So Arctica asked me "What's up next?" commenting on a mini of mine over on Chest of Colours and it was awesome, because my answer was... I dunno.
It feels really good! For most of my painting days I was painting for game related stuff. I always new what my next ten projects were going to be as it was stuff I wanted to get done for gaming. Then after I went online and cowboyed up and started trying to improve myself I sort of still had a pretty good gameplan of what my upcoming mini's were going to be. And then I tried my hand at commission painting and then I knew for SURE that no matter what I painted next it was gonna feel like work.
So... this has led to a small piece of revelation. I find I am taking more and more time to paint a mini. I don't really feel the nagging at the back of my mind saying "Okay, let's wrap it up kid. We've got a lot more to do". This is making improving a lot easier. I still have lot's I WANT to do, but without any real world pressure, even the imaginary kind like getting stuff ready for the table at a tourny it's a pretty wonderful feeling.
It's great! No guilt for painting something for me instead of working on stuff for commission. No need to hammer through RnF mini's to finish off a unit of twenty for Fridays big game. None of that crap. It's beauty!
So with my liberation complete I am really going to enjoy this year. I have mini's for all of the WAMP comps. I plan on painting stuff for ladder challenges on a regular basis, but that stuff doesn't pressure me the way those other things did. It's feelin' good!
You are still going to paint up that Lizardman army for the tournament in April right?