Average weekly painting time.

I'm curious to know what everyone's average time they dedicate to purely painting/modelling purposes for the hobby?

Mine was once upon a time 6 hours a week but currently it's lucky to be a single hour per week so I'm hoping to build that back up somehow.

I'm amazed at some people's gnoblogs and what seems to be like assembly of models one week, is followed up by the unit 80% done the very next.

A bit of info as well for my situation, I guess the reason my time is so low to the hobby is between 4 kids, their various after school activities and working two jobs and of course staying fit and healthy it's hard to find time to paint the little guys.

Keen to hear about everyone's currently situation.

My hobby time fluctuates pretty much every week. First and foremost dependent on my inclination. But I also have a lot of other hobbies, I have a lot of family commitments, pets and I work nigh on 65-70 hours a week, between my office, networking and out of office/virtual stuff.

That said, I try to dedicate at least three hours every Saturday or Sunday to hobby, whether that's painting, building or basing models Just to keep things ticking over, and to keep my hobby techniques from going rusty. Sometimes, I have the time to dedicate and the passion and inclination takes hold, and before I know it I have spent a full weekend painting

It's a very mercurial thing

JJ

Absolutely. Only a few years ago I would spend at least an hour painting every single day!! But now my time is far more limited to say the least and I rarely get round to painting a mini let alone building one! As JJ said...it is Avery mercurial thing!

In my case, a bit like others, it depends on what else is going on. My work is very time consuming and requires me be able to just go in at a moments notice. This makes planning stuff hard. I also work some really odd hours, so sometimes don't get home until 10 or 11 at night.

Having said that, at the start of this year I told myself that I really need to put more time in as painting mini's actually helps to keep my mind of work, so is relaxing and a good distraction.

Like you Jimmy, I have the missus and kids to think about (not to mention cats and other hobbies), but they are pretty good about just letting me get on with it.

My biggest problem is motivation. After a 16hr day (7-22) I am not always motivated to do stuff. I have found recently that doing stuff for other people has helped keep me on-track. When I was making my second "lug the legless" model it gave me the chance to paint the first while waiting for GS to cure.

The Hunter thing helped me not only to build a hunter but while washes and again GS was drying, paint stuff. The commencing of a new game system has helped too; because other people are relying on me to have an army ready to play with.

The real answer to your question is; I tend to spend about 6 or 7 hours a week painting.....on a good week. When I cant be bothered or am too tired then that drops to 1 or 2...or even nothing. At present I am pretty motivated so getting lots of painting done. That could well change in a heart beat.

G_H

We're in the same boat Jimmy.  Between work, 3 kids and fitness it is tough sometimes (see my progress last month...pretty much nothing).  I have been trying to get at least 3 hours per week in though this month.  I also have a tournament coming up at the end of May that I am going to, 3000 points worth of fun, mostly unpainted at this point.

I plan to make a checklist for myself on my Gnoblog and check stuff off as I go.  Hope that helps me get motivated.

Cheers!

My time is pretty variable too. If I get time then it's usually 2-3 hours in a week but often it's zero - none.


  You can imagine how long I've been painting goblins to get 300+ finished.

I am pretty lucky in that I get home form work several hours before my wife.
This gives me at elast 10 hrs per week for hobby, plus the odd weekends where I can get another whole day dedicated to hobbying.
Of course real life often gets in that way of this every now and again and other times I just can't be bothered.

Well, on weeks that I do actually paint (which are rather on-and-off, so to speak  ), I'd say that my average paint time is anywhere from 1-3 hours. Over the whole week.

I just have a hard time sitting down and staying focused on my guys. I've been painting Ogres for so long that it kinda just blurs after a while. Plus, since I've finished all my Ironguts and almost all of my Leadbelchers (1 of those left!), I'm stuck to painting the rank-and-file Bulls, which is alright, but gets boring.

Not to mention the 50+ gnoblars that I have to paint lol...

Also, I have a very hard time finding motivation to paint my big beasties (2 giants and a stonehorn and a thundertusk), simply due to the scale of the model. I feel like I'd have to spend 4+ hours painting each one to make them look alright, and I just don't feel like giving them that much time, but I don't want to schlub off their paintjobs A vicious circle...

I try to get at least 5 hrs a week painting but that largely depends on the mood of the wife and the amount of money I got to bribe her lol. Trouble is when I get stuck into it time flies and all of sudden it's only 4 hrs and got to get up for work. Helping my mate's paint their savage orcs for a tournament soon is a nice change from painting ogres 

Usually I try to get at least 5 hours of "hobbying" per week. That includes assembly of models, undercoating, painting and other similar activities. Gaming is another matter, as I usually have to plan out in advance to make sure I've got the 4+ hours on the same day to spend moving toy soldiers around and throwing dice... It really is difficult to say for sure, as I tend to clip bits of sprues at some point of time, and then maybe glue a few bits and pieces together an hour or two later. Makes for good breaks in studying

However, ever since the last (and final) exam at uni a bit over a week ago I've had way more time on my hands. I only have one course, which only requires some CAD modelling (no lectures or exam), so not really any uni stuff to do. And my job starts on the 2nd of May, despite my wish to start earlier... So basically I've got a bit of a vacation going on. These last two weeks I think I've got around 15 hours of hobby stuff done. Might be more, as I tend to lose track of time when I paint for long periods of time and I'm no hurry to stop...

But like I said, this won't last as in a couple of weeks I'll be working for around 50 hours / week, and then going to the summer house for the weekend to renovate So after the 2nd of May I'll be back to trying to make sure I get the 5 hours / week done, and balancing that need with having to move to a new apartment at the end of May

- Loran

Variable between other half and my son.  But average if there hobby time going at all it would be 3-5 hours a week.  At best guess.

Depends on what I have going on in the rest of my life, how motivated I feel, and what projects I'm working on.

Lately I've probably been averaging about 8-15 hours per week, as starting up Mordheim and Battlefleet Gothic has lit a fire under me in terms of wanting to get things accomplished!

It totally depends on what else is going on in my life.

I find I am happiest and most productive when I can spend 30 mins to 1 hour a day each week but sometimes I don't do anything for days and then marathon for 2 or 3 hours. I find the weather has a huge influence on when I paint for some reason...

I would challenge all new painters and anyone who wants to get more done to find at least 15 mins a day to paint on a regular basis. You would be amazed at how much you can get done in just that short amount of time and it has helped me find quicker ways of doing lots of different techniques in addition to building up my confidence (feels good to see paint on your minis, feels good to see progress being made, allows you to buy more minis!).

Way to motivate (from my experience)
- set small goals (things you can achieve and make you feel good)
- take a break from things you don't "feel" like painting (it will probably turn out better anyway)
- cycle in multiple projects to keep things fresh
- keep painting (15 mins a day goes a long way! if you can't manage 15 try 5 or 10!)
- have a space set aside and (kinda) clean for painting (keep it tidy)
- don't hold yourself to unrealistic standards (nobody won the golden daemon on their first model)
- think about the personality and character of the model you are painting (i find it helps me to "get into their head" when painting)
- listen to music or podcasts
- drink water
- get new brushes when you wear the old ones out (nothing kills the fun of painting more... crappy brushes begone!!)

Hope this helps!?

I have to agree with Randroid's points, on pretty much everything actually

However, especially for new players that 15 mins a day can be extremely important! And for more experienced guys and gals as well I strive to learn quick ways of painting stuff, as I've got loads to paint and simply not enough time. Too intricate paint schemes for the most basic of troops, like Gnoblars for example, that you'll have loads of will take the motivation away quite quickly as you get the feeling that you're not getting stuff done... At least for me

The new brushes to replace bad ones is also one of the more important ones, but I'd like to add to that a bit. Good brushes are a must, but also the right ones. Using a wrong brush can be a pain. Imagine basecoating a Land Raider or a Thundertusk with only having the GW standard brush. Or trying to paint detail on small models with the large drybrush

- Loran

I've been so busy again lately that once again a brand new army got shelved. I have everything I could need to get it built up to around 5,000pts and start painting but my girlfriend and I both started new jobs, moving soon(so looking for a new place), family stuff, etc. Was about to get started but for the next month I'm working 84hrs a week with a day off every 13-14 days.

I'll get my army going soon enough so hopefully I'll quit buying more(almost bought a huge skaven army the other day). C'est la vie I suppose, soon enough I'll have a day a week for hobbying.

-GL

- get new brushes when you wear the old ones out (nothing kills the fun of painting more... crappy brushes begone!!)

Oh gods yes! I just hit the point where all my old brushes have started to die. I have left a medium/large detail brush and a super fine detail brush with about 6 hairs. Then a couple of brushes for drybrushing. It really sucks having to do everything with only these, but the shop where I used to get brushes closed up and moved away, and nowhere else near me sells anything other than GW (ick!)

Non-existant lately!  It's Spring here in California, and being a teacher means I'm busier (and more exhausted) than normal.  Summer is coming, however, so I can start painting again into the wee hours of the morning!

Average? There is no such a thing. I have been incapable for even visiting stronghold for over a month now. And sometimes I do hobby stuff 6 hours a day for 2 weeks

Short story even shorter. I'm slowly getting to the point that I'm able to breath again and trying to fit few hobby hours in my life again. Starting from becoming more active on the forums at first.

Well, I consider myself very lucky.

I can notch up about 20 - 30 hours per week hobby / painting time. That includes weekly club trip on sundays and building scenery / terrain.

This time is not purely Ogres (sacrilege !!) or GW stuff, but other rules system figures.

I do work 40 hours per week, but am single now, so no strings.

I also find that i hit the wall with painting, so I have 2 totally different "squads" on the go and swap between them as the red mist descends

Basically if I have nothing to do I just sit down and paint - this is usually easiest when the kids have gone to bed at about 7-8ish. I can sometimes get 5 hours a day in and on half term holidays and summer holidays (i'm a teacher) this number can double easily! Just make sure i go out in the morning with the family and "do real life stuff" then i just sit and make/paint/assemble.

Saying that, some days i just want to actually do absolutely nothing and just zonk out on the sofa so like others have said... It does depend!