Funkbusters

I often hit absolute funks when it comes to hobby activity. Sometimes it is the dreaded Real Life getting in the way, sometimes it is a collapse of confidence in abilities… you know, those times when what should be an easy kit to assemble just doesn’t want to co-operate, or when you just can’t get that highlight to where you are happy with it.

I’ve had lots of advice over the years from other hobbyists and putting that with my own experiences, I thought I’d pull together my thoughts as to what has worked to help me out of funks in case it is helpful to anyone that might chance upon this blog.

Now, I’ve had good success following the sage advice to not stop but to switch things up. You know the score, you can’t face painting another goblin and your hobby energy and momentum have dropped to dangerous levels… so you pull out a feudal Japanese samurai instead to re-energise. That’s great – but sometimes I find the brush just isn’t with me no matter what I try to paint, so what do I do then?

Switch it up totally! Engage in a totally different part of the hobby – assemble some of the miniatures pile or write some fluff or armylist a little.

And on that subject, I definitely view armylisting and the like as positive hobby activity… although there is the risk it can make me want to buy even more stuff of course!

Social media is great – it means I can follow all those ‘Eavy Metal painters, the Slayer Sword winners, Angel Giraldez, the incredible commission painters from Poland and Russia and all those Japanese hobbyists that are just something else. But it is easy to get sucked into the mindset that that’s how Napoleonic French infantryman with slightly wonky bayonet number 4 needs to look. I mean, the guy at the back that I will take off as the first casualty in a game doesn’t need NMM boot buckles.

Don’t get me wrong, I admire all the incredible artists out there and they do push me to try my best – but if I judge my peon gaming piece in comparison with an award-winning diorama I’m clearly not gonna like what I’m seeing. Admire them, be inspired by them, but don’t judge compared to them (unless you are a display/competition painter than knock yourself out!)

This also applies to those hobby machines that seem to just knock out mini after mini – even army after army – day in, day out. Fair play to them of course – but seriously, I have a full-time job with frequent evening meetings, ill elderly relatives and I’m trying to fit in exercise to make myself healthier… I think I can allow myself to celebrate my own hobby progress even if one week it is just ‘assembled three skeletons and tinkered with an Aleph OSS list on Army’.

This ties in with the hobby machine jealousy thing. Sometimes you just aren’t going to be in the right mental/emotional/physical space to enjoy your hobby. And if you aren’t enjoying it, then it’s not much of a hobby right?

Go read a book, take a walk, play a card game, fire up a console, listen to music, watch a movie/TV show, grab a coffee with a loved one or whatever else you enjoy doing away from the hobby. That’s OK too… and if we are honest, it’s healthy. It’s easy to get obsessive over our little miniature dudes and the worlds they inhabit in our minds – but it’s important to take a step back from time to time and devote some time and energy to other pursuits.