Hi everyone :) A couple of weeks ago I saw a number of posts on Twitter in which people were showing both their most recently painted miniature and the first mini they painted. I've seen this occasionally before, and it brings a smile to my face seeing everyone's progress. In this blog post I thought I'd do something similar, then talk a little about why I think this is a good thing. This is not technically my most recently painted miniature (I completed it last week), and I suspect the other is not actually my first either, but there is certainly a long time between them. I first painted when I was a child, probably around the start of my teenage years. It's fair to say that seeing those miniatures you wouldn't guess that I would go on to love this and paint miniatures for other people. The 'first' miniature is taken from that time of painting. I'm hoping you won't need me to tell you which one is 'then' and which one is 'now'! With the aid of some paint remover this is actually the same miniature. I decided that I wanted to do it that way so I couldn't hide behind a better sculpt on a modern miniature, and the only difference would be in the painting. (Technically there is also a difference of shield which I somehow lost during the process!) I'm always simultaneously embarrassed and proud when I show my very old work. On one hand it is truly awful, but on the other I can see how far I've come. Here are a few more shots of the recent one, I won't inflict any more of the old one on you! Doing something like this can be a bit of fun, seeing the stuff we used to produce and where we have reached now, but I think it's also an important part of improving as an artist.
I love seeing other people's work, and I keep my twitter feed full of people's amazing work, but there can be a downside to that as well. Unfortunately our natural reaction is to compare our work to that of other people. In one sense there's nothing wrong with that, it helps us learn and improve by seeing artists creations and learning from their techniques. It's very easy, however, to be very hard on our work when it doesn't match up to what we're seeing. Instead of comparing our work to other's, or at least in addition to that, it is important that we compare to our own earlier work. I'm pleased with how the orc turned out (the second time!), while acknowledging I can still improve. What this allows me to do is look at how far I've come - the kid who painted the first orc wouldn't have believed he was capable of creating the second orc. Learning and aspiring is fantastic, but be kind to yourself. Try to compare your work to what you did last week, last year or last decade. That way you can see how far you've come and inspire yourself rather than bring yourself down. Goblin Squire :)
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