Usually I keep batch-painting to a tabletop standard to get things on the table but special models (aka characters or things I have some deeper connection to) get a little more love.

I probably be better at it but I lack patience and I know if something takes too long I loose interest and then things start to drag… as is evident with all my open projects here on OTT XD

I still struggle to get my minis out at a reasonable rate. But I’ve found that painting three or four at a time helps. And contrast paint. But not just slap it on and call it done – I still do all the edge highlighting and faces (faces are important for me). But having three or four on the go means that when there are little niggling things on the undersides of arms and under the feet(?!) etc. instead of spending hours and hours perfecting one mini, I put it down and move on to the next.

All this means is by the time I get around to the first mini again, I’ve forgotten what I needed to “touch up” or what I wanted to add to it, so just focus on getting the important stuff done.

I paint slowly, and try and do my best for all of them (unless I really don’t like it, then it’s faster)

If I don’t like the end result it makes painting drudgery no matter how much faster It is

Well this is an interesting question.

Sometimes I have projects that I want to do faster, to a tabletop standard but when I start painting I mostly go back to trying the best I can with the result that it takes a lot longer.

The only solution to this is to do basecoats and a wash and then stop with the mind set of returning later to finish them off.

With the result of not finishing them or falling back in trying to do the best I can.

Keep painting a mini until I realize that if I mess with it further, I’ll cause a major screw-up. 😛

I look at painting as one never-ending queue. ): At the same time, every time I paint a miniature, I know I’m getting better when painting the *next* miniature.

BTW, I’m even at the point where, if I don’t back a KS (eg. Zombicide), I’ve already put the unbought retail base game at the end of my queue, even I will only buy it at a deep discount on sale. I mean, what’s the difference between putting a set of miniatures you’ll never paint at the end of your paint queue, and not buying them in the first place?

Don’t even get me started on the closetful of boardgames that I’ve bought and haven’t played yet, either… 😀

@scribbs – what is your secret? Can you show us the way to this nirvana of enlightenment? 😉

Ha ha, that me laugh. But I suppose I can share a few thoughts about how I approach my hobby that help with reaching a level of contentment.

Firstly, I paint in small bursts, sessions of 30 mins to an hour, but regularly (almost daily). This has built a mindset of having a target to achieve when I sit down to paint, and practice has made me very aware of what I can achieve in a given timeframe. Looking at what’s on my desk as an example, I’ve got a dozen 18mm Napoleonic Highlanders. Yesterday’s aim was to add the yellow lines to the kilts and highlight the facings. Todays will be to highlight anything white. By trying to finish something within a narrowish window of time, it encourages walking away when you’ve got to a point that is ‘acceptable’. Conversely, I don’t try to cram too much into the time I have. I’m not going to paint 20 models in an hour, so I don’t try.

I’m always looking at the bigger picture of what I want to achieve. If I want a finished army by a certain point, it’s unlikely to happen if I lavish each model with all my attention. Again, it helps to encourage a mindset of putting a model down when it’s acceptable in order to reach the ultimate goal.

I enjoy painting, and I use it as a way to relax and destress. If I find I’m getting frustrated by trying to finish something to a standard that is a struggle, I’ve missed the point of why I picked up a paint brush. That’s not to say I won’t challenge myself by trying to improve, but I’m accepting of my failure to paint a perfect model.