Have you ever lost your way in a miniature painting project, unsure of what color or method to use to finish the job? This often happens when I start a new project or when you’re trying out a new technique. It’s emotionally taxing and drains you of motivation if you don’t have the right attitude.
In this article, I share my experience with how I try to keep up the momentum in any miniature painting project, especially when faced with those confusing moments. It starts with the idea that “you can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving”.
Creative movement begets more movement
The idea of “you can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving” is all about taking action. Even if you’re not 100% sure of your next step in your miniature painting project, the key is to keep the brush moving. Think of it like sketching in an expressive style; your first lines might not be perfect, but they lay the groundwork for refinement.
In painting miniatures, each stroke, even the uncertain ones, builds your skill, tests new colors, and might just accidentally result in a technique you adore. It’s about maintaining momentum—emotionally and creatively—to keep the project alive and kicking.
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The trap to avoid is this: Don’t think too much.
Don’t read or try to analyze what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Instead, focus on relying on your instincts and allow it to take you places.
Yes, it’ll be messy. Yes, you may hate it. But the movement allows you to connect to yourself in way that thoughts alone cannot do.
Stop trying to see the future
When you’re focus on the future end result, I find that this leads to a kind of anxiety. Maybe it’s perfectionism (a kind of maladaptive coping mechanism) which I tend to use to avoid negative emotions while in the rut of a project.
Ultimately, the need or reflex to try and figure out the end result, the outcome, in a project is disruptive. It’s a bad habit and will ruin your desire to create.
Even the most planned out miniature painting piece won’t turn out 100% exactly as you intended. Sure, there are simple formulae you can follow to get a rubber-stamped result, e.g., a Citadel Contrast paint job will get you close.
But for those of you who are looking to expand and mature as artists in the hobby will find that every piece you complete will have things you don’t like about it, even if you pour your entire soul, intellectual bit of yourself into it.
Bottomline: Accept that the final outcome of your efforts may not be what you envisioned at the start.
The past is a learning tool, not a reminder of failure
Have you heard about the importance of a “growth mindset”? While I’m not a fan of applying labels and quick bumper sticker-like advisements to broad challenges we face, I do believe that mistakes are informative. But, such errors are only useful if you allow them to be.
When the project feels like it’s going off track, and you’re losing motivation, try not to think of your past failures as reminders of what you cannot accomplish. In my other ventures, e.g., career and job things, I’ve failed in so many areas; fallen short on things I wanted to do over and over, to the point that I’ve lost total confidence in myself.
Only when I picked myself back up and tried a different route with the new understanding that I’m not all-knowing did I break through. In hindsight, the real lesson was that failure isn’t permanent.
Instead of dwelling on past failures in your miniature painting projects, the most useful way to think about yourself is to accept that you’re going to screw up. Then, as you iterate on your past efforts, making even small changes to your approach, you’ll find yourself moving forward in a way that you never expected.
As above, keep moving and trying because your efforts, even the ones that lead to bad outcomes, will teach you something about yourself and how you can improve your miniature painting skills.
This is about life, too
Well, I must admit that I started thinking about the topic for this article because of setbacks I experienced in other aspects of my life. I wanted to share how I’m trying to approach this problem using the miniature painting hobby as a metaphor, too.
However, while writing this, I’ve decided to not treat it as a separate set of thoughts from the rest of my life and instead see that all parts of how we approach life are connected. The creative process is one big mirror into who you (we) are and how we should best react to the events in the World around us.
READ MORE: CREATIVE LIMITATION IS GOOD FOR YOU
Take home point: If you want to improve in miniature painting when faced with moments of confusion, keep the brush moving and accept that mistakes are a part of the learning process. Remember, you can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving, so embrace creative movement and use it as a tool for growth in all aspects of your life.
Final word
Life is full of pitfalls, traps, and hardships that we can’t see coming. We will fall into them. Even our best intentions will often lead to a need to change course. When faced with those moments of confusion, I hope you’ll remember and use the ideas shared here to help keep your creative (and life pursuit) momentum going.
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