Sunday 22 January 2017

2017 Goals - The Hobby

When I started writing everything down I realised it was becoming quite a lengthy post, so have split it into three sections. Summary, Hobby and Backlog. Here are the broader goals around the hobby itself.

Quality
I want to lift the standards of my individual figure painting to the next level. I'm talking better use of colour theory, smoother layering and glazing and even improving simple accuracy on the basics.

Competition
There's a Games Workshop five minutes' walk from where I work, and I want to get into the habit of competing at small local events. From looking in the store window they've got some competent painters attending, and even though it's a friendly affair - I'd quite like to win a monthly painting competition there!

Frequency
Thanks to the AmmoBunker's OMAM (One Miniature A Month) challenge, I've been able to paint something each month for the last two years. That's 24 consecutive months of progress! While the challenge itself slowed down considerably on the forum in the second half of 2016, it proved a value motivator for me - and I'll be tracking my own progress again with this as a benchmark. Feel free to join in.

Writing
My blog entries over the past year have mostly been finished figures and accompanying text. I'd like to try and add a few more posts on the in-progress pieces, or tips and tricks I've acquired. Reasonably sure that while most of this won't be new to you, but if I don't share ... we don't know if it is :)

Speed
A good friend of mine, Omero, had the idea of pushing his painting to see what could be achieved on a figure with only 90 minutes of painting which we've created the #90MMC hashtag for - 90-Minute Miniature Challenge. There's a twofold benefit here - it means you're always finishing a figure, whether the outcome is brilliant or not, there's a quantifiable way to improve your paintjobs through the year. Also, it helps dent the backlog. Imagine ticking off a standard squad figure each month with this method. 12 figures for a total of 18 hours in the year. Then you get to compare your December figure with the January one to see where you've progressed. Everyone can do that, right?

Mothership
I've never been to Warhammer World. As someone who has been playing, on and off, with Games Workshop miniatures since 1988 this seems like a heinous oversight and one I plan to correct this year. Your suggestions and recommendations for what to do and when to go are very welcome.