is "tabletop standard". From the pre-painted minis I've played with for RPGs, "tabletop standard" is, well, pretty garbage! And so I came to realize that even my mediocre paint job is going to be worlds better than the tabletop standard I've seen, so there's no reason to get so wrapped up in perfection.
Yup, tabletop standard is certainly very subjective and can be a catch all for many painting types and standards. For me, realising what tabletop standard means to me allowed me to just embrace what I am working on and really get enthused getting projects and armies finished :)
Thanks! Always find some inspiration in your videos. Deadlines are super useful idea. I've made my most progress when I've done 1 month "competitions" with my hobby buddies...We push each other to get one unit done in a month and compare each other's work. Without that, I am working on the same thing for ages...
I like to air brush my rank and file models for my army's and then do a dry brush to pull up some of the highlights and then spend time on my characters and leaders of the army. So good enough for me is table ready with center pieces.
This is a good plan, and will help you produce faster. Thanks for watching!
That video was great, superb advice. Thank you!!!
Currently nearly done with my first 10 man Cadian squad after 20+ years out of the hobby and I really needed this video right now.
"Once it's varnished, it stays tarnished!"
the minute I put protective varnish on the mini, it's done and stays in the state it was sealed. this way it acts also as a reminder of my progress.
I just finished painting my first mini. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, even though I'm sure many people would view it as a trash job, scrub all the paint off and start over on it.
My philosophy going in was "Forget letting the perfect being the enemy of the good... I'm not even gonna let good be the enemy of the vaguely adequate!"
Those examples still look absolutely amazing. Great video btw!
Thanks, you just grabbed the thing on my mind as I finished Trajann from the Custodes. His face is something I'm not happy with, but knowing that I can't do it any better.. I'm leaving it at that. People give positive comments about it, but it just irks me because I see so many models that have, in my opinion, way better painted faces. Being someone who has been in the hobby for a couple of years now it's hard to define 'if I'm good enough'. This video helped a ton, thanks!
Great topic! From my perspective, no truer words have been spoken.
I am currently painting my plague marine kill team as this video was uploaded. I take it as a sign. Thanks for sharing
Have fun with them, they’re some of the most fun models to paint. Thanks for watching!
I find savouring even the small advances in previous works fuel to move on
I’m guilty of wanting my models to look like the box and thinking that I’ll be able to do that with only a month or so painting experience. Frustrating! Thanks for reminding me that part of the hobby is getting better over time and not having everything now. It’s a journey 🙂
I know it's a little off topic, but those death guard are incredible!
"I don't want to push grey plastic" Ha ha! Love it!
This is a great video. Well done!
Another fab video Uncle A :) I have been collecting GW minis for 15 years and only started painting just over 2 years ago. The mountain of plastic in shiney boxes is pretty daunting, but I have learn't that good enough is not matching Eavy Metal in close up but getting them to be recognisable for what they are and their war gear. So I am just finishing up my Death Guard army and I want the tentacles to look like tentacles, the bone to look like bone etc and I pretty much achieve that and at 2 feet they look pretty close just don't get too close ;) Two more things - one I followed Duncan's excellent video on painting DG - really helps me get consistent colours for all the minis as I have been painting them of and on for over a year.Two - They are DG so I don't highlight the metal, DG are not going to be polishing their weapons and armour, they are going to be dirty and grimy - does men they don't photo well but look very thematic on the table and is a nice shortcut :)
This topic is so important, thank you for that video! I translated it to Russian so my friends could watch it too, hope you’ll approve😉
I know this pacing for perfection very well. My first models I spent painting, simple Skitarii Vanguard, I would spend an entire day off and on painting a single vanguard every day; start to finish.
it was the only way I would be satisfied with how they looked.
One of the best tips I've gotten from Uncle Atom has to be the "tabletop test", where I just hold it away from me at table distance. I've definitely been hit by the, "at this distance it looks bad" (especially with a magnifier). But then I put the magnifier away, hold it out and then it suddenly looks much better and I realize, this one is done or very close
Make a "work sheet", paint a test model to see test it out, then apply to whole army. Knowing what you need to do in each step helps you not lose focus on "is this enough". I think this is the case for any level of painter, of course a competition painter might just keep going. But knowing what you need to have done will also help you plan your time.
I have some simple ways of doing things, which is right at the edge of where I will feel burned out, but sill keep going. And I take pride in my army when I put it on the table.
Gave up on competition painting some time ago, because it didn't bring me the same joy as putting a whole army painted to the same level does.
I have also found that setting clear painting goals help. Doing an escalation league "new year new army" thing, and so far I have painted around 1300+ points of Primaris Dark Angels this year.
Back when I was slapping enamel paints on model kits in the 80s as a kid, I had no idea what I could compare my work with, except with what I had left from my father when he was a kid. So I had no idea of what I was doing and he was not much of help really. Yes, I got better, but that was slow and still awfull. Then there was that friend who introduced me into table top games or really rather showed me I was already halfway there, cause of those miniature board games I played. We started out with Battletech and that wasn't a painting competition at first. I introduced that when we were more into that thing years later. But then there were those pictures in the rule books and there was White Dwarf that we read in the Mid 90s and they weren't even perfect from today's view, but they gave an idea of what a figure could look like. My friend's first attempts had not been that good, mine neither. But after trying, I came back to play with figures that looked better than the ones he showed me. He did the same. And so this went back and forth, one of us showing something new he or I had tried and look, isn't that awesome? We made fast progress back in those days and though we had those pictures from the books as some kind of a goal, it wasn't to match those, it was to get on our next level, maybe a little to beat the other one, too, but that's the fun of it, isn't it? Now today, with the internet, that was really jurassic. I've been learning techniques within seconds watching TH-cam, that I could never figure out from reading about it. You can progress a lot faster these days, but there's also less room for happy mistakes like we made then, by misunderstanding a tutorial or just trying to have it look the same. And we had no premade solutions. Like we wondered, why somebody would wash a figure, oh that's for shading. But we just had inks to buy. Ever slapped that on directly? Then, you gotta wash it. Sure, today you still gotta find out what to do with the product, but it's not the same. It was more of an adventure. Like using any kind of scrap plastic to customize a kit, until you find out they have plastic sheets at the RC car store. Or remembering the model railroad you had as a kid and that there were landscape supplies you could possibly use on terrain or bases when bases were painted green by default. There are a lot of people thinking for you these days and so I guess it's probably faster you should make progress. With some effort, you can produce really good results within a couple of months. I don't see that as a measurement for good enough though. My work is never good enough. And that's not about the best painter in the world, who might give me an idea of what the direction is. It's about me having a focus on my result. Trying on a scrap piece, what I will apply to my miniature until it looks the way I want it. Painting a whole set of miniatures to learn what I want it to look, until I even start the real project. And then, I might come to the point I'm happy for a second, but the next one's gotta be better.
Somewhere on YT, I came across the phrase ' 3 foot fabulous' it changed my life!!! In 2018 I painted 34 minis that I was meh about since xmas Ive painted 70 minis to a 3 ft fab standard and its liberating.
I started painting minis just 3-4 month ago and every your video is just in time. I've been painting Primaris Chaplain for two weeks and thinking "is it okay? nah, i'll work a little more time on this model". And you know what? Skrew it. I'll glue it to the base right now and will try to paint another reiver squad in week max
Thank you for you videos, now i am motivated af :D
I am not looking forward to painting the robe on that thing
wow...absolutely love it! for creative people in particular i think the greatest lesson in life is to learn that sometimes good enough is good enough! as with all hobbies the pursuit of perfection is the assassin of joy!
I used the GW tutorials to help guide me on my first Stormcast models. I was a total novice first time ever painting. I just did not want to push gray plastic. I was watching these guys paint these things and before they got into super detailed highlights and layers I thought they looked pretty good. I cut out a lot of those later steps because I was satisfied with how it looked. I followed that forward. Eventually I started learning to dry brush, get more detailed highlights and got more comfortable and I could finish larger units relatively quickly. Leader models I spend a bit more time on, probably 4-5 hours per leader. I finished a 10 model unit of Judicators in a single evening and they looked a hell of a lot better and too a lot less time than my first unit of 10 Liberators.
I just finished a 2,000 point Stormcast army and I am working on a 2,000 point Nighthaunt army. That was a lot to paint. I want to play the game first and foremost. Playing the game is my motivation to finish. I am about 1/3 of the way through my Stormcast. I have a friend to is a more experienced painter but focused on smaller games mostly so he could spend more time on models with highlights and layering. He found his AoS army a big project and told me he needs to figure out a way to pump out models faster. I am at that point where I cam pump out a full unit of 10-20 models in a few hours. That was my goal and I have been very satisfied with how most of my models turned out.
Maybe because I knew my army wasn't going to look like the one in the pictures in the rule book and box that I was able to set a very realistic and attainable goal for myself and make some great progress in a relatively short amount of time.
I recently tried doing drybrushed highlights on the remainder of a Dark Angels squad and I was blown away by how much faster I could make them "good enough" without highlighting every panel individually. Definitely gonna spend less time on basic infantry from now on
This video saved my sanity. Thank you!!
Actually a great topic. I've been painting for quite a while and in recent years I have really started using various shortcuts to get models table ready just to save time. I can't paint as fast as I can aquire new minis, so every shortcut helps.
Thanks for reminding me uncle Adam! Perfection frequently stands in the way of good and finished. So thanks for reminding me to just get stuff done sometimes.
To me your paint jobs are amazing!
It’s funny, I didn’t think I was getting any better and there was a lot of self doubt. However, recently, I found some German Orks that I painted in early 2015 and was taken aback by how much better I am painting them today. I still have a long way to go though hehe. I guess it’s never good enough but I am quite chuffed at the improvement at least. Great videos man.
Prepping for a big narrative campaign, and as i apply the ritual thin coats to each model, i enjoy seeing upward progress - i learned long ago not to compare myself to GW's photos, or other painters.
Good enough for you, is good enough for me (anyone else get that song stuck in their head while watching this? Lol)
Great video as always dude:)
Unspoken expectations
Ideals you used to play with
They've finally taken shape for us.
Cheers for the vid, nice inspiration.
Looking at other peoples artwork increases self doubt, almost to the point of wanting to quit., I often look at environmental paintings or character design for inspiration in my own art and it pains me . Looking at artwork that is extreemely good is usually that good because of years of practice, error, practice, routine. I'm not at that level yet, whatever that means..., but, well, you don't know me, but they're not at my level when it comes to painting flowers! Good enough is when you're ready to stop! For example using subtle paint palettes that build up from the last thing you did, recipe books and mistakes man, some mistakes can make the best results..
You know, you've said it before, take breaks and alternate between projects, it helps.
Also, effort is not the same as a well painted finished model(or canvas) Some of the "best" paintings are only the best because they've passed through celebrities hands, and worth alot not because of the skill. Same with EDM music. Some of the top rated pop number ones use crappy default instruments built into Ableton lol, yet amazingly detailed well produced music has less than 10,000 views. Maybe 'Good Enough' means financial exchange or at least friend circle positive comments.
You're a philosopher bro. Thumbs up!
While I totally get where you’re coming from, especially for beginners, my personal preference is to set a consistently high standard across my whole army. It takes 5 - 10 times longer to prepare and paint them and it means I have fewer armies overall but the armies I do collect I have a far greater attachment to as I have poured a lot of my time, energy, imagination and personal creative flare into the army over a long period of time. And though it requires a great degree of patience and perseverance (useful skills to work on in this day and age) I end up with display quality army of minis that I am very proud of and that i can admire for years to come as opposed to a whole heap of minis I don’t really care that much about, that will probably end up in boxes.
so im still a new painter, only painted about 20 models so far, and 1 thing i did was i took a photo of my model. when i was painting it i thought it was kinda meh, need alot of touch ups and work still to do. but when i took the photo and and a good look at the image i realized that i was done, it looked great. hopefully someone finds this useful :)
I haven't painted much yet, but I've found in drawing that taking a picture, and then flipping the picture horizontally, helps to refresh your view too!
For troops and such i have a pretty stratified workflow. prime, main color (if not the primer itself), base colors, wash, highlights and then maybe another pass in another color with washes and so forth. once all checkboxes are worked off, its done. For character and special models it's about the same, just more potential steps. But i set myself a clear goal. no time limit, because i can only steal so much time a week on painting. But i know when all checkboxes are done, i'm done.
I feel my "good enough" is when painting starts to feel more like a chore than a fun past time. I'm really just trying to get models out on the table.
The metric that I am trying to apply to my painting standard these days is: Does it make me smile?
When I put the army on the table, and I feel a sense of satisfaction, then I know that I've been doing it right. I've also been learning which steps are necessary and which are a waste of time to get it to that standard. There's nothing worse than spending a bunch of time on a model, only to put it on the table and discover that none of that effort can be appreciated from six feet away.
"Compare yourself to only yourself" is very good advice. I learned same about countries when studied enough about different countries - and with same reasons: all countries have own history, own abilities, own problems, own strength points etc. Some are coastal ones with good trade options, others are "landlocked" without such, other has lot of resources, others does not, others are enslaved, others are enslavers... etc. So is about persons, very different situations, very different possibilities and lacks of them, etc etc.
BTW. I am painting with lamp with magnifying glass, meaning that I can see much more mistakes than I would see without it (but similar amount with what you can see in camera zoom). I use it in two reasons: 1) LED lamps are very poor with precision works, since they leave so dark shadows - and in EU all but LED lamps are banned (should smuggle some good lamps from China?). But lamp with magnifying glass you can see object in same direction where light comes to the object, meaning that you do not see so much shadows. 2) I have some times problems in my eyes, making things temporarily hard to see (hard to focus, or more likely problems with stereo vision), and magnifying glass helps little bit in here. But using magnifying glass when you are not "pro" in painting, forces you to learn forgive yourself. So, it can be good, or it can be really really bad. Depend on your skill to learn to forgive yourself...
I still keep the first mini I ever painted on my painting table.
I need this reminder constantly. I have ~150-200 models across different games that I want to paint and get table-ready. Between work, family, and other commitments, I am long overdue in getting comfortable with the idea of "good enough". I'm not entering into competitions, I'm not even publishing these models to reddit for C&C. I just want to enjoy these games with my friends.
This is constant struggle, and I think it takes continuous evaluation of what my endgame is. And once you've decided what that is, it's important to stay the course.
Something I realized when painting a group of Japanese tanks for Flames of War, and I cant stress this enough. Make sure you look at your models from an arms length!
I was worried because the three colours of camo kinda ran into each other where my masking didn't hold together. I was embarrassed but I was going to game the next day so I bought them anyway. I was talking to my fellow gamer afterward and he squints at my army, and genuinely couldn't tell me which of the tanks had the minor blemish.
Comparing yourself to other painters only leads to strife and disappointment IMO. Uncle Atom's comment about comparing your current work to your old work has merit. Be happy with the progress you've made and aspire to do better, within your own ability. Most of all, enjoy your hobby for what it is... a hobby.
Key for easy "good 'nuff". Concentrate on contrast (light Vs dark, saturated Vs desaturated colours and colour wheel opposites). Those are what make things look best at a distance for the last work. You can always revisit stuff to add details later if you absolutely have to 👍
This issue killed me last year. Between a move, familial health issues, and some of the coolest (yet most frustrating) resin models it took me ~8 months to actually get a project done. Eventually during December I sat down and made the goal to get them 100% finished before the new year. I got it done, not perfectly, but "good enough." They still look cool, and now I have moved on to other projects I'm procrastinating from.
When you start to know about something is when you really know how far from perfection you are, and that is good because you are in the right direction, any evolution or success must confront oposition
The distance you have to the model when assembling & painting vs when playing is what really makes it tricky to decide if they are 'good enough'.
So maybe the trick is this :
- make three storage spaces : 'to be painted' / 'in progress' / 'good enough' aka 'done'
- whenever you pick a model from a stack first decide if it still belongs in that stack by looking at it from 'tabletop distance' instead of up close
- move it to the 'next stack' at that moment and pick a different model instead
Thanks Uncle Atom!
Thanks for your videos i like them alot. I am new in that Hobby but i only want to paint the figures not playing. It bring me many fun and my skill level comes higher and higher with your videos.I am 53 Years old and i hope i can painting for a long time. i don`t look at the time how long iit will take till i finish a Miniatur ich i have done all the layers i want to do i am finish.
Very sage advice.
I compare my work way to much to other people not to mention I always lose my games. I just wanna say your videos are amazing. Only thing that keeps me motivated to paint.
Oh my God the doubt is so real.
I've been painting for 2 years and have been a bit more serious for a year now.
My friends are often amazed by my models and i am still so anxious to even begin painting
This is common among many creators. Keep painting and trust that you’re getting better. Thanks for watching!
um, small shortcut for 2 colored fur: use the brown as the base for the entire thing, and then the light color where it should go, but not in the recesses. this really helps with speed and looks.
This is one of the most important aspects. And i think Tyrannids are a very good example for this "good enough" decissionmaking. Lets exclude the odd moments where you unbox 20 plaguemonks and suddenly REALLY enjoy your paintjob and painting them and such...
2019 will be a Nid year for me, so right now i have a Broodlord infront of me and 16 Genestealers. For the broodlord i took close to a month to finish, im not 100% happy but beside that i took my time with him, as it was also easier since he is a "large-ish" model. (Shaky hands and bad eyesight you know). But on the Genestealers i first intended to do the same 3 tone blend on the carapace and all and then just... lets drybrush it and fix it with two washes. Good enough i'd say. Still have to finish them but there is that sweetspot between them looking good and not turning into "work". Of course, there are models where you can do "quick" details easier, say the termagants where you can easily reach the carapace on the back and drybrush it without having to make shure you dont touch anything else. But on the GS its tricky and.. lots of arms dont help either.
I a not saying go cheap, and if you want to go detailed use this TOP TIP i learned in my years of painting:
If you want to paint a large "horde" unit but detailed, unbox, build em, prime em and then HIDE ALL OF THEM... take 3-4 out and paint them exept the base. Then rince and repeat with the others. That way you actually get stuff done and it feels rewarding and not "im doing the same annoying 3 parts over and over and over and over and over.
TLDR: The decission of good enough is very important, it does not mean that you paint "bad" but it is important as stated - to "get shit done". - Granted if you can paint for 6-8h a day, knock yourself out bot most have to work 10-12h daily and get like 2-3h free time a day where they need to do other things too :-)
Great video. Having been in this hobby for the best part of 25 years now I still paint the majority of my models to "good enough" else nothing would ever get painted. It's sad that there has become actually quite a high level of snobbery in the hobby to the point where people, and I include myself in this, are almost embarrassed to admit they simply drybrushed and washed a model. This gets whole armies on the table quickly and actually does look awesome. Nobody should be ashamed because they didn't wet blend, glaze, 2 brush blend etc their models. Sadly a large portion of the hobby do seem to have lost a bit of perspective. Which is most people paint to play. A game. With toys.
Well said, sir. I agree. Thanks for watching!
I've only recently realized that I don't need to try to make my models look amazing. I still need to adjust my lens of "good enough" appropriately, but spending less time painting to an unattainable (for me) standard and more time playing with a decent looking army is extremely satisfying.
Good enough for me is 3-4 colors, a wash, some dry brush and a few highlights. Can't forget the base!
Never forget the base. Thanks for watching!
I remember when I started this hobby a decade ago, I would get frustrated because my miniatures never looked like the ones in my codex or in White Dwarf. It got to the point where I just left models grey because I was so dissatisfied with my painting. At a certain point, I realize how ridiculous it was to compare myself to professional painters and I finally started painting and as I ket painting I kept getting better.
I found that the better I got at painting, the longer it took me to reach "good enough".
I'm not happy unless all my blends are creamy smooth and my weathering is up to snuff.
Once upon a time "good enough" was paint blobbed on a mini straight from the pot then covered in a wash!