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I usually take a few nights a week to work on stuff (maybe for 15 minutes, maybe for a few hours) when I'm home from work. When I go out on the road, I sometimes bring painting/modeling supplies with me to work on minis at the hotel or at event sites. It's generally easier to build models at work than it is to paint, but I have accomplished both-my boss even watched me once with interest, and said it's perfectly okay to build them at work. I also surf Dakka all day on my phone while I'm at work (unless currently driving).

-no, I don't think I currently need more coworkers

I have done a few things at school, usually on the weekends if I don't have too much stuff due. Luckily most of my class schedule tends to have easy work to get done.

Also have to work around Jaycees (organization I am in) events that I always seem to have to go to.

During the summer is my bread and butter of gaming and painting (hopefully painting at least). Lots of free time. Also my work "lets" me paint there. As long as I get my projects done at work, I can do my hobby projects there.

It really depends, sometimes I can go weeks without touching them,but as my interests in books and video games has nearly entirely evaporated i've been at my work bench painting Beastmen nearly every day, for a good 2-3 hours. As we speak I jsut returned from the FLGS, my Giant fell from the table to the cement floor, broke off his base and club, just fixed that. I may soothe this headache with some quiet music and painting some of my Bestigors.

In short, all the time.

I consider myself lucky and usually get 2 - 3 evenings a week to work on my minis. The baby goes down for bed around 9:00 PM, and after her goodnight ritual I am working on models until around 1:00 AM. I try to alternate between spending evenings working on my models, and spending the evening with the wife. Sometimes I might get a weekend day to do nothing but work on things, but for the most part those days are filled up with home improvements and yardwork.

I use painting as an excuse to get out of the house so I spend two or three evenings a week down at the Seattle Bunker painting my Skaven, usually for four or five hours a night.

I have built myself a painting station inside an IKEA closet (the desk pulls out and is situated pretty high up, so I don't have to crouch a lot - I'm a tall guy).



This means that whenever I have an hour, I can just open the closet and paint for an hour (the wet palette keeps my blends going between days). You still need the hour, of course, but even during extremely busy periods I can usually stuff the odd half-hour in every day or other day, and it adds up in the long run. Plus, the lower part of the closet holds my miniatures bag, so it doesn't litter the bedroom and irritate the wife.

The lighting in the painting area comes from both above and the sides and I can create an improvised lightbox in it at need, as well.

That's like a refridgerator for miniatures. Where's the beer?

Mmmmmmmm Beer, the most important additive of all!

Apparently just like everyone else here, I don't have much time to paint for myself. I work full time. I am working on my MBA. I have two children, almost 1 and almost 3 years of age. Normally I call it quits for work/housework/homework at 11:00 pm and give myself about an hour to paint. Some evenings, if I do not have much to do, I can put up a card table in the living room and watch an episode of something on DVD with my wife, (we're watching season 3 of Castle now, GREAT show!) and paint. She even joins me some evenings, working on a few Chaos Daemons I bought for her to work on.

Weekends are hit and miss, depending on how much homework I have to do, or what obligations we have to take care of. If I get three hours Saturday morning, that's huge. Maybe an hour or two in the afternoon if my kids' naps miraculously overlap.

Gaming.... once in a blue moon. My Warhammer buddy just had a baby so he's busy too, and I'm too ashamed of my teeny allotment of Boyz to go to the Ann Arbor gaming shop to play someone there. (Still working on painting up 30 Slugga Boyz. Forshame! I know! )

It's reallly gonna suck this summer when I have to mow the lawn and work on my outdoor house projects again... Goodbye time for me at all.

MightyGodzilla wrote:That's like a refridgerator for miniatures. Where's the beer?

There is usually coffee in the Maelstrom Games cup, but the fridge is only a room away...

If I wake up early on sat I'll paint some minatures. Weds. when my friends and I do WHFB I paint skavens while watching them and on Fridays I'll paint when waiting for my ride to get out of class.

No where near as Much as I'd like...

Stay at home dad, kid a little over 1 year old. Leaves me little if any time to myself. So My bettering my painting skills goes unpracticed. Makes me sad as I really do Enjoy painting.

I'm kinda lucky, my wife has a craft business and we have a craft room that she has "graciously" given me a corner in...

When the kids go to bed (around 8:30) we both go in there, she crafts, I paint and we get to spend some time together.

Usually about 8:30 at night or later when any housework is done, since it seems like 8:30 is when all the shows I like stop and the shows she likes start.

Sometimes I get a few hours on the weekend to paint as well.

My job keeps me away from my hobbies (and everything else actually) for about six months in a row, and leaves me with plenty of time in my hands for the rest of the year. So during summer I get nothing done, while in winter, I paint whenever I'm in the mood to do so, since I have the time to spare. Favorite time of day, evening to midnight and beyond!

Eilif wrote:If I'm not very intentional about doing some hobbying when I have the time, it just doesn't get done.

I feel you on that one, although possibly for different reasons. I work part time (only about 20hrs/wk) and housework/chauffeur duties (girlfriend is a grad student with class, lab, and TA duties, I work a constantly changing schedule, and we only have one car between us) don't take up that much time. As much free time as I have, painting/modeling takes energy that I usually lack. As satisfying as it can be, it's still work to do it (that applies to any and all of my more constructive hobbies), so I frequently opt to watch something/play something/putz around on the internet, instead. Were I more motivated, I could easily fit in a few hours every day - I just don't have it in me.

On rare occasion, I'll actually put in 5-6 hours in a day over several days (usually to complete an independent project, like a gift - the fact that it's for someone else helps me push through the crippling hobby malaise), but that only happens once or twice per year (Christmas, New Year's (on which Russians give gifts, in lieu of Christmas), and my girlfriend's birthday come one after another - some years I'll make a larger, all-celebration-encompassing gift, others I'll make several less elaborate ones).

I'm lucky, I work short hours.

I like a routine as well being ex military so Its like clockwork for me..

Home from work at 1300, gym until 1500 and then the times my own until bedtime at 2200 sharp.

I usually spend my evenings walking with the missus, watching Star Trek, painting, reading, playing video games..

I reckon I paint about 8-10 hours a week.

I typically paint in the evenings after dinner, and game with friends on Friday nights.

Neither my wife nor I watch much TV, and she's got her own crafts that she does in the evenings too.

During the winter months, weekends see a fair bit of hobby activity too.

With 2 kids and the moodiest wife you'll find this side of the Cadian Gate my painting time is pretty restricted. I sometimes have a couple of hours after the kids have gone to bed but I'm usually too knackered to be bothered.

Once a month though the wife takes the kids to her mothers (I know where the wife gets it from!) for four days and then I really get stuck in and do my best to make the most of it!

Boar

Time is a precious commodity for me. I work full time (anywhere from 40-60 hours a week) and I go to school full time. My fiancée works full time, is working on her MBA, and has 2 small kids.

Usually, if I'm lucky I can manage a couple of hours for modeling and painting every weekend or so, and possibly a trip to the FLGS depending on scheduling.

y'know. It funny its spring break. and i have not models to paint now.
I have been begging for time to just do what i want(paint) but know that i got it i cant.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kaptajn Congoboy wrote:I have built myself a painting station inside an IKEA closet (the desk pulls out and is situated pretty high up, so I don't have to crouch a lot - I'm a tall guy).



This means that whenever I have an hour, I can just open the closet and paint for an hour (the wet palette keeps my blends going between days). You still need the hour, of course, but even during extremely busy periods I can usually stuff the odd half-hour in every day or other day, and it adds up in the long run. Plus, the lower part of the closet holds my miniatures bag, so it doesn't litter the bedroom and irritate the wife.

The lighting in the painting area comes from both above and the sides and I can create an improvised lightbox in it at need, as well.

Dont give me ideas.

wildboar wrote:With 2 kids and the moodiest wife you'll find this side of the Cadian Gate my painting time is pretty restricted.

made me lol

As a college student that also works part time in a restaurant to pay off bills my painting time is somewhat sporadic. I usually paint on afternoons I have off of work or after unusually stressful days, it seems to calm me down.