Needless to say, I've been in a mad dash to get everything prepped for Adepticon. What with working as much overtime as I have been lately, attempting to keep the blog up (I know that we're well behind schedule in updates, but it can't be helped at this time), prepping for a work trip this weekend and into half of next week… Painting has taken a backseat to everything else.
And then a few things happened...
This year I was on a Team with CVinton and OSt from Dark Future Games, and my good friend Doug here back home. We were going to bring our Technicolor Necrons.
"But wait, Tim, you said 'were going to bring…', what happened?"
A truly diverse train of events, really, is all I can say to keep people's private lives private. I don't want to dwell on it too much because people's lives and responsibilities come first, and the hobby comes second. Any time that someone thinks this is reversed needs to have a reality check.
Heck, I still have quite a bit of army to finish painting though!!! Even a month out, I have quite a bit left. I still wasn't too worried about my army though, because I was/am painting the army to a tabletop level. I'm not saying I'm just slapping paint on to a 3-color minimum, but I refuse to stress out about something that honestly, I just want to have some fun with. I want the army to look good while I push it around the board, not win a Golden Demon with it. However, that does not mean that I don't have two very specific goals in mind for my growth as a painter, while working on this army. How can I grow as a hobbyist while only working to a tabletop standard? I'm glad you asked...
Goal #1: Remember that this is a Hobby, Not a Job
That's right, I said it. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not wanting to just throw pieces of crap down on the table, but I'm done stressing out about what is supposed to be a relaxing and fun past time for me. By the time I leave for Vegas on Sunday (did I mention I'm flying to Vegas for work on Sunday?), I will have finished 20 Necron Immortals, with only having started this past Sunday. 20 Immortals…in a week. That is huge for me. I always agonize over the tiniest detail or slip of the brush. This is a lesson, not in speed-painting, but in letting go of perfection and just enjoying the act of painting again.
Expect a post focused purely on that tenant, it's been eye-opening for me.
Goal #2: Restrict Myself to a Limited Palette of Colors
Do you realize how hard this is for me? Oh sure, I've tried this in the past and have started with a limited palette of paint pots on my table, but inevitably I end up with 20-30 pots once everything is all said and done. This time? I am forcing myself to paint with only the colors in the palette I've chosen for the figures. Heck, the bases won't even be a huge departure from the palette, only adding one or two for brick detail and the odd metallic pop. I'm hoping this exercise in restraint will help me become accustomed to using a limited color palette to it's fullest and re-teach me that I don't have to paint with every color of the rainbow. I knew this back in art school, I know it for my graphic design, but I struggle with it in my figure painting. It's time to change that.
Also expect a post on that topic as well…
Scattered throughout this article you've gotten a glimpse of the 1000 points of Necrons I was prepping for the trip. Now though, I'll be bringing my Grey Knights to get in a few pick-up games with if I have the opportunity to. I'm bringing my Centurions to play in Saturday night's Combat Patrol, and I'll also be hanging out around the 'Con, providing coverage here and exploring the possibilities of other games. I want to catch an Infinity Demo, the X-Wing Demo…
So I still feel pretty good about this year's Adeption. How about you, are you ready?
- Tim
AGH! Limited palette?! Hardest thing, EVER. The 'crons look great BTW. Fun is the key to good minis, but it's the easiest thing to forget.
ReplyDeleteThanks Zab!! And yes, working with a Limited Palette has always been the bane of my painting. the problem is that I see such wonderful things that come out of it, I'm GOING to learn how. :P
DeletePut the finishing touches on my 1000 points of plague marines last night. I still have to complete all 1500 points of Ravenwing and their display board. Tim, we will have to get a game in again this year. I really enjoyed crushing your paladins with my Deathwing last year. :)
ReplyDeleteHeh, I'll have BOTH armies with me, Josh, so we'll try and get in a couple games at least :) You feel free to try and break my paladins again, I'm okay with that... My Vindicare and 3 Dreads behind my Aegis Defense Line would like the opportunity ;)
DeleteYou are still growing as a painter when you paint tabletop standard. How? For starters you learn neat time-saving tricks, efficient painting methods, and a whole mess of other things that many people throw out the window when painting competition level pieces. You learn to paint with constraints and still make a cohesive and visually appealing army.
ReplyDeleteSo don't fret about "not growing" as a painter when painting to a lower standard. Any experience is still experience.
Speaking of limited color palette, ask me how tired I am of painting freaking brown. I dare you.
...You wanna help me write the article on improving your painting through a tabletop level? ;) You've got a good start there, Kev!
DeleteSoooo...how tired are you of painting brown? *ducks*
Never... again. At least I have a solid base for growing the army and can paint expansions at a more leisurely place. I don't know why I thought painting 250ish models in 6 months while working full time and preparing for a baby was a realistic idea.
DeleteOnly planning small scale painting projects for the foreseeable future... no armies.
You know...if I wasn't your good friend, I'd remind you that you've had well over a year to paint 250 models. but I'm your friend, and wouldn't do that ;)
DeleteI'm planning armies for the future, but I'm done with trying to paint them all in one go. I want to enjoy my hobby again.
Also, I'll gladly bring my infinity and xwing stuff if youd like. Its been a while since I played infinity so we'd likely end flipping through the book to figure things out but x-wing is ridiculously easy to learn and play
ReplyDeleteYES YES YES! Bring them PLEASE!
DeleteMaybe by then I'll have my A-Wings. I went to buy me a pair of them and the local store was sold out. Went online and the entire 2nd wave releases are sold out everywhere (including Fantasy Flight) and they don't anticipate a restock until the end of the month at the earliest.
DeleteI'm thinking I might take the plunge and buy into the X-Wing game. Prolly the first and only time I'd buy a pre-painted game. Really want to try and dig into some of the Infinity demos and stuff while at Adepticon too, I'd love to get into a good skirmish game again
DeleteInteresting article! I started Necrons earlier this year and while I sadly don't have a tournament to go to as motivation, I've been trying a very similar approach to getting the army built and painted!
ReplyDeleteNecrons are a great army for it too because they look just great with a limited pallet and the new models still have awesome details.
Looking lovely, Tim - I dig that paint scheme, and I'm looking forward to reading the color theory article!
ReplyDeleteIt's come to pass that there's no Adepticon in the cards for me, but hopefully we can throw down a game (and a few pints) at Feast of Blades later this year.
Cheers!
Business trip in Vegas huh? How did the wife take that? I've had to go do some work at Nellis Air Force Base a few times and my wife had REAL hard time believing I was there just for business.
ReplyDelete