[Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

[Formix]

Awesome suggestions, thanks! I'll post some pics once I get started.

[Zarathud]

I would start with (1) a box of Army Painter speed paints, (2) a box of Army Painter regular acrylic paints, (3) white and black Army Painter spay primer, (4) matching white and black primer bottle paints, (5) a set of 3-4 brushes, (6) an exacto knife, and (7) Blackhawk’s Amazon recommendation for magnifying glasses, (8) Masters brush cleaner, and (9) an Army Painter matte clear coat sealant spray can. That will get you set up well.

You can use cheap and old brushes for dry brushing, or lately I’ve used a cheap makeup brush.

You can use plastic scraps for mixing paint, or a cheap plastic 6 hole paint palette for acrylics. Also a cup or jug for water. Some blue tac and pill bottles to use to hold the miniature while you paint.

[Smoove_B]

Your turn, Smoove.

You've covered quite a bit. You added the brush soap recommendation in (which I would have added). Two other things that I think are essential tools (that I use every single time), both from the same vendor:

(1) A cup to clean your brush. The one I use looks a bit like this; I think this is a newer model. The scalloped ridges along the top are great for holding brushes in between use.

(2) Something to hold citadel paint pots when they're open like this desk wizard. I have a 3 bay and a 1 bay and both are always in use. Always.

Going back to the painting, I'd likely recommend against using the Contrast paints (or equivalent) first. Mainly because I think you paint differently with them than you do with acrylics. I've learned that not only do I sometimes need to change the order of paining (with acrylics I work skin --> up/out), but for contrast paints, sometimes it makes more sense to work on the outermost layer first. I don't want to get too deep in the weeds, but if you have prior painting experience, starting back on Contrast paints might be more difficult for various reasons, including the fact that they're more like washes than paints.

So yeah, for that reason I'd say start with acrylics (if that's what you remember) and then after you get those skills back, you can likely build into using the Contrast style stuff.

All the Youtube links BH shared are ones I also watch. There's so much awesome information on Youtube - it can be overwhelming. But in terms of lowering the bar for access to basic, informative content? Youtube is great. I'd also add Miniac. He's at a different level, but he always creates adds in basic tips on the hobby or how to get better with specific types of special techniques. He did a video on best beginner paint sets a few years back (well, Ninjon did) that I think is still good info.

About the only thing I'd like to repeat is how critical it is not to compare yourself to what you see shared online and when you take an iPhone photo of your mini,it's going to look like absolute hell. As Blackhawk said, keep the mini on the table and look at it from the distance you're playing a board game from - that's what matters. Not when you take a photo and see all the spots you missed or where your brush control was a mess.

[Blackhawk]

I agree about the Citadel paint holder. The one I have isn't available anymore, but it's a bit like this. The addition of the top to hold the lid is invaluable, as Citadel's paint pots close themselves (they are meant to 'encourage' you to pour out pain rather than working from the pot, which results in waste, which results in buying more paint...) It's not a problem if you have one hand to hold the jar, one to hold the lid, and one to hold the brush - but most of us don't.

One excellent palette that a lot of pros use is a simple ceramic tile. You can get them cheap from a hardware store, and they may even have free samples. Get pure white - a colored palette will make your paints look a different color.

And yes, I'll back up makeup brushes for drybrushing (although the brush set I linked to comes with a couple of drybrushes made specifically for minis.)

For wash jars, I just use a plastic pint jar that I got some ice cream in, and before that I used an empty Greek yogurt tub. Anything that will hold water will work, but one recommendation, especially since you can get something good for free: Get three. One for regular paints, one for metallics, and one for washing. Metallics have shiny particles suspended in them. Wash out your metallics in your regular brush water, and you'll eventually end up getting metallic flakes in your regular paints. And the wash jar (for use with the brush soap) is going to get soap in it from washing the brushes - and you don't want that in paint.

Ten second acrylic primer: Acrylic paint is a liquid acrylic, a thickish liquid that dries clear and hard (pretty much the same stuff as some liquid floor polish.) Into that they add pigments, which are powdered colored materials (imagine pounding a piece of chalk to dust.) The end result is, basically, a suspension of pigment particles in the liquid.

The reason it matters: They are carefully blended and formulated to maintain just the right viscosity to maintain the suspension while going on smoothly. Introduce foreign chemicals, and that suspension becomes disrupted. That results in paint separating, paint not flowing, weird side effects from changing the surface tension (like having the pigments gather along the outer edges of the area you painted and looking like rain drops), and a dozen other oddities. For that reason, you should make an effort to avoid contaminating your paint by:

1. Keep your wash jar (for soap) separate from your rinse jars (for getting paint off of the bristles.)
2. If you use water, use distilled. Tap water has numerous chemicals and minerals that can cause oddities.
3. The best thinner (to actually thin, or to make the paint less opaque) is going to be clear acrylic medium, preferably the type sold by the same company that made your paint. Since Army Painter keeps being mentioned, their regular paint medium, and their speedpaint medium (they should have a smaller bottle somewhere...)
4. Never thin in the bottle with anything but acrylic medium (and then only when the paint would be unusable otherwise.)
5. For thinning on the palette, look around - there are a few recipes for working mediums out there that work great (most involve things like flow enhancers, mediums, and/or drying retarders.) I'll try to look through my notes and see if I can find my recipes. And yes, there are times when straight distilled water works fine. For the super-budget option, wet water isn't a terrible choice. Wet water: Take a cup of water. Add a single drop of pure dish soap (ie - not one that's antibacterial, or that contains bleach, etc - I use Ivory.) It's just enough to break up the surface tension and reduce spotting. But in the long term, look at an hobby shop for flow improver and retarder - a small bottle of each will last for years.

Simplified version: There was lots of stuff there. When it comes down to it, just pick up some acrylic medium when you buy your paint, and have distilled water on hand, with a drop of soap for thinning if you have it. It would probably be a good idea to pick up a few empty dropper bottles when you put in your order (to put your wet water and distilled in now, and to mix your working thinners in later.) They're usually really cheap.

[Blackhawk]

Speaking of palettes, I'm going to have to try this:

[Zarathud]

If you’re starting, a paint palette is overkill IMO. Just use a paint bottle dropper to put out just enough paint for what you’re doing. Repeat as needed.

I do like the Game Envy cup 2.0 with the puck at the bottom to get paint off the brush. Not needed but nice.

If the goal is to get rid of the grey, just a basic approach of 2-4 colors per model will work. The thicker Army Painter paint becomes an asset. You can layer in later, if you want.

[hentzau]

If you're not in a hurry, Army Painter has yet another new line of paints that looks really good. Army Painter Warpaints Fanatic. Releasing in early 2024.

I really don't need to buy into another paint line. But these are really tempting.

[Smoove_B]

Yes, lots of the people I follow on Youtube that helped with feedback have been making comments that they're really excited for them. I'm also not in need of any paint any time soon, but they look quite nice.

[Blackhawk]

If you’re starting, a paint palette is overkill IMO. Just use a paint bottle dropper to put out just enough paint for what you’re doing. Repeat as needed.

I'm confused by this statement. A retail palette like a wet palette or a ceramic well palette (or an elaborate one like the cold palette above) is overkill, but some sort of palette is unavoidable - you have put the paint out on something. Even if your palette is the $3 plastic palette (about $2 from a an actual hobby store), a piece of ceramic tile from a home improvement store, or a coated paper plate. The palette is where your paint goes between the bottle and the mini - regardless of what it is.

I posted that video for everyone, not as a recommendation.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I picked up a 5-pack of these a few years ago (that goes to a 30 pack) and they're also something I use every single time I paint. They're designed to be disposable, but they clean quite easily between use.

[Zarathud]

That’s what I’ve been using too. Been swapping between two palettes for months, letting the used one soak for a few days while I swap to a cleaner one.

Before getting my set of Bones from Kickstarter, I occasionally used the plastic from miniature blister packs to hold paint. It worked fine. As did plastic cat food can tops that my wife collected years ago when we overpaid for prescription cat food.

I’ve heard white fidget toys are also good as the paint cant stick to the flexible bottom plastic. I’ll try that this Thanksgiving.

Since I have a lot of old paint, I love my Vortex paint mixer. It’s wholly unnecessary if you’re starting out with new paint.

[Blackhawk]

I personally use a Redgrass Games wet palette (that's the v2 - I have the original), plus a ceramic well palette for washes/contrast paints, etc, plus the lid works as a non-wet palette. When I first started painting, and for the first decade or so, I painted right out of the bottle - but I was painting with Testor's style enamels, not acrylics.

Like others have said, that stuff is overkill to start with.

[Zarathud]

I’ll also recommend starting with some large models. They’re easier, and you’ll learn to dry brush easily.

RealmSmith showed me how to get a nice ice color on a White Dragon by first painting a light blue, then some grays before switching finally to white dry brushing. Don’t feel afraid to search YouTube for how someone else painted a model — just stop before they hit the extreme detailing and watch for fun.

[Formix]

Good stuff, thanks! Since the Dark Tower minis include some larger models like a dragon and titan, that's good advice to start there. Maybe the titan, since there's less expectation of what the finished product will look like. Since we're firmly in the Christmas embargo season, I've put all your recommendations on my list, and anything I don't get, I'll buy myself.

[YellowKing]

Enjoy Formix. These guys have already given great advice so there's not much for me to add.

I'll only reiterate that the only way to get better is to just keep painting, so don't be discouraged if your early attempts don't turn out as awesome as you had hoped. (Heck, I've painted hundreds of minis and they still never turn out as awesome as I hope).

The important point is that any color on a mini looks better than gray plastic. And when you're in the middle of a game, nobody's going to notice you were sloppy when painting the belt or got a bit of the boot color on the pants.

[Blackhawk]

I agree with starting on larger miniatures, but I'd actually suggest getting three or four cheap miniatures, maybe ogres, or hobgoblins, or gnolls, or beasties from somewhere like Reaper (maybe Bones) before starting on your board games.

You're going to make a few mistakes on your first couple of pieces, and it's better to give yourself a few low-pressure miniatures that don't really matter to get the feel for the process before starting on something like the showpiece of a boardgame.

If you do go the Bones route (which is the cheapest), make sure that you're using the Army Painter primer.

[Zarathud]

Nolzur’s has a good line of Dragons. If you make a mistake, it’s big and potentially not noticeable so it becomes a happy little tree. RealmSmith’s videos were very nice tutorials.

Plus, it’s just fun to get and paint your own dragon for the holiday.

[Blackhawk]

A note of you go the Reaper Bones route: Bones don't technically have to be primed. Prime them anyway. There are lots of issues with unprimed Bones. Some techniques will not work with them, and the painting process is different from every other miniature out there.

Nolzur’s has a good line of Dragons. If you make a mistake, it’s big and potentially not noticeable so it becomes a happy little tree. RealmSmith’s videos were very nice tutorials.

Plus, it’s just fun to get and paint your own dragon for the holiday.

Excellent suggestion. Nolzur's and Pathfinder Deep Cuts (which are the same company - Wizkids - lines for two different games) have decent (not great) detail, and super cheap, and come pre-primed. I've painted a few (usually WotC/Paizo copyrighted creatures that aren't available elsewhere), and they're a great choice for beginners. Miniature Market has quite a few.

Caveat: They seem to dip their miniatures in primer rather than spraying them, so what you'll see is usually much, much thicker than what you'd want if you primed them yourself. Grab some and paint away, but don't try to replicate their pre-painted look when you start priming your own. The reason is simple: Paint has thickness. More paint has more thickness. Too much paint and the smaller details (like the rings in chainmail, or eyes) start to disappear as they get buried in layers of thick paint. If you're painting a miniature with non-contrast paints, proper priming doesn't cover the mini 100%. If you prime white, it won't be pure white.

This last bit is discussion only, not meant to be advice. A lot of experienced painters, when they get pre-primed miniatures, will strip the primer off and re-prime them. It recovers a lot of detail.

[Zarathud]

I usually try painting Reaper Bones and prime if I get a spot where the paint doesn’t stick when basecoating. It’s about 36% of the time.

But I’m lazy and try only to match the quality of WizKids prepainted figures. Not the tendered images used in sales, but the actual figures.

[Punisher]

Just throwing th8s put there.

Besides throw away gigures to practice with, I also started by using a bag of army men and primed them.
I don't need them any more as I have hundreds of badic figures from the various shows. Pax Unplugged is a goldmine for me. I usually wait until the last day and hang out at the various rooms and booths that give out figures and grab a bunch then. The vendors don't care because its less for them to pack up. One year, I grabbed a full box of them because they were just gonna toss them.
I'll never paint everything I have but it's still nice to have plenty of extras.
I'll usually do this anywhere I go. I have a binder for of Norton 360 codes that I got at an IT conference for example.

[Zarathud]

If you ever want to drown in miniatures, Reaper Bones Kickstarters will give you a ton of minis for under $1 each — but you commit in advance for $100+.

Zombicide also provides a crazy amount of plastic zombies, and the market is saturated so you may find one cheap. That’s how I first started relearning to paint. Then I took a pause until RealmSmith got me excited about painting Dragons and got me into more layering and then inks. SpeedPaints mixed what I was doing with inks into what I had been doing with base coats.

[Blackhawk]

If you ever want to drown in miniatures, Reaper Bones Kickstarters will give you a ton of minis for under $1 each — but you commit in advance for $100+.

Zombicide also provides a crazy amount of plastic zombies, and the market is saturated so you may find one cheap. That’s how I first started relearning to paint. Then I took a pause until RealmSmith got me excited about painting Dragons and got me into more layering and then inks. SpeedPaints mixed what I was doing with inks into what I had been doing with base coats.

No kidding. I've backed every Bones, except 2, and I received 2 as a gift. I also backed their CAV campaign (Reaper's version of Battletech), so I have more miniatures than I can shake a brush at.

And yeah, I have two versions of Zombicide as well, and ungodly numbers of minis from other board games (the D&D Adventures line, Monolith's Batman and Conan, Sword & Sorcery, Core Space, and Fallout: Wasteland Warfare are prime offenders.)

Maladum isn't nearly as bad.

But only because it hasn't shipped yet.

[Zarathud]

Did you paint those Battetech squads from when we met at GenCon, Blackhawk?

I haven’t. LOL

[Blackhawk]

Did you paint those Battetech squads from when we met at GenCon, Blackhawk?

I haven’t. LOL

I never actually bought any. I thought about it, but in the end it was a combination of a limited budget and the fact that I didn't have the time to research what I'd have wanted.

But if it makes you feel better, I haven't painted most of the other stuff I got on that trip.

[Isgrimnur]

[Blackhawk]

This is accurate. Except that the eyes should be bigger.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, that's good.

Also, quite timely:

[Blackhawk]

Also, the discussion the last couple of days has given me the itch to do some painting. It's been about three and a half years since I painted more than a little, mostly because a decade of painting for active games (IE - always scrambling to paint what was needed for the next session) gave me really bad burnout. I've sat down and painted a little here and there, but it was mostly limited to trying to speed-paint a board game rather than art-paint for fun.

I don't know if it will 'stick', but I have found myself cleaning off my painting table.

[Smoove_B]

I don't know if it will 'stick', but I have found myself cleaning off my painting table.

That's how I started back in late September. Once I was able to shake off the rust and actually experience success, the desire to paint (and then actually play board games) came flooding back in. I hope you can experience something similar - I actually feel mentally better than I have in years. I mean, I'm still not great, but I am now slightly better.

[Blackhawk]

I've been needing something else anyway. My TV watching has fallen off dramatically in the last few months (I watch an episode every couple of days rather than several per day), I'm spending a lot less time with video games lately (a couple of hours at a time instead of and afternoon and evening), and board gaming solo hasn't drawn me in much lately, either. I have, however, been reading a lot more, but I need another activity.

I know me, and these things rotate in and out in cycles. At some point I'll become obsessed with some game, or a show, or a board game, or a craft, and everything else will fall away until the next cycle. I used to fight it ("Oh no! Gaming slump! But I'm supposed to be gaming!" "I can't get into any shows, but I need to finish all of these and watch the new show everyone's talking about!") I've learned, though, that it's better to just go with the flow. It's not leisure if it's forced.

[Zarathud]

I’m finishing a Chibi fat dragon Themberchaud from Impact Miniatures. Base coat is done. My daughter helped with the eyes. Now I just have to dry brush in some darker highlights.

I’m also mostly done with a Chibi Rincewind and Luggage.

Then I have some Reaper children to finish. It’s time to dig into the backlog.

[Blackhawk]

We were just having a discussion about bases in Tabletop Randomness, and I could have sworn the discussion was in this thread. I made a couple of long minis-specific posts that fit better over here, and the discussion would benefit painters, plus they're the type of post I often refer back to, and I'll end up looking for them in here. So I'm going to move them...

This original discussion was on sculpted bases vs plain bases vs clear bases. Adding quotes for context.

I’ve been converted to transparent bases and I won’t be switching back anytime soon. And I use ultra thin bases, not the thicker plexi bases that folks like Litko sells.

I've been conflicted on this for a while. A well-painted/accessorized base can add a ton to a miniature, enhancing the feel of the character/creature on it. But the clear bases don't ever clash (like having a grassy circle under their feet in the middle of an underground ruin), and they save a ton of time (not to mention all of the space for the huge amount of basing materials I've amassed.)

Luckily, as I'm not actively playing anything right now (or for the past three years), I've been able to put off the dilemma. The ones I have based on transparent bases, though, have been on nice, solid Litko acrylic.

I think it would depend if your miniatures are used to game, or just for display. I like those almost mini-dioramas that some people build into their bases. I just mean texture, grass, stone etc. Obviously not everyone wants to put that level of effort into every single miniature they paint. And if they are being used as game pieces, that changes things, I think.

As a tabletop painter, I've always hated doing bases. It was the last thing that I would do on the mini, and was usually pretty slapdash (slop on white glue, dip into flocking, get annoyed when I got some glue over the foot so they now have a grassy foot, etc. The transparent bases were a life saver for me.

I make my own using a 3/4" hole punch and old blister pack that I have sitting around. You would think that flimsy blister pack package wouldn't support a metal mini, but it works.

[Blackhawk]

I like doing bases. Of course, most of my pieces have been painted for both - display and gaming (I understand that rich people can afford two sets of miniatures, one to play with and one to look pretty on a shelf - but that's not me.) To me, a base can really tell part of the character's story. A warrior in armor standing on an elegantly tiled floor vs a warrior in armor standing in mud creates a completely different effect.

Mine, to demonstrate what I mean about the base adding to the character's personality, telling part of the story:

Spoiler:

But at the same time, when using terrain and/or printed maps (as opposed to a plain old gridded mat), the clear bases really do improve the effect. All of the characters and creatures actually look like they're standing in that room, as opposed to having a tavern with a wooden floor while one guy stands on tile and another in mud.

The evolution of bases, as I remember it. Because I have the urge. Most not my pics:
Early on it was just integral broccoli bases (er, 'puddle bases' if you prefer.)



You'd throw some green at them and go on with your day.

GW introduced 'slotta' bases in the mid 80s, but it wasn't until Warhammer surged in the early 90s that they started to take over, with other companies providing simple square or round bases.



Early on, it was almost universal that they were either just painted green (including the edges), or painted green with some simple flock sprinkled on. Back then, putting a twig or a few rocks on your base was considered High Art. Second set is actually mine again, painted around '97. I did a High Art!




The first time I saw sculpted bases (outside of diorama-level stuff) was in the very late 90s, and then it was mostly just used to alter the shape of the top of the base a little, not to actually serve on its own. Plastic minis started showing up in the mid to late 90s (GW innovated here as a way to cut costs on materials and transportation - metal minis, to this day, are better than plastic in almost every way except price.) But it opened the floodgates to plastic, and it was in the early 2000s when pre-painted plastic miniatures (in money-grabbing blind packs) started showing up (shudder) that simple black plastic bases really became a thing.



I don't know when the switch to clear bases began. I first started seeing them within the last ten years. This pic is my own again, and demonstrates the real benefit here - the bases disappear when on a printed map, making it look like the miniature is actually standing there.

[Blackhawk]

You can comment on whatever you like - we're a friendly group over here.

I'm definitely mixed on the issue and I do think some of it is tied to whether or not they're display pieces vs play pieces. I do like adding to bases or using themed bases, but yes it totally annoys me if I'm using something themed for forest / grasslands and the game map is now in a dungeon or a glacier. I have WW2 minis on clear bases and when you put them on a neoprene gaming mat, they look amazing. I have a RL friend that is vehemently against themed bases of any type, always because of how they clash with whatever it is you're playing on.

I guess I'm a solid, "It depends" - I totally see both sides.

And that's how I am. I've gone through most of the phases in my long post, but I've had two major dilemmas.

The first was square or round bases. Most of my early collecting/painting was for wargaming, mostly Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Those games tend to have strict rules about bases, usually dictating their size and shape. Size is a balance thing - you can control how many miniatures can attack another if you can control their base size. Shape is because before 'skirmish' wargames were popular, minis were controlled in units, and units were in formations, plus certain things were based on facing - like tracing 'front' by drawing a line from corner to corner. My old High Elf spearmen:



But round bases are much less fiddly when it comes to RPGs. When I started pen-and-papering and painting again, it took years for me to finally come to terms with the realization that I wasn't painting for wargames, mostly because I didn't have wargaming friends, and because most modern games have turned to skirmish rules, which use individual figures on round bases rather than massed units (which is what I prefer.) There was a point at which I finally decided to make the transition to round bases (you can see both types if you look at the images in the spoiler in my last post), but it was painful - I was, essentially, making my miniatures unusable for the thing that had really gotten me into the hobby.

The second one I'm still struggling with. I really like the process of deciding on and designing sculpted bases. It's a creative step, not a chore. But I also really like the effect that clear bases have on maps. It improves the overall look and experience of the game, but weakens the look of the individual miniatures, and it doesn't really add anything when used on a plain beige mat. I have a feeling that I'll eventually end up sticking with clear for anything I expect to see on the table. But once again, I'm giving up something that I like to do it, and that takes me time to wrap my head around.

It doesn't help that I have a massive collection of basing materials! I'm'a gonna go take picture, be back in a sec... There. I'll post the photos separately.

And do I go back and re-base all of my old minis? Right now I have a selection spanning 30 years on every type of base from the integral the the plain green squares to sculpted round to clear - and everything in between. I'd love to have it be consistent. Although I can imagine keeping the sculpted bases for some niche games that I don't have a ton of printed maps for (like the gambler and Native American in the last post for Deadlands - I only have two printed maps for that game, and they're pretty specific settings.)

[Blackhawk]

Ok, I mentioned my basing supplies. Here's the majority of it. Click to embiggen.



A couple of specialty items (asphalt and concrete.) You just spread them on like spackle, let them dry, and you get the effect.
An ice cream tub full of coconut fiber, which is probably the single best 'sticks and twigs' material out there. It's sold bedding for hermit crabs, and a couple of bucks is a lifetime's supply.
The mini-totes with my most used materials - gravels, sands, lichens, that sort of thing. I've collected it from all across the country, grabbing a bag full when I find something that's got just the right size and texture.



That's the rest of the mini-totes in a tote that holds 60 of them. There are only three or four that aren't used. More sands and gravels, pebbles, various plant bits, flocking, you name it.



Base stamps/molds (and base putty.) The putty is a two-part resin. Mix 'em together and it's like a thick clay. Spread it on the base, and you're good to go. They even make bases with an indented top so that you can keep it level. You can create an uneven surface to put grass on (see the owlbear in the spoiler tags a few posts up.) You can use the stamps to create a texture, like diamond plate, grating, brick, wood, cobblestones, and so on. All of the minis in that post that don't have grass on them used these. I also have a number of textured items that I just found/adapted. You can see a couple of old phone cases there, and elsewhere I have some sections of speaker grating, sandpaper, etc.

Bonus: Here's my phone case from about 10 years ago:




Take that hollow base I linked, fill it with putty, smush it on the phone case...

Spoiler:

(That mini was a first-generation Bones, which had consistently awful face detail. They've since improved the formula considerably.)

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, I know. I'm chain-posting. I have a problem. Actually, I'm just using this to see if I can build my enthusiasm up a bit more after three and a half years of barely painting (as I mentioned before, burnout.) I've got the urge again, but it's hasn't been my routine for a long time, and I need a full head of steam if I want to change my habits and get back to it. As it stands, this is the mess that should be my painting table:

Spoiler:

[Smoove_B]

What helped me finally get over the "hump" - pick a single mini - just one - that you'd want to paint for use in something. You actually also need that motivation to play something, but if you have a single figure around that you could use in something like D100 Dungeon or 2D6 Dungeon (or whatever), getting excited about just one mini might be enough...

[Blackhawk]

Part of my problem is that I have an unfinished project that's been sitting there for a year (I have painted from time to time, but not painted.) You can see it in the picture - two wooden sticks behind the mat with 18 or so Zombicide minis tacked to it. I would need to finish that, as it is the last of the regular zombies from the set that aren't painted. They're almost done. I could probably knock them off in a couple of hours.

But I just don't wanna.

So I procrastinate.

Once I finished those, I would probably try to find something to paint that 'inspires' me rather than something specifically for something. Painting only for something was what burned me out, as it led me to projects that I felt needed to be done instead of projects that I wanted to do. I would probably dig through and find two or three pieces that make me go, "Ooh! That would be fun to paint!" and go with that. (I never paint only one at a time - I find that three lets me cycle between them while sections dry.)

I've actually been missing listening to podcasts and audiobooks - and even just to music - lately, which is another thing that's calling me back. I've used to do most of my listening while driving. But since I no longer drive the kids to school and home (two 50-minute round trips) each day, my only driving is one shopping trip every couple of weeks, plus local (and everything local is two or three minutes away.) Painting time makes for great listening time.

[Fardaza]

Wow. That's a lot of cool info BW!

[Smoove_B]

So I procrastinate.

I get it. I have a few things in the pile now and I'm shuffling them around to paint singles instead. I'm not sure I'll ever get my tolerance back for batch painting grunts. Contrast paints help, but I don't find nearly as much enjoyment in repeating the same mini 6-10 times. I know I'm not special.

I've actually been missing listening to podcasts and audiobooks - and even just to music - lately, which is another thing that's calling me back. I've used to do most of my listening while driving. But since I no longer drive the kids to school and home (two 50-minute round trips) each day, my only driving is one shopping trip every couple of weeks, plus local (and everything local is two or three minutes away.) Painting time makes for great listening time.

That's also what I started doing - throwing on a Youtuber to listen to them do a board game or solo RPG play-through. I've enjoyed that more than I thought I would while painting.