Due to endless Army Field time, moving, apartment problems, and a bit of my own laziness, I haven't worked on my hobby in a while. Now that things have calmed down in my life, I've finally managed to sit down and start painting again. After being away from the hobby for so long and getting used to new routines in life, how does one find the motivation to pick up the paint brush again?
In my own experience, I hadn't done absolutely anything 40k related in a little over two months. I was halfway through A Thousand Sons and I hadn't even read any more of it. My half-finished tactical squad was untouched on the table. I hadn't even read any updates on games- workshop.com. After everything calmed down in life and things returned to normal, I just couldn't bring myself to spend untold hours in front of a magnifying glass like I used to. So I ask again: how does one return from hiatus and start devoting hours to 40k again?
Starting off easy by reading the novels is a great way to get started again. After the craziness in my life calmed down, I picked up A Thousand Sons and started reading every night before I went to sleep just like I always had. Reading about space marines in action and visualizing the epic battlefields always makes me want to paint more and more squads so I can play bigger games.
Lastly, one can always turn to the forums for a source of inspiration. When all else fails, nothing makes me want to paint more than seeing someone else's beautifully painted miniatures. Whenever I see someone else's work, I always find some new idea or technique that I want to apply to my own minis. That just makes me want to paint even more.
Now, I turn the question over to you. What inspires you to paint? After being away for a while, what do you do to get back into the hobby?
My inspiration? Like you, reading the Black Library novels places grand images of bloody battles in the 40k universe in my head which, I think, can be fairly motivating on its own to any of us military guys. Also, I love looking through other people's work, *especially* things like Golden Demon winners! Those push me to improve my abilities and learn new techniques.
ReplyDeleteIf I've ever had a time where I haven't been able to do hobby work for an extended stretch, I just re-immerse myself in the universe, looking through codexes, re-reading rules, looking through pictures, etc... until I'm itching to pick up a brush again (rarely takes any time at all till that irrepressible urge comes back, haha).