Throwback Thursday - Motivating Yourself To Paint

A few years ago I wrote a post on motivating yourself to paint. I came across it last night as I was going back over the site to grab some Mighty Empires info.

I'm currently stuck in a hobby funk where I have done little or no hobby in the past few months - partly because of ETC focus, but also a general malaise.

So how do you get yourself out of that.

1. Something Different

If you've been focusing on one army and you are now in a rut, then try painting something different. Painting 120 slaves, take a break and paint a piece of terrain.

2. Revisit An Old Army

 An old army is never finished. Go back and add a new unit to that earlier force. It may help you get your mojo back or rekindle your desire to get the older army back on the table.

3. Ignore the Meat & Potatoes, Focus on the Dessert

Don't battle through the rank and file if it's not working for you. Instead pick up a character model and devote your energies to it. Characters or centrepiece models are always more exciting to do and time invested on them seems more fulfilling.

4. Carrot No Good? Try The Stick

If the above don't work then you might just need to bite the bullet. Sign up for a tournament. That gives a deadline. You then either need to put on you big boy pants and battle through or wallow in the abject failure that you are if you don't achieve your goal.

5. Ear Candy

Listen to audiobooks or podcasts while you're painting - it makes it less a chore. Hobby podcasts are the best bet as you'd hope that the podcaster is enthusiastic about the hobby and that rubs off on you.

Hopefully some of these will work for you. If not you can always admit defeat and ship your figures off to a commission painter. The people of Sri Lanka (and Otaki) will thank you for it.