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Need advice.
At what point does one have to sit back and start painting less, reading less and basically pulling back from the hobby?
Basically found i'm doing it so much that family is worried i'm obsessed with it, and i'm worried too.

How often do people paint or do models? how often is healthy?

It doesnt exactly matter how much you do I guess .You might be like most people they get massively into the hobby for a coupel of months , painting and stuff , then sort of go out of it for abit then return.
Its your hobby after all its yor fun time , you need soemthing to be enthusiastic about .


I paint almost everyday. I go to the local shop once or twice a week. I talk about the hobby alot with friends .

Problem is it's something family is worried about.

I don't want to do something that family thinks is nonconstructive, obsessive and frankly childish....

Corennus wrote:Problem is it's something family is worried about.

I don't want to do something that family thinks is nonconstructive, obsessive and frankly childish....

HERESY!!!

Only stop when you wish to. If they are so concerned, then maybe you should teach them about the hobby!

Well, I don't know a single thing about your family, but what timeframe are we talking about here?

And if you start calling your hobby childish they've already won

well I started painting a year ago. and paint every lunchtime and most evenings. Get complaints I zone out and cant' be talked to and just waste evenings to it.

And apparently the hobby is for "tweens and guys who have no gf or life".

and since I love my family I'm gonna try and curb how much I paint.

Or maybe just spend more time on one model making it best it can be instead of batch painting for 3 hours straight

Make your painting environment less pleasant, then you can enjoy crippling back pain which always tends to reduce painting time naturally

Paint every last one of them quickly, then sit back to enjoy your hard work, all the while twitching uncontrolably for a new set of miniatures.

When I was a teenager I painted more than at any time in my life. I would do an hour or two most nights after school work, though I was in the living room and socialising and watching TV. I didn't go out or have a girlfriend and it didn't harm me.

Sounds like your folks just don't understand the hobby if thee are accusations of childishness. Lots of things are childish but it doesn't make them wrong. Many kids your age spend hours every night on the computer. That's far less constructive but apparently normal. Maybe they are just concerned they are not seeing enough of you, does your painting lead to you spending hours away from your family?

Head to the opposite extreme - dress in black, and go out and get wasted every night. Either they beg you to go back to painting, or you have a good time anyway. It's win-win!

I've said it before on here. I try to paint for 20 minutes a day. That way it doesn't interact much with my time with my fiancee. She's been really good with the hobby, so I try to involve her. She has picked my last 2 paint schemes.

If you feel your overdoing it, you probably are according to your family. Families sometimes need to get used to the idea of the hobby. The best route is to cut down on the number of armies you own. And also only keep out 1 unit at a time. That way you avoid the "sea of minatures" look on a desk top.

Suggestion, set a time to paint for smaller periods. 15 - 30 min sessions. I try to organize mine when I first get home from work, and use it as my down time. That way its just me in the house. I paint, and clean up the stuff I don't need, that way only a small amount of stuff is out at a time.

This is a hobby. That usually means it's something you enjoy, to relax after doing some other things, mundane, employment, etc. that you don't enjoy as much. You're not out cruising bars, hooking up with who-knows-where-they've-been, or doing illegal drugs. Yes, what we do is plastic crack, but in the end it's still a craft (yes, I said it) and we develop skills in art and creativity. What's the difference between this and people who take up needlepoint, tole painting, rubber stamps, card making, scrapbooking, poker, bowling, trap shooting, etc.? They do those activities because they enjoy them. Some activities are for the fun of the activity itself, like sports, with little to show for it aftewards except good exercise. Others, such as painting or sculpting, you've got something to show off that only you can state "I did this."

It only becomes an obsession when you do the hobby to the exclusion of all else, including responsibilities. That means if you're married with kids, it's your responsibility to get a job, put food on the table, raise the kiddos, be a good parent and a productive member of society. While many of us would rather paint, do model conversions and game instead of work, we have to have a paying job in order to make that cash to get more models, paints, food, clothing, etc. This and being a responsible adult and parent means we have less time for the hobby. I admit it's easier to dedicate more time to the hobby when one is a teen, a college-student, single or all of the above and then some.

I can only use myself as an example: as much as I love painting, the moment one of my kids says "Daddy, come help me with my homework" or my 3 year old says "play with me", I clean off my brushes and spend time with them. Same with my wife. If any of my family wants some of my time, it's theirs. However, they also know when Daddy needs to escape and go off for an hour or two to work on his toy soldiers. If it's a hobby, you'll need to balance the hobby part out with your responsibilities.

If you're becoming more and more akin to the Unabomber because all you do is paint to the exclusion of your family, then yes, it is an obsession.
If your skin turns a pallid color, you're hiding in your closet with a single light burning over your miniatures so you can focus on the details, and you start referring to yourself in third person, then it's an obsession.

YMMV



Automatically Appended Next Post:

njpc wrote: The best route is to cut down on the number of armies you own. And also only keep out 1 unit at a time. That way you avoid the "sea of minatures" look on a desk top.

That's a great idea!

A couple of things to consider:

1. If you are skipping work, school, or attending important family events to game/paint that is wrong.

2. If you are spending money you need to support yourself/family and pay bills/rent/etc., etc. on hobby that is wrong.


Beyond those two issues it is a matter of finding a balance that works for you and your family. Also people often don't have a very clear perspective on something they don't understand.

For example I know gamers whose wives hate gaming and express the sentiments you describe: it's a waste of time, etc., etc.

Funny thing is those wives "waste" just as much time on their own casual pursuits. Some of these same wives spend 8-20+ hours or more a week watching what i consider to be totally valueless programming on tv.

How many of the wives/family members that abhor gaming are willing to give up all the sports programming, American idol, dancing with the stars, talk shows and so forth that they waste many hours on weekly? Following such shows is just as obsessive in nature and often just as time consuming.

I suggest you identify some things like this that your family wastes time on and point out that everyone should give up such obsessive activities. IS dad ready to give up football? Is mom ready to never watch American idol again? Let them know you are ready to cut back if they are...

Corennus wrote:well I started painting a year ago. and paint every lunchtime and most evenings. Get complaints I zone out and cant' be talked to and just waste evenings to it.

And apparently the hobby is for "tweens and guys who have no gf or life".

and since I love my family I'm gonna try and curb how much I paint.

Or maybe just spend more time on one model making it best it can be instead of batch painting for 3 hours straight

You might want to look up the term "hyperfocus".

well as a parent myself i would say

spend more time with your kids they are only young once, and the mini's will be there as long as you own them. I just starting painting DE witches (not wych cause i'm converting fantasy ones) so i spend maybe 30 minutes a day at most.

paint during lunch, and spend more of the evening times with your family.

as they are expressing that your spending to much time doing non family things then maybe you are.

Or paint something so it's really really awesome and ask them what they think about it. Or ask if they have any ideas. Say "I hadn't thought of it that way before" or "That's a pretty good idea" if its constructive. Smile and nod if they say something bad and return to whatever it is you want to do. Simply ignoring the negative criticism as it wears them down through ignoring it completely and only responding to the good stuff. Then hopefully they'll grow to be alright with it, just as planned. Also if you're a student keep studying hard and putting that ahead of painting time as that's likely their main problem with it. Then show them the tests with good results and go back to painting or whatever.

As for me I don't get hassled at all for it. They know that it's just a hobby that I do from time to time and that my studies come first. I can drop this if it becomes a problem and pick it up later with no problem. If I fail a course I have that fail and the Student fees to pay again

Um first things first people (i'm replying to Howard A Treesong). I'm 31. THIRTY ONE

And my problem not_u is fiancee sees me wanting to paint more than study for exams...

And sometimes I think she's right.

But today turned a new leaf. All models are kept in one area of house and I only go there for max an hour a day.

So hopefully everyone will be happy.

That sounds reasonable. Compromise with the mrs seems to keep them happy.

I wonder if anyone has ever had a painting "intervention"?

Well you can just say at least I'm not this guy and tell them about me. I have 11 games systems with at least 10 games per system, 3 handhelds, 3 40k armies in less than a year (working on a fourth), axis and allies naval fleet, and a few boardgames. Yes I play most of this regularly. Not all the games but all the systems. Oh I work in a call center so I also paint minis while I'm at work.

Painting has to be better than WOW right?

i'm not spending money on models that should go on bills.

i'm not painting to the exclusion of all else.

I think it's just the fact I do it so often that people can't accept.

Corennus wrote:Um first things first people (i'm replying to Howard A Treesong). I'm 31. THIRTY ONE

And my problem not_u is fiancee sees me wanting to paint more than study for exams...

Sorry dude, I thought you were a kid that locks himself away in his room for hours on end with worried parents downstairs.

An hour a day seems plenty, if you're working all day the evenings are all you have together. I usually spend part of a day at the weekend doing stuff and keep the weekday evenings free.

So you're 31 and you love to paint. That's a problem? I got a buddy in his late 30's and he's running a comic shop. That's his job. His house is covered in Anime posters, statues and action figures, and GW products. Your call

As long as you can prioritize, then I don't see there being any issue with how much time you spend painting. You're not neglecting people, and you've managed to put your exams first. As long as you can keep putting the crucial things before the hobby, I don't see any problem with spending a full day of free time - if you've got it - on painting and modelling. Hell, I can't count the times I've done that.

Yeah well i've just found half my army needs remodelling since I just did models to look cool. Then found I couldn't use half of them in actual game cause every squad had about 5 special weapons

And found out just how strong plastic glue is trying to take off arm of one of my terminators. Whole side came off with it.

Nonsense. You can use those special weapons. put 2 in a command squad, and get 3 5-man squads, 1 for each.

And yea it's strong because by the time it's completely dry, it's actually melted the plastic together, so it's pretty much one piece

lucky I got superglue. and time. and spare parts!

Corennus wrote:Need advice.
At what point does one have to sit back and start painting less, reading less and basically pulling back from the hobby?
Basically found i'm doing it so much that family is worried i'm obsessed with it, and i'm worried too.

How often do people paint or do models? how often is healthy?

Nice user-name. *glare*

Yea but your avatar has an eyepatch. So that still makes you #1 Cann

Corennus wrote:At what point does one have to sit back and start painting less, reading less and basically pulling back from the hobby?

Typically, this occurs in stages:
1. when you get a RL job
2. when you have RL friends
3. when you have a RL girlfriend
4. when you get married
5. when you have kids

Enjoy it while you can!

JohnHwangDD wrote:

Corennus wrote:At what point does one have to sit back and start painting less, reading less and basically pulling back from the hobby?

Typically, this occurs in stages:
1. when you get a RL job
2. when you have RL friends
3. when you have a RL girlfriend
4. when you get married
5. when you have kids

Enjoy it while you can!

Unless the hobby can be included in all those things. Then you've got it made