I was having a think this week about my hobby and what my hobby actually is.
I came to the conclusion that miniature painting is not my hobby though it is a massive part of it.
Ever since i started painting I had two objectives. The first objective was and still is to paint to the high standards of the 'Eavy Metal team the second was to paint for a living which i do at Golem Painting Studio.
These two reasons changed my mind on what my hobby is. My hobby is Professionally painting Miniatures and always has been. I pursued it since first picking up a brush. Now my hobby as you can now imagine goes beyond just putting paint onto a fantastic model because my interests lay in the hows of how a studio is run, how are colour schemes decided, how do you take good photo's etc. All these things have gripped me since I was a kid and I applied this curiosity regardless of what job I had and I tried to be the best Professional hobbyist i could. That attitude earned me this.
No not the tourney mug! (though that was one of the BEST days working at GW i Ever had and on day I will tell you about is at some point) When I was Given the 'Eavy Metal badge I blubbed a little. I blubbed because It a gesture that said to me I was doing the right things in my job and somebody decided i deserved it. I never knew it existed till it was presented to me, it came to me (myyy precioussss) so yes i blubbed.
Do not wish, do.
Tommie
I didn't quite go big, but I did pull off a good concept to reality that was pretty big for me, conceptually speaking!
ReplyDeleteI understand your pursuit of high quality painting, I'm fresh on the path myself. Another thing playing guitar and bass professionally taught me was that with a properly focused application of study and practice, along with a smidge of talent, you can go much further than most people believe they can.
And I can understand your happiness at recognition of that hard work and study. My projects right now take almost as long in concept and study as actual painting, because I'm still learning the basic techniques. But it's cool that so far every model has been significantly better than the previous, and lots of people have been very kind with praise and that feels so nice after all the work that goes into it.
Making the move to professional is an odd one, though. As a musician it fell apart for me because I was a horrid businessman. As a geek, becoming a system administrator sucked out all my passion for computers and technology. I could probably overcome the first, but I would hate the latter to impede my joy of painting!
Well phrased. I've learned to be wary of such things myself. And I agree on the System Admin bit... it only costs you the soul of your enthusiasm. On the other hand, I'm learning to dream again... which in the mid 40's is actually pretty cool. I too am learning the basics but I have seen what soo many good artists are doing and for now I am focusing on getting to that level. I am not going to put the cart before the horse, but at the same time my dreams compete with my knowledge. I was downtown a few weeks ago and saw an empty corner building with a lot of windows, especially on the east and south and thought, "THAT is where I want to have my game shop! The bottom floor can be filled with tables and miniatures and the upper floor would be a great studio where I could paint and offer classes!" It kind of surprised me, but has become a growing idea. We have absolutely zero game stores in this area (practically a 100 mile radius), but it is a college town and there is a sister city across the river that is just as large.
DeleteMy current goal is to paint every day for the next five years. I will continue to read WIP articles so that I can learn from other people. Once I finish my 200 zombies (likely be more before I finish, but that is a different story), I will begin to work on some display pieces so that I can push my skill by learning new techniques. I will still continue to paint game pieces, as that side of the hobby is equally fun and offers an avenue to build a community that is needed around me. In 2020 (sounds so odd to say), I will see where I am and refine my goals.