SakeTami
TheKingofAverage
TheKingofAverage

patreon


Good enough

Earlier today I was joking with some of you guys on Discord about the names of my Patreon scales and the term good enough game up. Incidentally, it's something I, and I think many of you guys also struggle with.

What is good enough? When is it good enough and should we be okay with that? Later on my friend came over with some of his pathfinder minis to paint with me and the minis are honestly pretty terrible.

Again I found myself saying "good enough" about my paint job. Is it the best I've done? Certainly not. Is it good enough? I suppose. Am I happy about it? Not really.

I get so conflicted over this. So often I want to do my very best that when it's not, I feel bad about it. I'm either doing as good as I can or I might as well not even bother - at least, that's how I feel.

For me at least part of the problem is the dual nature of my hobbies. I enjoy board games and I enjoy miniature painting and they don't have to align. While many people are just trying to paint a game, I'm trying to enjoy my miniature painting hobby and I feel those incline themselves into different levels of "good enough".

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and perhaps ways you deal with it? Currently I just continue on the same as I've always been, for better or worse - but I'd love to feel good about all of my painting instead of so ho-hum about them when they are only "average" at best.

Next week I'll be making a post for those at the $20 tier to get another game session in and I'm really looking forward to that. Additionally I'm going to TRY and do 3 videos next week again as I need to get some reviews out the door. I've been working over the weekend as what I've been working on is due on Monday so I haven't had as much time as I'd like lately, but hoping that clears up :)

Have a great rest of your day!

Good enough

Comments

That sounds really nice! Do you know what causes you to go the extra mile on some of them but not all?

The King of Average

I can feel you, having the same dilemma with these hobbies. So many nice board games and armies to paint, fortunately lately I have been dedicating a bit more of my time to paint, but mostly board games so no competition painting in a looooong time since I can possibly paint a full board game instead of a single mini. For board games I do not waste much on cleaning or planning and when the result is sub-optimal, well, I do not care much, though in some games or minis sometimes I go an extra mile, or two.

Luis G Rodriguez

Funny enough I've said that same thing quite often when referring to cleaning up the miniature. The way I say it is even a quick job will be 2 hours of my time, if I'm going to spend more time than I would watching a movie on it, I want to at least clean it up. So there adds 10-20 more minutes for cleanup, and of course I gotta plan the miniature out. Just winging it is not my style so there's another half hour planning all the paints and the order I'll paint them. I'm at 3 hours now and that's not including when I get to the point I want to highlight it and end up doing 3 coats of highlights lol. Thankfully I am past the point where I feel I waste minis to build up to another one, though that's a very real thing I felt when I was first starting out.

The King of Average

And you are happy with that? Step 1 is just making myself stop when it reaches that point, step 2 where I really struggle is that I feel like it's crap and therefore like I wasted my time. "If I just put in a few more hours into it, it'd look so much better" is my literal thought process lol

The King of Average

Good question. I see the "good enough" as a relative term that depends on many variables. One more important than the others. I am not a good painter, I dont have enough time to paint and I dont have luxuries of tools and space to paint properly. So "good enough" is good enough in those circonstances. Its good enough to my level of skill, the time I had to put in it, and the purpose the mini have (repetitive sculpt of a board game vs impressive miniature that I want on display for example). Also, I am the kind of person that wants things to be efficient and well done. The expression "If your going to do something do it right" is one that I use often but it is absolutely devastating when you paint because you litteraly get better every time. So of course the next mini will be better, but that blocks me sometimes thinking I'm "wasting" a mini to do the next one better. Thats when the "good enough" comes in. To say "Well, in those circonstances thats the best I can do for now. I have to accept that." Or else you'll never be done. Thats how I see it.

We all (painters) struggle with this. The simple fact is, that there is simply not enough time to throw down quality work on every single mini. Myself along with tons of others are at the point where we are buried in plastic! I had a hard time dealing with this myself. I felt like I just couldn't keep up. So now I spend a good deal of time on certain heros and large figures and the rest of them are plain "good enough" for the table.

We all (painters) struggle with this. The simple fact is, that there is simply not enough time to throw down quality work on every single mini. Myself along with tons of others are at the point where we are buried in plastic! I had a hard time dealing with this myself. I felt like I just couldn't keep up. So now I spend a good deal of time on certain heros and large figures and the rest of them are plain "good enough" for the table.


More Creators