The important thing about goal setting is that they must be achievable and realistic. No point in setting a goal in paint the entire Infinity model range my next Tuesday is there?! So here are the 3 things I want to achieve this year:
1 - Attend at least 1 painting class this year.
In September 2016 I was fortunate enough to attend a 2 day master class by Meg Maples, who held a few dates in the UK that year. I learnt a HUGE amount about miniature painting over those 2 days, lessons which I continue to refine and apply today. Not only did it teach me new things about miniature painting, but it also gave me the momentum to try new things, experiment and push myself.
Sadly Meg won't be back in the UK this year, however I do have another artist in mind who I'm very keen to meet and learn from - David Soper. A retired graphic designer now full time miniature painter, this guy has brought home no less than 5 (!) Slayer Swords and numerous other awards. I have followed his blog for a long time, and have always been inspired by his work. You can find his blog here:
https://sproketsmallworld.blogspot.co.uk
I know he ran a few classes last year that sadly I couldn't make, so I hope to attend one of his sessions this year.
2 - Paint at least 1 bust
No I'm not talking about a ladies fun bits, but a model bust! So far the sum total of my painting experience is 28mm mini's and terrain. Although this is fine, I want to expand my experience into new areas and scales. I also think that practicing core techniques like blending will be better practiced on a larger scale. I will then hopefully be able to apply those lesson's to my more familiar 28mm scale.
Practice and advance of techniques aside, I want to branch out into a new area of painting, an area where what your creating is solely an artistic piece rather than a gaming piece. I'm keen to know how this will change my attitude towards painting a piece like that and where that will lead. There are also some amazing sculpts out there! I'd love to get my hands on C-Girl Akito bust and the bust of Acherontia, an Infinity Mobile Brigada bust!
3 - Be a better Infinity gamer!
While my painting has advanced noticeably over the last 6 months or so, my Infinity game has been sadly stagnant for the better part of 2 years! I've never been one to study any war game I play to hard, I enjoy the fluff of the game system and my lists tend to reflect that. I can hold my own on the table top, being pretty up to speed on most of the rules, but I rarely come out with the win, preferring more to enter the painting competitions instead! However that attitude doesn't really do much for my game!
The solution? Play more! We have a pretty healthy Infinity community here in Worcester UK with around 6-8 players in the area (trust me, that's good for around here!!) but sadly we don't get to game that often. The best place to get a game of course is at an ITS tournament. In that respect we do very well, being within travel distance to a number of venues that hold ITS events reasonably often. I'll be trying to attend as many of these as I can over the next 12 months in an effort to improve my game! I've already signed up for 4 events this year so far (2 events at BonesCon in February, 1 in Wales in March, and another in Cheltenham in March also) with another one expected at the UK Games Expo in June.
I hope to pad out the times between tournaments gaming with my Infinity gaming buddies, hopefully getting at least 1 game a month. This time next year, we'll see if its improved my game at all!
So that's my hobby goals for 2018! I think all of these goals are achievable and they all will contribute positively with my hobby. Either that or they'll ruin me and I'll quite the hobby altogether!
Do you have any hobby goals this year?? Have you completed any already?
The GunGrave
Get you beating Luke on a regular basis
ReplyDeleteHaha might need more than a year for that one!! I've beat him less times than I've beat you!! 😝
DeleteNeed to play him more 👍🏻
ReplyDelete