[JoeGKushner]

So how do you discipline yourself to set aside time to paint?

Like most people, I work full time, have a girlfriend, have other hobbies.

I love miniatures and have many, many, many unpainted figures and sometimes it's a bummer knowing that I'll never get caught up, but I can't figure out how to set aside more time to paint.

How do others do it?

[dargrin]

I absolutely have no time at home to do this with a new baby and all. I have allot of down time at work so I paint there.

[Gus Landt]

I feel your pain, Joe. I think many of us struggle with the same thing.
For me, it helps to have all my stuff set up in my own little painting area. That way I never have to set-up/tear-down when I want to paint.

Another thing that REALLY works for me is I don't wait until I have x horus to paint before I sit down to paint. Even short painting sessions add up!
Example: My wife and I go out to eat a few times a week. I'm ready to go in 5 minutes. My wife.....takes a few more minutes than that. So I get ready, then sit down and paint for 10 miniutes. My wife never feels rushed, and I get a cloak basecoated or an arm pinned.

Monday-Friday I paint a total of about 5-8 hours, but I don't think it is ever more than 20-30 minutes at a time. Just lots of little sessions. Having everything always set up makes this fairly productive. I save the timeconsuming stuff (large blending jobs, NMM stuff, blacklining) for the weekends, and do all the pinning, basing, priming, basecoating, etc in my weekday mini sessions.

Hope that helps!

[Aryanun]

I don't.

Basically with a baby, a husband, a full time government job about to hit peak season, and too much to do around the house, I don't have time to paint. I can't bring it all to work because I don't have time during my breaks or lunch to paint, so I whimper as I look longingly at my painting area and ponder everything that needs to get done before I can contemplate painting again.

That's why I'm so looking forward to ReaperCon '05. Three whole days of doing nothing but painting (except for a small part where I'll be doing some instructing).

[Digital M@]

I struggle with this all the time. I find once I start putting some time aside, then I want to do it more and find ways of creating more time. For instance, I may put another hobby on hold for a little or spend less time on it. I will force myself to turn off my computer and I hate just about everything on TV, so if my wife is watching TV, I can paint without interuption. I agree with Gus, I rarely get more than 60 minutes at a time, but it adds up. I also only paint in the fall & winter and that leave spring and summer to focus on other things. The only drawback it the long break really hampers improvement. I am just getting back to where I was at the end of last painting season.

[jjpens77]

I usually try to find anywhere from 15mins to a couple of hours a night after everyone is in bed...like everyone else said, every little bit counts. And, I also find that I take my time on minis this way and not do rush jobs. I don't know how folks paint 4-8 hours straight...after awhile I just have to put the brush down and step away from the table.

[Rodnik]

I make sure that I paint "something" every day. The biggest time saver is having a dedicated space to paint---that way, you can just sit and paint with no prep or clean-up effort. With a dedicated space, even 15 minutes is enough to get something done.

[Stubbdog]

Its easy, juts learn to live on less sleep.

I have been going on 4 hours a night for a long time now... lol

Cant say I always use that extra time wisely. And I have plenty of other things to distract me other than painting. But, at least I am able to get something rather than nothing accomplished.

[fet]

I also need very little sleep, so I frequently get a couple or four hours after my girfriend goes to bed; I also have jobs that don't have set hours of attendance, so I can arrange to get them out of the way in one lump of time and use the saved time to get more painting in. All up it adds up to a good 4-8 hours a day of potential painting time. Handy.

fet

[warlordgarou]

I've been struggling with it myself. Between being a stay-at-home dad for a one year old, trying to write rules for CoH RAGE (pet project), playing computer games, and reading, it seems like building terrain and painting have taken a back seat lately.

I have started trying to set aside at least a couple hours a week for painting. I might not get much done, but I intend for my figs to show progress every week.

[Gus Landt]

Another thing that really helps me is that I don't own a television, and I don't play computer games. That frees up about 6 hours a day right there, from what I understand about the average person's television/computer gaming habits.

[Sergeant_Crunch]

Over the course of the last year I held a position were it wasn't uncommon to work at least 12 hours. I think the worst was the 2 week period of 20 hour days. That was also about the point I discovered I'm not 18 anymore. Anyways, that, on top of being married with children adds up.

My solution was that on the days when I got home at a decent hour during the week I'd set up on the coffee table after dinner and paint while she watched TV and converse with my family. Usually added up to 2 or 3 hours a week when I could manage it or wasn't distracted by one of my other addiction... I mean hobbies. Then usually about every second or third weekend I'd set aside Saturday for an all-day paint fest. Only drawback to this is that my kids are always consuming something and need more food/drink, or they're being boys and trying to rip each other's ears off for fun. So I've either got to figure what's left that's still edible or break up a fight or ask them not to lean on my arm when I'm trying to get that one *reeaallllyyy* tiny detail on the fig. Mostly though the kids are sitting next to me asking things like "what color are you going to use next daddy?" and such. As long as I don't get over ambitious in how much I'm trying to accomplish the saturday sessions usually result in a completed tank/vehicle maybe two, a fully completed game-table quality squad of 10 figures, or getting part of a larger number done. This past weekend I did this and got the base colors for the hands, faces, and cloth bits of 70 GW Cadian troopers. Although this wasn't an "all day" event I still got a fair amount done in the time I did spend doing it.

And now my point: I try to do it so I can paint and spend some time with my family at the same time.

NOTICE: using the coffee table doesn't work once your infant child has figured out how to pull him/herself up on the edge of said table. A couple weeks ago I walked out of the room to get a drink and found my 9 month old trying to figure out how to open a bottle of purple paint and drink it when I came back. Good thing it was still sealed from the manufacturer.

[Digital M@]

Gus Landt, on Feb 15 2005, 08:58 AM, said:

I don't play computer games.

This is something I have tried to work hard at. It's not that I don't ever want to play them, but I don't want to do it daily or for many hours at a time. To me video games are like empty calories, they feel good, but they accomplish nothing. So every once in a while I can splurge, but I try to keep it out of daily living.

[Hexxenhammer]

Digital M@, on Feb 15 2005, 09:08 AM, said:

Gus Landt, on Feb 15 2005, 08:58 AM, said:

I don't play computer games.

This is something I have tried to work hard at. It's not that I don't ever want to play them, but I don't want to do it daily or for many hours at a time. To me video games are like empty calories, they feel good, but they accomplish nothing. So every once in a while I can splurge, but I try to keep it out of daily living.

...says the guy with the Half Life avatar .

[ixminis]

What Rodnik said: That's pretty much what I do.

How's that for a time-conscious way to answer?

Rgds,