For this weeks TBT I wanted to do something a little bit different.  I have recently, despite being a painter for 9 years and a commission painter for almost 3 years, have been really struggling with self-confidence behind the brush.  It seems that life with all of its twists and turns has left little time for my beloved hobby and therefore every time I sit down at the desk I feel like I am having to dust the rust off of everything and kick the tires to make sure everything still works.  I feel like things are not quite as good as I want them to be and, more discouragingly, that the results of my painting sessions are not as good as they would have been two years ago when I had every evening free to paint.

Now you might ask, Midge, where are you going with this morose downer of a post….. somewhere positive I assure you and in the spirit of Throw-Back-Thursday, I am going to pass on a little piece of advice that I think will ring true with veterans of the brush and newbies struggling through that steep learning curve that comes at the beginning of your journey as a miniature painter.  That piece of advice is simple yet ultimately re-affirming in the times that you are struggling with your art. My advice can be summed up in two words: Look back.

I am sure at this point you may be rolling your eyes and reaching for the mouse to continue your most recent foray into the interwebs, but I think, strike that, I know that this particular advice will change your mentality about your current work because it did, in fact, bring things into perspective.  I want you to take the piece that you are currently working on, whether it is the 900th model you have painted or the 9th and I want you to set it on your desk.  Then head over to the display cabinet or the army box or where ever you keep your models and find the first one….. the first model that every felt the caress of paint under your eager hands and pull it out and set it next to the one you are working on right now.  To lead by example I will do the same:

There he is, the first model that I every painted on.  I look at him now and I cringe.  I see soooooo many things that I want to change, that I just want to dip him in Green Stuff and start over from scratch.  The colors are flat and lifeless.  the metals have no depth. Dear God I could go on and on and on. But that is my point, the point of the entire exercise. Here is the model that I pulled out for comparison.

Same metallic armor scheme, some fabrics, gold details, this time it includes some skin work.  My Point is you have to look back to the beginning to see just how far you have come in your journey as an artist.  In those moments where, if you are like me, you get discouraged with the model you are working on, LOOK BACK, find the beginning and see for yourself the improvements you have made, whether it be months or years later>  You may just surprise yourself.

Happy Thursday folks and may you ever keep moving forward!